Help with Zeiss 15x60 Binoculars (1 Viewer)

Hello everyone,

I would really love some help with a pair of binoculars I inherited from my father. Any information would be useful!

All I know is that they are 15x60, Carl Zeiss, made in West Germany, and have the serial number 1140810.

Now, I have searched many forums, Google etc. and this serial number never comes up.

My mother says he had them before 1974. Could anyone help me with this? Thank you so much!

Hello Laetitya,

Does it have hard plastic, or rubber eye cups? If the binocular has hard eye cups, then it is probably the 15x60. If it has flexible rubber eye cups, then it is probably the 15x60B, which has greater eye relief.

Zeiss could provide the model and year if you gave them the serial number.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood

Pinewood said:

Hello Laetitya,

Does it have hard plastic, or rubber eye cups? If the binocular has hard eye cups, then it is probably the 15x60. If it has flexible rubber eye cups, then it is probably the 15x60B, which has greater eye relief.

Zeiss could provide the model and year if you gave them the serial number.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood

Click to expand...

Hello Arthur,
Thank you for the information.
It has hard eye cups.
Would you know what they would be worth in good, used condition? If they are valuable, I should perhaps add them to my home insurance...

Many Thanks

Laetitya said:

It has hard eye cups.
Would you know what they would be worth in good, used condition? If they are valuable, I should perhaps add them to my home insurance...

Click to expand...

Zeiss started making the 15x60 in 1958. It was one of the original range of porros with air-spaced achomats. If your pair was bought before 1974 it must be the original model with Erfle eyepieces. There are still quite a few of those around. Sure, contrast and brightness are not that good by modern standards, but they're still very nice binoculars with a wide field of view (80m).

The 15x60 GAT*(rubber-armoured and with modern T* coatings, but still with Erfle eyepieces) and the 15x60 BGAT* (modern eyepieces, but a narrower field of view) were later developments that disappeared quite quickly from the market again because large porros had become somewhat unfashionable by then. They're optically up to scratch, even by today's crazy standards. I find them a bit more difficult to handhold because of the thick rubber armour.

The value of one of the original 15x60's is hard to estimate. If it's in really good condition, both mechanically and optically, it must be in the region of 600-800 €. Some of these old pairs need cleaning, they sometimes show some slight hazing (most easily observed when you look through the objective lenses against the light). If there anything not quite right with it I'd have it serviced in Wetzlar, even though the price for a thorough cleaning is pretty stiff nowadays. These binoculars are definitely worth it in my opinion.

Hermann

Laetitya said:

Hello Arthur,
Thank you for the information.
It has hard eye cups.
Would you know what they would be worth in good, used condition? If they are valuable, I should perhaps add them to my home insurance...

Many Thanks

Click to expand...

Hello Laetitya,

I would still write, by email, to either the Swiss representative of Zeiss or directly to the firm in Germany, about the exact model.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur

Hermann - You mention the Zeiss GAT has a greater field than the Zeiss BGAT. Do you have the data on FOV of the GAT? I have the B model and am curious about the difference. Thanks. John

You might also contact Deutschoptik in San Diego....they deal in a lot of older German optics and have a pretty good knowledge and info base. They're very helpful.

John Dracon said:

Hermann - You mention the Zeiss GAT has a greater field than the Zeiss BGAT. Do you have the data on FOV of the GAT? I have the B model and am curious about the difference.

Click to expand...

The GAT has a field of 80m, just like the older model. As far as I know both have the same eyepieces. Some of the older Zeiss literature claims a slightly larger field of view, 80.6m. The BGAT has a slightly smaller field of view, 75.6m. Not a lot of difference, but on the one occasion where I could compare both in the field it was quite visible. The BGAT is, of course, easier to use, the old Erfle eyepieces take some getting used to.

BTW. the German pricelist from 2001 quotes a price of almost 2100 euros for the 15x60BGAT ... The last one I saw over here went for more than that.

Hermann