I recently bought, for $135, a Hensoldt DF 8x30 in good condition. Hensoldt is the military branch of Zeiss, and the Hesoldt binoculars come from the same plant at Wetzlar where the modern Zeiss FL, and several previous generations of Zeiss, are made.
The little DF is an individually focusing military glass probably from the late '60s, and was used by NATO forces during the cold war. It is waterproof, and has a reputation for sturdy prism mountings and ruggedness. It only weighs 20.0 ounces, so it's easy to hold it up to the eyes and work the eyepieces at the same time. The individual focusing is fast in gearing ratio (3/8 turn from infinity to 12 ft closest focus), and so easy to turn, that it is surprisingly quick and easy to use. I had practiced with a Fujinon 6x30 IF already, and looked at moving up to 8x as a challenge, and was surprised to find that despite the higher power, it is in fact much easier with the Hensoldt. I go birding with it, and can get it focused about as quick as you please.
The eye relief, said to be 12mm, is too short for glasses wearers, but after removing about a mm of eyecup material, I can get the entire 8.5 degree view, which works out to an impressive 68 deg apparent view. The sweet spot seems plenty wide to me, and there is some acceptable degradation, and pincushion distortion, at the edge. The central image looks very sharp, and this little binocular gives the most pinpoint star image I have ever seen (and I am quite a fanatic on binocular double stars) although this is partly a product of the small amount of light, which would reveal the binocular's aberrations only weakly, and the small exit pupil, which has the same happy effect on my eyes.
Its main weakness is its single layer coating, but at least the simple optical system works in its favor here. The daylight image seems about as bright and contrasty as an 8x42 Leica Trinovid BA, with silvered prisms, that I once owned.
As dark approaches, it is crushed by a modern 8x42 or 7x50, but hey, it's little. In good lighting, the view is enjoyable, and I'd recommend one to anybody who dares to try individual focus on the cheap.
Ron