On May 8, Chris Hill wrote:

>Being myopic is no disadvantage when using binocs - they compensate nicely
>for weak eyes. You can also focus on closer things than people with
>normal vision can. So there's even an advantage to being a nearsighted
>birder.

This reminds me of something that many binocular users may not be aware
of. Many models of binoculars can be readjusted to yield a closer focus
than they have straight out of the box. A friend of mine who makes his
living in binocular repair made this minor modification to my Swift
10X50's which initially had a close focus of 21' and now I can get in to
about 13', quite an improvement for the birds that aren't shy or for
watching birds at the feeder. The possibility of making this modification
varies from model to model. Also, if your eyes are very different (like
+/- 6 diopter) many binoculars won't have enough adjustment range and that
can be remedied. He also does collimation for those binos that have
dropped once too often, cleaning and clearing for those that have been out
in the rail too long, etc. His name is Cory Suddarth and he can be
reached at 206-258-6175 after 6pm if you have specific questions about
your particular model binocular.

Ed Schulz
Everett, WA
eschulz at eldec.com