BruceH
Avatar: Harris Hawk
I believe Gary's business is called East Coast Binocular Repair located in the UK.
http://binocular-repair.co.uk/
http://binocular-repair.co.uk/
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What binoculars have the best build quality? (1 Viewer)
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garymh
Binocular Engineer
Hi,
Please note that this book is my property and any attempt to scan it and send to other people will result in infringement of my copyright and legal action against the sender.
Gary
jan van daalen
Well-known member
Gary,
I stand corrected:t: and take the opportunity to ask you for the possibility to order some copy's.
I am sure others would like it also.
Sorry Jerry, no can do.
Jan
garymh
Binocular Engineer
Hi,
The first edition of my book was only 300 copies which sold out within a couple of weeks.
I am currently working on an updated edition which will cover a lot more rare and accurate information on the Trinovid series. This forum will be the first to know when it is available (and my solicitor has covered the legal jargon !!!!!)
Gary.
Gary
The first edition of my book was only 300 copies which sold out within a couple of weeks.
I am currently working on an updated edition which will cover a lot more rare and accurate information on the Trinovid series. This forum will be the first to know when it is available (and my solicitor has covered the legal jargon !!!!!)
Gary.
Gary
jan van daalen
Well-known member
Gary
Good to hear.
You can note me for 5 copies, so in future I can legally help a fellow collector in need
Jan
Jan,
I've been wondering if the 3 new Trinovids (7x35; 8x40 and 10x40) will all use the same size prism, and it looks like they will.
Their objective lens diameters are all close enough to use it.
If the prism can accommodate the standard fields of the 40mm binoculars (7.4º for the 8x40 and 6.0º for the 10x40) is there also enough room for the stated 8.5º wide field of the 7x35 binocular?
Bob
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Hi Lee... if it's one of the very rare first generation Trinovid 8x40s with the 176m field of view I can well understand why it is such a favourite. Leitz certainly accomplished some quite remarkable things with that design. It's this edition of the Trinovid I wish Leica had reintroduced, maybe tweaking the eyepieces to sacrifice some field of view (goodness knows there is enough to burn) for more eye relief. With dielectric mirrors and modern coatings the image would be bright and contrasty to modern standards, and if the SF is anything to go by, the field of view alone would be a real selling point.
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Hi Patudo
Unfortunately Troubadoris's Trinnie is of the more common single-bridge second generation rather than the one in the pic I posted above, with twin bridges and central spindle.
Lee
Would you consider selling an ePub eBook version of it? I much prefer the digital format.
jan van daalen
Well-known member
Hi Bob,
This goes beyond my expertise:-C, but I think you have to take the ocular into account in this matter also.
I think Henry or Gary could answer your question much better.
Since I have all the models I measured the prism housings. These have the same sizes.
Jan
Joachim makes a good point here. Build quality could mean ruggedness/outright weather resistance in the field, or it might mean quality of componentry combined with mechanical refinement. There are probably plenty of military spec binoculars that will survive abuse beyond anything even a pretty serious birder could throw at them, but not have anything like the build quality (by another definition) of something like a Binuxit - which, however, you would be mad to take out in a heavy downpour. I have handled and used some well regarded classic binoculars and would agree that today's offerings may not have quite the same "old world" feel to them, but in reality would be superior in weather resistance, not to mention image quality. That's the other thing - binoculars aren't purely mechanical devices - 1960s and 1970s era build quality comes with 60s and 70s era image quality. The irony of course is that with modern CNC machining, tolerances should be higher than ever before.
Loud Green Man
Well-known member
Never mind the book. Your collection is awesome!
Did all the Nautics come in that pleasing aqua-like colour?
Cheers
LGM
jan van daalen
Well-known member
LOL, I now see you are talking about the NEW classics.
Time will tell. I haven't seen one yet.
Jan
henry link
Well-known member
No need for different prisms or eyepieces between the 8x40 and 7x35. The 7x35's lower magnification and wider real FOV is simply done by substituting an objective lens with a focal length shorter than the 8x40 objective by the same ratio as the difference in magnification.
The 10x40 uses the same objective lens as the 8x40 combined with a shorter focal length eyepiece with about the same size field stop, so no need for different prisms there either.
Henry
Further thoughts on original topic. We need to separate optical performance and ruggedness. Optically the alphas are probably the winner here, particularly some of their often lamented older Porro offerings. Unfortunately ability to withstand abuse frequently does not go hand in hand with most of these (think Nikon A and E models habit of going out of collimation when dropped). If you want binoculars you can treat like hockey pucks and still be able to observe through them you need to consider the individual focus Porros mde to military specifications. Examples include the classic M13A and clones or Seiner's many models (as I remember they used to drive a car over them in their ads).
Your right about the military spec IF porro's. They were tough as nails and a lot of them are still going strong. The alpha roofs are tougher than some people think because the prisms are cemented in and even when you drop them they will not always get out of alignment. Patudo has a good point where he says the newer binoculars perform very well in weather resistance. Here is an example of some tough military porro's. The Steiner Binoculars 8x30 MIlitary Marine West Germany Vintage.
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Hermann
Well-known member
BAD example. These Steiners quickly got a reputation as being anything but tough. So the German army ditched them rather quickly and switched back to Hensoldt (=Zeiss), the Fero-D series (8x30, 7x50, 10x50).
Hermann
