Binoculars and Laser Eye Surgery

[RangerPark]

I'm currently using Vortex Diamondback 12x50 binos. They do the job but they have a fair amount of chromatic aberration, especially when glassing over snowy terrain. Depending on the light, everything turns a shade of red.

I've had laser eye surgery about 17 years back and I read that could also be an aggravating factor in with this. This isn't something I've experienced with rifle scopes, only with binos.

I'm looking to upgrade my binos but I'm weary of spending $2000 on high end binos only to still have chromatic aberration because of my eyes. I've never thought twice about spending $2000+ on a scope but could never bring myself to doing the same with binos.

Those of you that have had laser eye surgery, or are familiar with it, what are you using for binos and what have you experienced when it comes to chromatic aberration?

 

[savagelh]

I can't say because I've never had laser eye surgery but I know with optics, the more you spend the less ca you will have. My vanguard spotter had quite a bit but my razor spotter has none. Your Diamondbacks are fairly low end. Best bet is to go to somewhere that has a good selection of optics and try many different pairs of binos out. I find ca the worst when looking at a dark object with a light background. Think a moose standing in the snow.

 

[Geoman]

I don't know how close cataract surgery is to laser surgery but it took care of both my astigmatism and distance problem enough that I no longer have to wear glasses for distance or close up. With that said my wife uses 8x42 Vortex razor binoculars, about 1500$, and I use 10x42 Vortex Vipers, about 750$ or so. We are happy with both and to be truthful I do not find that much of a difference between our binoculars to have paid the extra $ for mine, she does have fairy bad eyesight though.
We use our binoculars for birding in all kinds of weather. Best to compare several at a time if you can outdoors. The far wall of Cabelas under neon lights doesn't cut it lol!

 

[jjohnwm]

I had LASIK in both eyes at roughly the same time you did. I look at optics the opposite way: I want the absolute best binocular I can afford, but scopes need not be the ultimate in optical perfection. When it comes to a scope, I want durability, brightness, light weight...and then optical clarity. I look through my binoculars probably 100x as much as through my scopes (hunting, birding, general observation), so that's where I want the best picture/colour/clarity.

I have way too many optics for my own good. In binoculars, I have an older (30 years) top-line Zeiss, a newer (5 years) top-line Leica and an assortment of lesser optics (Pentax, Steiner, etc.). I can't find any significant chromatic aberration in any of them. My scopes are mostly Leupolds, a fair number of Zeiss, plus a small number of S&B, Nightforce, older B&L, Minox, Swaro, etc.). The best show no significant C.A.; all the Leupolds and other less-costly optics show it to one degree or another, some quite noticeably...and I frankly don't care. A scope is an aiming device, not an observation device like a binocular is. I won't be staring through a riflescope for hours in a day; I often do that with a binocular.