7 Ways To Easily Use Binoculars with Glasses

If you wear glasses, then it may be difficult for you to see through binoculars. This can be a real pain when trying to view wildlife or sports events from far away. If this is an issue for you, there are some things that you can do about it.

Glass wearers can get an optometrist to fit their lenses inside the bins. This works well, but it’s expensive and not very convenient since you have to go back every time your prescription changes or if there’s a problem.

The other option is wearing contacts when using the binoculars. This works, but many people find it uncomfortable to wear contacts when they’re already wearing glasses, and also if you forget your contact lenses or lose them, then it’s even more difficult for those who need their glasses as well as contacts in order to see clearly.

Using Binoculars with Glasses – 7 Solutions

Are you finding it difficult to use binoculars while wearing eyeglasses? Here’s to get rid of this problem:

#1: Use Wide-Angle Lenses

The first thing that we recommend is to purchase a pair of wide-angle lenses which will allow your eyesight to stay within the range of the lens, so your glasses don’t interfere with what you’re looking at. You may need to pay more money than usual for these lenses, but they will help improve your vision and make using binoculars easier!

#2: Use Diopter Cups

The fourth option is using magnification or diopter cups, so people don’t have to see clearly through the binoculars. This is a good idea, but it’s not very practical because you won’t be able to see what you’re getting if you’re looking for tiny objects, and also magnification can reduce the field of view that people get when they look out into their surroundings.

#3: Use Binoculars-Specific Glasses

You can also avoid issues by simply buying glasses which are designed to be used with binoculars. These are not very expensive and they can easily fit over most pairs of glasses, including people who wear bifocals or trifocals.

It is also important to note that people with astigmatism find it difficult to use binoculars because the lenses are unable to focus properly. For those with astigmatism, a pair of straight-sided glasses will be needed. These glasses have an additional lens on the other side of the nose to compensate for this issue.

#4: Hold Binoculars Slightly Farther

Hold the binoculars slightly farther away from your eyes than you normally would, so that they are magnifying things at a distance just beyond where your line of sight with your glasses ends. Try holding them about 12 inches (30 cm) away, or just beyond the point where you normally have to take your glasses off.

#5: Use Magnifying Glass

Take off your regular glasses and use a magnifying glass instead while looking through binoculars. This will enable you to see things more clearly without interfering with your visual field of vision. You can also try using a monocular, which is a single-eye version of binoculars and can be held closer to your face.

#6: Find Binoculars with High Eye Relief

Binoculars with plenty of eye relief are ideal for people who wear glasses. They’re called “eyeglass-friendly,” and they have a long enough bridge that the eyepiece will sit away from your face when you look through them, allowing you to see things more clearly without taking your glasses off or holding the binoculars further away from your face.

This is especially useful if you’re using binoculars for bird watching or stargazing, where lots of detail matters and the object isn’t moving around much, so it’s easier to keep an eye on through a magnified view.

#7: Adjusting Diopters of Binoculars

People who wear glasses might need to adjust the diopters, which is an adjustable focus ring on binoculars. If you hold them up close enough to your face so that they don’t interfere with your view through regular eyeglasses but can still see things clearly near and far away, then the diopter setting is probably correct.

If you find that the diopter has to be adjusted further inward, then it will need to be reset closer toward the eyepieces of the binoculars. If you’re trying to see things from a distance but can’t focus on them easily through your glasses, then try adjusting the diopters outward until you can see clearly.

Importance Of Eye Relief While Using Binoculars with Glasses

Eye relief is the distance between your eye and the concave side of the binocular’s eyepiece. A person with glasses should choose a binocular which has long eye relief. This will allow them to keep their glasses on without having to take them off every time they use the binoculars.

Binoculars with long eye relief are also good for children. Children tend to have small faces, so they need items which will fit their needs, including binoculars that can be adjusted easily or ones that come in smaller sizes.

The most important thing is to make sure that the person’s glasses don’t block part of their view. If they do, then the person will have difficulty looking through their binoculars, and they won’t be able to see anything clearly.

  Learn More in our Eye Relief Guide Blog Post  

Bottom Line

Some people might think that it is a headache to use binoculars with glasses, but this isn’t true at all! Instead of giving up on using a pair of binoculars because you have glasses, just follow these simple tips. You will be able to see through the lenses clearly and efficiently without any problems or discomfort whatsoever!