Optolyth Alpin 10x50 (1 Viewer)

I think I'm going to buy some secondhand alpins. They seem excellent value for money and pretty light compared to anything else I would get for about £100.
I have heard that they stopped making them for a while, and the new ones are inferior quality. can anyone shed any light on this from personal experience.
Also, are the 10x50s sufficiently better than the 10x40s to justify the increased size and weight? I often go birding in the uplands or saltmarshes of an evening, when there is low light and mist,

Cheers
Simon

Welcome to Birdforum,Simon. You could try the binocular threads for more info, good luck..

As far as 10x40 vs 10x50 goes, you will notice that the 10x40 has a wider field of view. That will make it more pleasant to look through and more useful for birding. As far as viewing in the dark, you will see a brighter image with the 50mm lenses, but not much brighter, and only if you are young (our pupils dilate less and less as we grow older). The 10x40 will work in those conditions described by you.
As far as old vs new Optolyth, you are right. The new ones are visibly dimmer. I had a big shock when someone returned from Germany with a pair of 10x40. I could not understand why they bought it, because my $100 Nikon at the time was better.
The older ones (1990s) are nice, bright, sharp, durable, light, etc. A great buy at 200 USD. I would not buy a new one.

My son still uses his 10x40 Alpin (older model). They were, not too many years ago, rated as a top birding binocular. They are still a great binocular - you won't regret buying them: they are bright, light and very sharp indeed. Just make sure that they are in good order, and that you can see a single solid image through them (i.e. to check they are correctly collimated - haven't been dropped, etc).

Deutsch Optik is the Distributor for Optolyth in the USA/North America. That started when Mike Rivkin was the owner. Justus Bauschinger bought the business from him about two years ago. Around the same time, Optolyth went bankrupt, and a friend of Bauschinger's who lives near Nuernberg, Germany, Berndt Zingrebe—the owner of Sill Optics— took over the company and is slowly resurrecting the brand.

Before changing hands, Optolyth made the "new" NG ALPIN series, which Deutsch Optik rejected. According to Bauschinger, the ALPIN NGs were identically, optically, mechanically to the originals, but heavier and with a thick rubber armor that was not as easily gripped. From the comment above, it sounds like the NGs were also optically inferior, or at least that sample.

At Bauschinger's request, Zingrebe made the Alpins with the original lightweight design again, and they are being distributed in the US by DO.

The "new/old" Alpin series includes six models:
http://www.deutscheoptik.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=4&products_id=445

There's a 10x40 Alpin for sale on Astromart for $225.

Here's a review of the old version 10x50 Alpin:
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~bbowman/birds/se_mich/bin_10x.txt

Brock