Eye Relief - Eye Relief and Exit Pupil

Eye Relief and Exit Pupil

The eye relief property should not be confused with the exit pupil width of an instrument: that is best described as the width of the cone of light that is available to the viewer at the exact eye relief distance. An exit pupil larger than the observer's pupil wastes some light, but allows for some fumbling in side-to-side movement without vignetting or clipping. Conversely, an exit pupil smaller than the eye's pupil will have all of its available light used, but since it cannot tolerate much side-to-side error in eye alignment, will often result in a vignetted or clipped image.

The exit pupil width of say, a binocular, can be calculated as the objective diameter divided by the magnification, and gives the width of the exit cone of light in the same dimensions as the objective. For example, a 10 × 42 binocular has a 4.2 mm wide exit cone, and fairly comfortable for general use, whereas doubling the magnification with a zoom feature to 20 × results in a much more critical 2.1 mm exit cone.

Eye relief distance can be particularly important for eyeglass wearers and shooters. The eye of an eyeglass wearer is typically further from the eyepiece so needs a longer eye relief in order to still see the entire field of view. A simple practical test as to whether or not spectacles limit the field of view can be conducted by viewing first without spectacles and then again with them. Ideally there should be no difference in the field.

For a shooter, eye relief is also a safety consideration. If the eye relief of a telescopic sight is too short, leaving the eye close to the sight, the firearm's recoil can force the optic to strike the skin around the shooter's eye, leaving a cut. This is frequently called the "idiot cut" due to the obvious and long-lasting nature of such a mistake. Typical eye relief distances for telescopic sights are typically between one and four inches (25 to 100 mm), as opposed to the much shorter 15 to 17 mm for typical binoculars. The exit pupil widths in rifle sights are designed to be larger than the eye's pupil, to allow for a range of motion without vignetting.