It often depends on why you wear glasses. If you wear glasses to correct far or near sightedness, you may not need to wear glasses when using your binoculars, this is because the focusing mechanism will allow for adjustment, thus correcting your vision. If however you wear glasses for other reasons, like Astigmatism you will need to wear your prescription glasses when you use the binoculars, or you will sacrifice valuable image sharpness.

The other problem is even if you don’t need to wear your glasses whilst using binoculars, is what to do with them when you are looking through them. Many people remove their glasses, put them down or wear them around the neck with a safety cord. This sounds simple enough, but doing it all the time can get really annoying and then there is always the risk of forgetting where you put your glasses, loosing them or missing that once in a lifetime sighting whilst you were swapping over.

The solution: Binoculars with Long Eye Relief.

What is eye relief?
Eye relief is the optimum distance distance between the ocular lens and your eyes when using the binoculars. If you wear eyeglasses, you should pay extra attention to this measurement because your eyeglasses increase the distance between the ocular lenses and the eye.

Any pair of binoculars that has an eye relief of greater than 10mm is considered larger then standard, but in my opinion to be considered to have long eye relief you should be looking for a binocular that has more than 16mm. In most cases an eye relief of 14 to 15mm is enough for most people who wear eyeglasses to be comfortable. Ideally though you should look for binoculars that have an eye relief of 16, 17 or even 18mm.

For More Information:

• Read my article on Long Eye Relief Binoculars
• View all binoculars with Long Eye Relief (greater than 16mm)

Long Eye Relief Binoculars

Binoculars eye relief is how far back from the eyepiece your eye can be and still see the whole field of view, wearing glasses means that your eyes will have to be further back and so you need a pair of binoculars with a Long Eye Relief (follow the link for a full overview of why eye relief is so important).

Luckily for those who enjoy birding and have to wear eyeglasses, there are some really fantastic binoculars that are specifically designed for bird watching and that come with really good eye relief.

Bushnell 8×42 NatureView Binoculars
These NatureView binoculars from Bushnell are specifically designed with the birder in mind and for those that have to wear glasses they have an excellent eye relief of 17mm, which should be more than enough for most people. Follow the link to read my full review of them, but the main highlights include excellent quality multi-coated optics, a tough non-slip rubber armor to absorb shock and they are fully waterproof and fog proof. Overall they are excellent value for money birding binoculars.

Minox 8×42 BV Binoculars
With 18mm of eye relief, these value for money birding binoculars from Minox are ideal for those eyeglass wearers (and those who don’t) who are looking for the highest quality, but at a more affordable price in their bird watching binoculars. Like the Bushnell’s above, they are fully fog proof and water proof and come with a tough exterior that not only protects them but provides a comfortable non slip grip. Where they also really excel is in their field of view, with an impressive 389 ft wide at 1000 yards, compared 330 of the Bushnell above and 342 of the Steiner’s below.

Steiner 8×42 Merlin Binoculars
With 19mm of eye relief, these Steiner Merlin binoculars have the longest eye relief of the three birding binoculars featured here. What is more, they have soft, angled eye cups that keep distracting light out of your eyes on bright, sunny days that can fold back should you wish to reduce the length of the eye relief. One thing to point out is that unlike the other two which are fully waterproof, these are only water resistant, but this should be fine so long as you look after them when it begins to rain.

Further Reading:

• Long Eye Relief Binoculars
• Bushnell 8×42 NatureView Binoculars
• Minox 8×42 BV Binoculars
• Steiner 8×42 Merlin Binoculars