Hensoldt 7x50 German Army - any experiences (1 Viewer)

Has anyone of you tried one of these surplus German Army 7x50 Hensoldt binos? I mean the old batch and not the newer ones with laser protection.

How do they perform in daily use and in field conditions when it is not necessary to turn the focus wheel everey few seconds?

Any thought about the Zeiss 7x50 B nautic as a more modern alternative?

Not the 7x50, but I had an 8x30. Build and optical quality were excellent, but the old coatings make for a gloomy view like it's just about to pour down rain. Still, very cool in their way. Holger Merlitz reviews these on his website, not sure if he has done the 7x50.

Ron

Elmer Fudd said:

Has anyone of you tried one of these surplus German Army 7x50 Hensoldt binos? I mean the old batch and not the newer ones with laser protection.

How do they perform in daily use and in field conditions when it is not necessary to turn the focus wheel everey few seconds?

Any thought about the Zeiss 7x50 B nautic as a more modern alternative?

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As ronh notes, the transmission was in the 70% range, less if the range finding reticle was installed, so the image was not modern bright, but frankly, the 7x50 has lots of light to squander.
They were good clunky optics for me, nothing too memorable. I liked the East German 7x40 DF more.

I've never used the 7x50B, but would expect it to be a splendid glass optically. However, for birders, the IF of the 7x50B is a killer.

etudiant said:

As ronh notes, the transmission was in the 70% range...

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Hello Étudiant,

If memory serves me correctly that is the same light transmission for a WWII USN 7x50 Mark 28. My guess is that the Mark 28 did not have coated prisms. That suggests that the design of the Hensoldt was truly obsolescent. As you point out, that is not terrible, given the inherent light gathering of a 7x50.

I have used a Romanian clone of the 7x40 DF, which is very nice in a rather smaller package. I have also used the current Zeiss 7x50, with its oversized prisms. The Zeiss is larger but it must be the top dog in this class, along with the Nikon ProStar. However, both the stargazers and the hunters have abandoned this format, whose individual focussing was never suited for bird watching. It remains the choice for mariners, mostly because its 7mm exit pupil accommodated a rolling deck.
With GPS compasses and reticles are rather unnecessary


Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood :hi: