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Updated 20/12/2009

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Binocular Information

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AOE High Quality Binoculars

AOE is one of Australia's most trusted and respected retailers of high quality binoculars.
Our binoculars represent excellent value for money and are supplied with high quality features and made to very high quality standards.
We have great pride and take great care in all our binoculars and we are proud to highlight that we don't just pack and send. We understand binoculars, we know how they work and we know which binoculars to stock and which to keep away from.
We have done much searching and have produced a fantastic range of AOE binoculars that we feel represent true value for money, while maintaining very high quality standards.
Be it for astronomy, birding, boating, hiking, surveillance or sports, for virtually any type of activity, we are certain to have a binocular that is suitable for you.
We only carry binoculars of the highest quality, and our customers can be confident in the knowledge that they are getting the best coating options, best prisms etc. There is no need to ask, because we would not consider supplying anything less.
Our binoculars are manufactured using International ISO certified and quality control standards and are sold in many overseas markets as other premium brands. You could expect to pay up to two times or more for the same binocular elsewhere.
All AOE binoculars are checked and tested at our Sydney workshop before being packed for final delivery. This final quality control check helps ensure that our customers can expect to receive a binocular that will work correctly straight out of the box. 
Many binoculars look like ours, but certainly do not perform like ours. Don't just settle for any binocular, when you can settle for the best value and the highest quality.
We would like to invite you to share this pride with your AOE binocular purchase.

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Please click here for binocular help and information

Why choose AOE binoculars?

• AOE inspects and tests each and every AOE binocular prior to shipping to our customers. Each binocular is checked for collimation and if necessary is adjusted
• Optical coatings are assesed and optical, physical and mechanical properties are checked. Any AOE binoculars that fail to meet our standards are rejected. This ensures that our customers will take delivery of high quality binoculars and they will work right the first time.
• All AOE binoculars are Broadband Fully Multicoated with the highest level of coating option available, and is applied to all air to glass surfaces including all lenses and BaK-4 prisms.
• All AOE binoculars feature the highest-quality BAK4 prisms, which give the best performance across the entire field of view.
• All AOE binoculars use costly high density fine optical glass.
• All AOE centre-focus binoculars feature "smooth, precise, slow" focusers
• AOE binoculars feature easy-accessible collimation set-screws that allow easy adjustment of image alignment. * some waterproof models excepted due to seals required
• All AOE binoculars are covered by a one year warranty.
• All AOE binoculars are designed and manufactured where the complete optical and mechanical system provides the highest possible standards while maintaining realistic prices. These high standards minimise aberrations, resulting in higher resolving power and crisp and bright image definition throughout the entire viewing field.
• All AOE binoculars feature these qualities plus much more...

Binocular designs
Binoculars use image-erecting prisms to provide correctly oriented images. The size, design and quality of the prisms affect what you see. Barium crown glass, the BaK-4 type as used in all AOE binoculars, is a fine, high density glass that eliminates internal light scattering and produces sharp images with clear, circular exit pupils. The glass quality also affects how clearly an image appears across your viewing area. Again, quality glass delivers a flat field with clarity across the entire field of view.

Roof Prism Binoculars
Roof prism models are generally smaller and more streamlined than Porro prism binoculars. They have straight barrels and a compact optical design.
Since production and adjustment of roof prisms require the highest level of precision, optical performance differs from maker to maker. Our roof prism 8x42WPMKII are of the highest level.

Superior prisms for clarity
The quality of glass used in the binocular prisms will determine the light transmittance, colour fidelity and clarity of the image. There are currently two types of glass prisms in use, Bk-7 which uses the element Boron to modify the glass, or the superior Bak-4 which uses Barium to modify the glass. The size and design of the prisms also affects the image sharpness, with quality optical glass delivering clarity from edge to edge of the field of view (sometimes called a "flat field"). This is why AOE use only superior Bak-4 prisms made of costly, fine high density optical glass, that eliminates internal light scattering and which will provide clear, perfectly circular exit pupils.

Superior Broadband Multilayer Coatings  (find out more about coatings)
When light passes through a lens or prism, some of the light is reflected by the front and rear surfaces of the lens or prism. This light causes flare or ghosting, reducing image sharpness and contrast. This is where lens coatings play a very important role in improving image brightness, reducing internal reflections and correcting light wave variations.
All AOE binoculars use the ultimate in coating solutions, where all optical surfaces including the prisms are broadband multilayer coated covering a wide range of light wavelengths while still maintaining original colour integrity. This superior coating solution provides a significant increase in light transmission (over 30% more light than standard non-coated binoculars) and also provides sharper and higher contrast images and significantly helps in detailed identification of low contrast objects in very dim lighting conditions.

Rubber armoured and shock resistant
AOE binoculars feature a rugged synthetic rubber coating, which helps protect the body from physical damage due to knocks, bumps and corrosive elements. The rubber armour also provides a firm, comfortable grip. The quality materials, all metal bodies and modern assembly methods are also designed to reduce the chance of the optics being knocked out of alignment. Our 10x42WPMKIII triple objective are shock proof and have been drop tested.

Waterproof / Weatherproof
Our waterproof binoculars feature all of AOEs superior quality construction and standards as well as waterproof housing, ("O" ring seals, super stiff ceramic occular bridges on Porro centre focus models) and Nitrogen purging. The Nitrogen purging helps eliminate fogging and can also keep out dust, sand, or almost anything else that tries to get inside the binoculars. The super stiff ceramc occular bridges keep the occulars in perfect alignment. All this combined with the rugged rubber armour make these binoculars suitable for any weather conditions.

Focus
The ability of a binocular to have a smooth and precise focus system is absolutely essential for all types of observation, be it astronomical or wildlife. Another important factor is the minimum focus distance. AOE binoculars feature both smooth precise focusing that does not drift under pressure as well as a sensational minimum focus distance of only 3 metres on our AOE10x42WP model, even less on some other models. This near focus capability is very important for watching butterflies, the critical identification of birds in the field, or observing the intricate detail of insects or plants. The actual close focus distance is dependant to some extent on your own eye characteristics.

Dioptre adjustment
The dioptre adjustment is used if there is a difference in visual strength between your left eye and your right eye, most people do tend to have differing strengths in each eye.
Looking through binoculars without a dioptre adjustment will not provide you with sharp, crisp images because one eye sees things in focus while the other eye does not. This situation will cause the user to suffer eyestrain. All AOE centre focus prism binoculars have this dioptre adjustment mechanism.

Smooth Precise Central Focus System
This system adjusts both barrels of the binocular at the same time and is employed in all central focus AOE binoculars. You can use the separate diopter adjustment on the right eyepiece to compensate for differences in the strength of each of your eyes. A smooth central focus system is a must for birding or general wildlife observation.

Individual Focus System
This system adjusts each barrel separately and is used in some of our models. Individual focus systems work especially well for astronomical or marine observations when the focus distance is seldom changed. Though this system is no more precise than the centre focus system, it is more durable and cheaper to manufacture..

Size & Weight
The main factors that determine the size and weight of a binocular are: objective lens size and focal length, prism type and size, eyepiece configuration, and the type of construction materials used. Binocular size will vary from pocket size compacts to large, tripod-mounted astronomical and marine models. Weights can vary from 200 grams to over 15 kilograms, with typical standard-sized binoculars ranging from 600 grams to 1 kilogram. Binocular size will generally increase directly with the increase in objective lens and prism size (a 15 X 70 is larger than a 12 X 60), magnification has little effect on the size of most binoculars

Collimation
Collimation refers to the mechanical alignment of the two optical halves of a binocular. Both right and left hand optical axis must have proper orientation and position within the binocular barrel and must be parallel to each other in a quality optical system. A binocular that is out of collimation (or out of alignment), usually as a result of a knock, will have slightly different images in each side, and can cause considerable discomfort and eyestrain when used. AOE binoculars high quality mechanical construction will ensure that the lenses and prism blocks maintain their correct alignment and provide years of comfortable viewing. In the event your binoculars do need to be adjusted it is comforting to know that all our binoculars above 50mm aperture feature easily accessible collimation set screws allowing for easy alignment.

Long eye relief
Eye relief is the distance between the ocular lens and the eyepoint. Ideally, when the binocular is raised to the eye the exit pupil should be focussed onto the front of the eye. This allows the observer to see the whole field of view correctly. If the eye relief is too short 'blacking out' is often found to occur around the periphery of the vision. AOE binoculars are designed with sufficient eye relief to overcome this common problem found in many binoculars. This also makes our binoculars an ideal choice for eyeglass wearers..

Pupil distance adjustment
This adjustment is provided in order to align the exit pupils of the binoculars with the pupils of your eyes. If they are not correctly aligned, you will experience double images and experience considerable discomfort from trying to force a clear image.AOE binoculars offer a smooth wide range of pupil distances so that anyone can use our binoculars in comfort. While you observe a distant object, carefully move the binocular tubes downward or upward so that both fields are correctly aligned, and form a perfect circle.

Binocular Coatings
Lens coatings play a very important role in the overall performance of binoculars. Each time light enters or leaves a glass element about 5% of the light is lost due to reflections. Binoculars may have up to 16 air-to-glass surfaces, and you will have light loss at every surface.

In the early days before optical coatings were available, less than half the light would actually reach your eyes, the rest of the light scattered around inside the binoculars causing even more unsatisfactory images. Larger objective lenses were used to compensate for this light loss, however the size and weight increased to almost non-practical levels.

In the 1930s it was discovered that when glass was coated with magnesium fluoride more light would be transmitted. This single layer coating technology was found to reduce light loss to about 1.5% per optical surface. In todays Broadband Fully Multicoated lenses only about 0.25% or less of light is lost at each surface, and in the best binoculars over 95% of the light is actually transmitted to your eyes.

The coating process depends on applying a perfectly uniform layer of coating material only a few nanometres thick, if its too thick or too thin then it just doesnt work.

With roof prism binoculars another feature to look for is anti-phase-shifting coatings. Binoculars with this coating on the roof surfaces will deliver higher contrast images.

Types of coatings available

Coated Optics: One or more surfaces coated. This usually means a single layer of anti-reflection coating on some lens elements, usually the first and last, (the lenses you can see).

Fully Coated Optics: All air to glass surfaces coated, but any plastic lenses used may not be coated. Only a single layer of coating is usually applied to the surfaces.

Multi-Coated Optics: One or more surfaces are multi-layer coated. The multi layers are usually applied to the first and last lenses, while the others usually are single layer coated.

Fully Multi-Coated Optics: All air-to-glass surfaces are multi layer coated. This is the highest level of coating generally available and provides the best light transmittance and contrast.

What about (RC)- Ruby Coating?
Ruby coatings RC are actually intended to reduce glare in bright light. When using expensive good quality ruby coated binoculars the coating actually does what it was designed for, to reduce glare.

Unfortunately the market is completely flooded with cheap RC ruby coated binoculars. These are sold as the latest and greatest in optical fads. At the end of the day, the ruby coatings in many of the cheap binoculars are used to disguise the binoculars poor optical quality.

Ruby coated binoculars should not be used for astronomy as they actually reduce the amount of light that is transmitted to your eyes and also can change the colour of the image, resulting in objects with a green cast.

How do coatings work?
Coatings work by harnessing the wave nature of light in such a way as to cause destructive interference in the light waves reflecting off the surface. Its the same principle as two people attempting to sing a note. If they get it right the overall sound is louder (constructive interference), if they get it wrong then the sound could cancel out altogether (destructive interference).

In a similar manner if you can manipulate the light reflecting off two surfaces in such a way that the reflecting waves cancel each other out, most of the light energy that would have been reflected is forced to pass through. This is the basic idea behind lens coatings. Magnesium fluoride is the most common form of coating because of its ease of use and durability. The key factors for enhancing maximum light transmission is the refractive index of the coating used and the thickness of the coating.

Coated or fully coated lenses (single coating), work best for single wavelengths of light, some wavelengths are affected less, while others are not affected at all. With light being composed of many wavelengths (colour), you can quickly see the need for more broadband coatings that cover more wavelengths. This is why broadband multicoated lenses are used. Multiple coatings of different materials work effectively over a larger band of the colour spectrum.

Naturally for the user who demands the best light transmittance and contrast the broadband fully multicoated lenses will provide them with the best performance.

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