Hello all.  Newbie here (long time lurker) and to the AR world about six months ago.  

I recently purchased an Eotech 557 for my BM and when I look through it, the circle and dots are distorted.  This clears up with the magnifier.  Is this normal?  Should I have my eyes checked or is there a trick setting the intensity?

Like I said, complete newbie to all of this but am addicted already.

Thanks

I just bought the same reticle. I have an astigmatism and it causes the bdc dots to appear as almost a radial line downwards. can be fixed with corrective lenses, lasik, or glasses....or the 3x magnifier.

So it could possibly be my eyes.  Hell, I was just kidding about that.

are you just focusing on the reticle at the lens? if you are it will look fuzzy, try focusing on something in the distance and you should see a clearer reticle

One  of the unfortunate reasons I miss out on this great optic as well never knew I had astigmatism until I had my old 516. Thought I had a lemon but it was the same with aimpoints

I just tried that and it helped a bit.  The magnifier makes everything clear no matter what I look at though.  I know I have issues seeing at distances but never up close.

You most likely have an astigmatism that's why i got rid of my last eotech..... didn't really bother me for fast shooting inside a 100 but if i wanted to shoot a group or shoot longer distance it was annoying.

Will glasses fix the problem?  What did you replace the Eotech with?

I am near-sighted with an astigmatism. The Eotech reticle appears very fuzzy without my glasses but is fine with them. If the reticle looks good with the magnifier but fuzzy without, then you need to get your eyes checked out, probably need corrective lenses.
ETA: My glasses prescription is very mild, rarely wear them except for night driving and shooting, so my guess is even a slight need for corrective lenses can make an Eo fuzzy.

Same here. Without my glasses my EO reticle looks pixelated and fuzzy due to my astigmatism.

Glasses make it no better ~ to perfect depending on the lighting took me a few days to figure this out in different lighting conditions

ETA glasses didn't work well with the eo it helped more with the tripower/aimpoint


I never had glasses until the astigmatism cropped up last yr and just got them recently.... i wouldn't know i even had an astigmatism if it wasn't for the red dot sights.





I replaced it with a trijicon tripower because i have zero issues with acogs or accupoints. The tripower is better but still have some issues in certain lighting conditions i assume the chevron in the tripower is projected wasn't thinking about this.....


But i like the tripower no battery thing required for daytime so i can live with it.....





I also have an aimpoint M3 2moa reticle it's not near as distracting as the eo .... i see a 4 ~moa group of grapes out in the sunlight.... and a 6~moa group of grapes inside that isn't to bad for a cqb optic i guess







With the use of a magnifier the tripower and aimpoint look perfect in any light.......





If i were buying an optic now it would probably be be the new TR24g with the triangle..... well i most likely will buy one eventually


I don't think i'd ever use anything but an aimpoint for home defence gun or it would have to be something radically better.





 

Its yo eyes

Yes, it is your eyes. With astigmatism it skews your plane of vision depending on how bad your degree of astigmatism is, and this practically scatters the pixels along that new plane. I also have this problem. I wear contact lenses when I shoot and it brings all the pixels back onto a single distinct coherent reticle.

I pulled my 552 equipped rifle out of the safe a few months ago and started cussing EOtech. Then I looked at the clear image with my left eye and said "dammit, when did my right eye do this?" I can't tell a thing when using a regular scope.

Guys, it might be some part the eyes, but - to me - the holograph is a little grainy - not fuzzy, but grainy. The 1 MOA dot only version is MUCH better.

Glasses or not, the image is a little grainy for me. No where near as bad as a c-more which had a big 6 o'clock flare for me.

it's easy to tell rotate the sight while looking if the problem rotates with the sight it is most likely the sight........ if it looks the same to you while you turn it it's most likely your eyes



grainy bunch of dots is what mine looked like........



 

it is a grainy sight, even on the best unit with corrected vision. but it shouldn't be fuzzy. it's a unique technology and takes some getting used to.

BTDT. With the c-more it was my eyes. With the eotech, it's the sight. Mind you, the eotech is not what I would call fuzzy, I just see a grain pattern in the reticle, hence grainy.

Went to the eye doc yesterday and yes, I do have astigmatism and everything else is fine. I don't understand how this can effect my vision with on eye closed.  Shouldn't the sight clear up if I have one eye closed?  Another note to mention, my boss looked through the sight and noticed the same thing and he had glassed on.


Anyway, my glasses come in next week.  I'll also post a picture.  I'm interested to see what the camera sees.

How do you add photos?  All I can find is to add a link.

Your brain is still trying to understand what is going on and compensates for your other eye. That is why people who get the monovision surgery take several days/weeks to adjust. The brain is quite an impressive instrument and has much more control over your vision than you think. Think of your eyes as being the hardware, and your brain is the software making the hardware run.

This is how it looks without the red glare around it






 

For me glasses on, good to go. Glasses off it's fuzzy along with everything else. I have to wear glasses all the time anyway so it's never been a problem for me.

I'm no doc but my guess is glasses would cure the problem. You could always sell the EOTech but you'll still have the astigmatism. Why not address the cause and not the effect?

After I posted this I went and had my peepers checked.  Yup, I have an astigmatism.  By the time my spectacles arrived I had already taken the pictures and the camera told me what I needed to know.  Without the mag it's blurry, with the mag it's not.  So how could it be my eyes?  The only time I had the glasses on is when I was being fitted for them so they sat in my car until tonight.








 

A couple things you need to confirm to make sure that not only is your eotech working properly, but you are using it correctly


first: turn the brightness down to the lowest acceptable setting for the conditions at hand. Too bright causes bloom and blurriness.

second: do not look at the reticle. Pretend it's not even there. focus your eyes on your target, make sure you're using both eyes open and focusing only on the target.

third: know and understand that the eotech reticle is generated by a laser. dots, squigglies, and other imperfections are normal as they are a byproduct of how the reticle is made.


see these pictures for clarification:



it is quite easy to see the reticle and its grainy, squiggly appearance here, but also notice how crisp and sharp it is. the camera is focused on the target bush (or whatever that is)



again the reticle is quite clear, the camera is focused on the target, not the reticle itself

hope this helps

The reticle of the Eotech will appear blurry to you (or your camera) if you are not focused on the reticle's projection plane. The Eotech's technology (it's not just "normal" red-dot) makes the reticle appear to your eye (and the camera) as if the reticle is 50' or so away from you. If you wouldn't be able to see something clearly @ 50', you won't see the Eotech reticle clearly.

If you had a laser pointer that projected the eotech reticle and pointed it at a wall 50' away, without glasses and with an astigmatism, it would appear blurry. If you did the same, and then pointed a camera which was focused on a wall 10 feet away, it would also appear blurry. If you focus the camera out to the eotech's reticle projection plane, it will appear clear.

The fact that a magnifier makes it appear crystal clear, is the proof that the sight is working fine.

The Eotech reticle is made by a Laser, rather than an LED. Get a laser pointer and point it at your hand or a close wall, you will see it is also grainy... it's just part of the technology.

Because the laser is so precise, I can (and do) use it test my glasses. I'll know immediately when I need a new prescription.

The Eotech shouldn't be made so overly bright. In a dark room, turn it down a few notches. The Eotech literature recommends a slightly translucent reticle, rather than a super bright one. Same thing happens with Aimpoints if they are turned up too brightly for their environments... they'll bloom.

When looking through the Eotech, try looking a target across the street, or across the yard, rather than something in the same room. Don't focus on the reticle, or the front sights... focus on your target with both eyes open.

~Icarus

Nope, looks the way it should.  You either need glasses or your having trouble focusing on the target.  Also, as said earlier, you should probably turn the brightness down a little.

I'll test a few things mentioned here. Maybe I missed it but shouldn't this info be included in the literature? I wish I have known this was even a remote possibility.



Does an astigmatism effect the reticle in an Aimpoint?

Holy shit, it worked!

 I did exactly as what you instructed and it cleared right up.  Even more so with my glasses on (I remember the Doc said I had a small stigmatism so glasses would mainly help at night).  Thanks alot!  Now I just wish I could shoot in my backyard to try it out and see how it helps my shooting.  






 

I fell face first into this category.  But then again, you already knew that!  






 

Glad that worked for you.


As for both eyes open, just practice moving around with the rifle (um, please make sure it is unloaded ) look around at "targets", imagine clearing a room and walk around quickly and keep your eyes moving on "targets", the reticle will just superimpose over what you are looking at. Humming the Mission Impossible theme while doing this is optional.

The spouse and/or children will look at you funny (unless they are already used to this sort of behavior). When you want to target something, just look at it. Both eyes open just means looking at the target, just as you would if there wasn't a rifle on your cheek.

When one eye is looking through the optic, the reticle will appear on the target (your mind will place it there without effort on your part) once you get used to the idea. It is very natural.

Practice.

Just make sure the rifle is unloaded.

~Icarus