8x30 vintage by serial #? (1 Viewer)

Does anyone out there have a serial #/year list for Zeiss bino's (8x30 and 8x30B's). The numbers are 534562 (8x30's), and 934319 (8x30B's). My guess is that the 8x30's are vintage late 50's, and the 8x30B's are from around 1980. Thanks.

rfield54 said:

Does anyone out there have a serial #/year list for Zeiss bino's (8x30 and 8x30B's). The numbers are 534562 (8x30's), and 934319 (8x30B's). My guess is that the 8x30's are vintage late 50's, and the 8x30B's are from around 1980. Thanks.

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Hi,

Your 8x30 porro is very late 1950's, could be even 1960/1. Your 8x30B porro is early 1970's.

Renze

Thanks for the reply, Renze. The 8x30B's have noticebly clearer, untinted optics. Better depth perception. I don't know if that's the right phrase. What I mean is it's easier to determine the distance between foreground and background objects with the newer ones. Is that depth of field? I'm new at the technical end of binoculars.

For interest here are links to pages for those on Fan Tao's site :
http://binofan.home.att.net/z8x30.htm
http://binofan.home.att.net/z8x30b.htm

rfield54 said:

Thanks for the reply, Renze. The 8x30B's have noticebly clearer, untinted optics. Better depth perception. I don't know if that's the right phrase. What I mean is it's easier to determine the distance between foreground and background objects with the newer ones. Is that depth of field? I'm new at the technical end of binoculars.

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Hi,

I compared 8x30 and 8x30B side by side and can't find any difference in depth of field. However, we completely agree on the B's being optically better: they're clearer, sharper, more contrasty. My explanation is their limited field of view. Those single layer coated, wide angle-Zeiss West porro's display a slight greyish hue, softening the image. The remedy would be of course multi coating but, as proven by the 8x30B, a field stop is effective as well.

Renze

Renze de Vries said:

Hi,
Your 8x30B porro is early 1970's.
Renze

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No disrespect, but I'm more inclined to believe my 8x30B's are vintage late 70's by: 1) the superior optics 2) the stock plastic strap (not leather) 3) the fact that they say "Made In West Germany". Once again, is anyone aware of a serial #/ vintage list for the Zeiss Oberkochen (West Germany) binocs?

Also, I'm still not sure exactly why the newer 8x30B's are so much more true optically than the older 8x30's, but I assume - like the Jena's - it has to do with a switch to multi-coating. If so, the obvious question is: when and at what approximate serial number did this switch take place? I'm learning that with the Jena's, the switch to their "T3M" multi-coating took place in 1978 (serial number near 4,700,000). Could that have happenned with the Oberkochen's as well? At around the same time? Any answers will be appreciated.