I seem to have a slight double image. when I unscrew one side of the lens a bit it lines back up, but leaves the lens loose. What could be wrong and can it be fixed? thanks,Brent.

It'll depend a bit on the root of the problem.
You can get double vision from properly aligned binoculars if the optics are too far apart or too close, relative to the spacing of your eyes. you'll need to bend them at the central hinge to make sure that both eyes are centered on the input lenses.

If you're still getting the migraine-inducing double image, they probably got dropped at some point. This can be a wide range of difficulty to fix. Here's what I've done in some past cases with flea market binocs that I bought cheap due to the skewed alignment.

For many binocs, the upper (eyeball end) and/or lower (field end) are screwed to the central body of the binocs, where all the folding optics are to widen the lenses from your eye spacing. If they have been dropped, (or disassembled and put back together sloppy), then they may be cockeyed at one of these joins. Look at each seam to the central body and see if any of them have a gap, especially one that is larger on one side than another. You can then apply firm un-screwing twist and see if it will unscrew. if it will, and before you unscrew it all the way, wash your hands and clear a clean surface to work on. Unscrew the segment, inspect the threads for crud that might have got in while cockeyed. Then visually square up the component and gently screw it back in. if it was mis-assembled, the threads may be a bit gummed, and you'll have to be patient to keep the optic square, and back off and start again if it tries to drag over to cockeyed threading. Once it's square, gently working the thread back into place by turning back and forth a half turn back, 3/4 forward, half back, 3/4 forward, can help the thread recuperate. Eventually, it should screw all the way in, firmly, and be square. No more double vision.

For some models, like my Nikon fixed pocket binocs, there's no zoom and just a focus knob. On my brothers pair, it got cockeyed. In that case, I gently unscrewed the locking rings for the glass on the eyeball side. One of them was loose and the lens was a bit cockeyed. In that case, I removed, it (wearing nitrile gloves), cleaned it with eyeglasses cleaning solution and a microfiber cloth, put it back in, screwed the ring in firmly,and it was good to go.

Bottom line, if you have some basic DIY skills, unscrewing the entry optics, or the optics sections, isn't too big a deal. Just be mindful not to let dust (or worse) get inside while you have things open. You can get a lot of fix just from that much.

Good Luck!

Needs convergence IC's
http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showpost.php?p=564268&postcount=220
http://cmpalmer.blogspot.com/2006/11/fixing-my-own-tv-part-ii.html
Please rate accordingly
Thank you
Computerrep

Hello Graham,

The lenses unscrew anti-clockwise, but they can be very stiff and difficult to grip. The best advice I can give you is to double or triple wrap a thick elastic-band around the lens as this will give you much better grip than you will get on the glass alone.

If you are still unable to unscrew the lens, squirt a small amount of WD40 / penetrating fluid down the back of the lens so it runs onto the threads and leave it for 15-20 minutes then try again with the elastic-band grip. Once the lens moves a small amount it will unscrew relatively easily. The constant heating and cooling of the oven causes them to lock.

Please switch off the power supply to the oven before replacing the bulb and make sure you have clean hands when replacing the bulb - grease from your fingers can cause the bulb to fail or shorten its life considerably.

Hope this helps. If you are still unable to unscrew the lens, please let me know.

Regards,
BElectric.

Take your camera and carefully look at the lens side of it. Does the lens look slightly out of center. Sort of pointing very slightly the wrong way. If it is you've given the lens a knock while it's been extended and put the complete lens barrel out of alignment. Please don't try what I've seen touted around the Net and bash the camera lens down on a table, this will make the whole thing completely unusable. The camera needs stripping down completely and the lens either realigned or worse, completely replaced.
The other problem it could be is a piece of grit or sand jammed between the lens elements or the lens and the camera body. Again a strip down job to free the jam.
Just make sure the batteries are at full charge and in good condition if they are getting a bit old try a brand new set of High quality alkalines and see if things start moving then. Quite often the camera may switch on but simply doesn't have enough power to drive the lens. Try the batteries first, you could save a packet.

Hello Scott

While I am mostly a camera expert , I have seen the problem that you are describing. Inside the camera there is a little reflector which is used to invert the picture and focus it to the viewing eyes.

These reflectors are stuck to the camera casing using epoxy and the problem is that with time the epoxy becomes brittle and cracks. When it is cracked , the lens will move out of it's fixed posistion but the epoxy does not always break loose fully which is why you do not hear any rattle.

You could attempt to open it up and glue the lens back into posistion using some new epoxy , but you could possibly have some problems with the screws of they are not standard.

In this case ask a jeweler to repiar the binocular for you as this should not cost much to repiar...no more than $15.

Kind Regards
Andrea

I'm assuming in what follows that you've tried other lenses and only get the problem with this one lens. If you haven't, then it's essential to do this first unless the lens is obviously the problem. If it happens with other lenses then you have a damaged image sensor mounting within the camera body which will need professional attention.

This is a common problem on this particular lens. Normally it's due to the front element of the lens being slightly skewed on the lens barrel and most commonly occurs after the lens has been dropped.

Turn your lens to manual focus and focus to the shortest distance. Set the lens upright on a table and carefully view all around, if the problem is the front element it will lean slightly to one side like a miniature leaning tower of Pisa. If it doesn't, then check again with greater precision using a ruler to measure the distance s between the lens barrel and the focussing ring and a number of opposite points around the circumference. If they're anything but identical then the lens is skewed. If they are identical then the skewed element is buried deep inside the lens and will need professional repair as it's most likely a fault with the moving element used for image stabilisation.

If the tests confirm that the front element is skewed then if you're really careful and lucky you can often jiggle the front element using a firm twisting action back into place. It does take a bit of judiciously applied brute force and if unsuccessful you can make the problem worse, but either way if you don't try then the lens needs professional repair and new internal parts.

I've had this problem on about one of these lenses every month or so for the last year. The brute force repair works in about half the lenses I try it on and normally lasts. On the others a strip down repair usually shows the same range of broken/worn parts as I find on those lenses which clearly are too far gone to attempt the brute force method.

The difference is cost: the brute force repair costs nothing. The proper repair is often economically unviable as it often costs 50% to 70% of the cost of a brand new lens with a warranty.

I had the same problem but did not have a soldering iron small enough and did feel adept at soldering microcircuitry in any case.

I unscrewed the four side screws, rotating the screen slightly to get at the ones closest to the body of the camera. Carefully removing the back I turned the camera on and noticed that by pressing on the two contacts located at the bottom left where all the circuitry is, the screen came back on full brilliance. I cut a small piece of plastic off of an old credit card approximately 1/2" X 3/4" of an inch. I then folded it in half (biting it tight and then opening it to create a bit of spring). I then carefully placed this double thick plastic over the contacts in the lower left and sandwiched the cover back on. Pressing it tight and put the screws back and voila!... works like a charm. The double thickness of the plastic and little extra pressure from folding the plastic over and opening it a bit was just enough pressure to solve the contact problem.

I expect some technicians will think this is kind of a *cheat* but from my experience with soldering - especially tiny stuff, I just did not feel comfortable with that option. Anyway hope it helps some other novices, it is a quick fix.

Artist3d, Still lovin my Canon G5

It could be that the autofocus switch has become unglued from the frame and so it doesn't ever switch on. If your camera doesn't indicate that autofocus is on, but you're not getting an error message, then this might be the problem. Unscrew the two screws that hold the AF switch onto the lens, and see if the underlying PCB upon which the switch is mounted has come loose. If you, take the lens apart from the back and use double-sided tape to re-adhere.

Plug it into the charger, then remove the battery. Disconnect is and then insert the battery/ That may reset it.

This also sometimes happens when a camera is dropped and the lens assembly is tweaked just a bit. Point it to your face and turn it on. Press on different places on the lens assembly while you toggle it off and on. If it comes out, your lens unit is out of line. You can try moving it side to side and even forcing it a little but it will probably never be just right.

you have bad solder connections on the convergance board solder then and get back to me k