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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Octarem Adjustments (1 Viewer)

I briefly owned a Nobilem Super and an Octarem at the same time back in the 80's. The dumbest binocular change I ever made was trading the Nobilem for a non-phase corrected 10x40 Dialyt. At the time I slightly preferred the Octarem to the Nobilem. I thought Octarem was a little sharper and brighter and the Nobilem had a more obvious green color bias. Alas, in those days I didn't appreciate the design extravagance of the Nobilem (the giant prisms and triplet objectives) and had no inkling of it's future value as a collectable.
 
Slightly off topic, but still on Zeiss 'big bins', it's not often you see a Zeiss Oberkochen 15x60 for sale but, would you believe, there are two being sold on eBay UK ending 7th April, within 2 hours of each other! To give you an idea of how expensive these were to buy new, in 1964 Wallace Heaton, New Bond Street, London, had them for sale at £125, which doesn't sound much until you note that a brand new Leitz Trinovid 10x40 cost a mere £71; if you can't quite reconcile that with today's prices, consider this: in 1995 a Zeiss 10x56B Night Owl was £1,059, whereas a 15x60 BGAT* was £1,599... not cheap!
 
Those big old Zeiss have now been sold, as follows: Carl Zeiss (Jena) Nobilem Super 8x50 achieved £366; Carl Zeiss (West) 15x60, 1st one went for £350, 2nd did better at £385. I won't bore you further with such eBay results; the point of the exercise was simply to show how these 25 to 50 years old optical masterpieces are still attracting keen buyers.
 
Hi - just stumbled across this while searching for possible sources of where to get replacement eye-cups.

Most interested to read how well thought of these bins are - I bought mine while on holiday on Orkney in the very late '80's or possibly early '90's and it's fascinating to find that they are now (seemingly) selling on eBay for significantly more than I paid for them.

Although mine have hardly been used (they were really only used for puffin spotting on that hol - and I bought a pocket sized waterproof pair of bins some years ago) and have lived in their case all these years, the rubber eye cups have deteriorated a little - does anyone perhaps have any ideas as to where to get replacements?

Thanks - Mike
 
Mike_Buckley said:
Hi - just stumbled across this while searching for possible sources of where to get replacement eye-cups.

Most interested to read how well thought of these bins are - I bought mine while on holiday on Orkney in the very late '80's or possibly early '90's and it's fascinating to find that they are now (seemingly) selling on eBay for significantly more than I paid for them.

Although mine have hardly been used (they were really only used for puffin spotting on that hol - and I bought a pocket sized waterproof pair of bins some years ago) and have lived in their case all these years, the rubber eye cups have deteriorated a little - does anyone perhaps have any ideas as to where to get replacements?

Thanks - Mike
Click to expand...

Hi Mike,

That was my Octarem that Steve posted above.

The eyecups appear to be similar if not identical to the Docter Nobilem eyecups.

Contact Docter in Germany and ask about this. The other question is the eyecup length since they no longer make the 8x50 model, the closest ER seems to be the 10x50 Nobilem at 18mm.
 
Lovely - many thanks - I've just got a pair of replacement eyecups and they seem to be identical to the ones on the glasses!

That said, I've not fitted them yet as getting the originals off is proving challenging. I may take them to the specialists!

Much tho I love these glasses, they really aren't getting used as my pocket sized Opticrons tend to go with me on my hillwalking and kayaking trips. So, IF anyone would like to have a sensible conversation with me about buying them, I'd be happy to do so "here" rather than eBaying them.

A reply on this thread, pm, or a mail to me at mb_j AT btinternet.com would open the discussion.

I can do some pics if it helps, but they really are in superb condition and certainly tidier than the pair sold on eBay mentioned earlier in the thread. They have their strap, objective covers (but there never were lens covers), and the lenses are fine. The case is in good condition too, with strap, although the leather hinge is slightly damaged. It still "works" tho.

Mike.
 
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I have a pair of the similar 8x50B 'Super Nobilem' version of these, which I picked up for £26 off Ebay... though they are pretty ropey :( I think both prisms are chipped, one very badly so that it interferes with the view. The eyecups have disintegrated though that isn't too much of a problem as I wear glasses. Lenses though are virtually unscratched. They are also badly out of collimation but despite all this I love them! I use them virtually as a 'telescope' currently on the occasions I use them by widening them so that I only look through one side (the side without the knackered prism!) and am amazed by the clarity and brightness of the view.

I'm hoping to get them sent off to Viking Repairs in Scotland to at least get the collimation sorted and see if they can do anything about that chipped prism like mask the chipped part or something. Sadly replacements are rarer than hen's teeth but if I can get them basically usable I'll be very happy!

@mike_buckley good luck with the sale, wish I had the money to buy them as these are quality kit.
 
Well, I can now confirm they were bought in 1991 in Lerwick, Orkney - just found the original instructions and sales receipt!

I have them listed in the For Sale threads, if anyone is interested - make me an offer.

Mike.
 
Just noticed there's an Octarem 8x50 BGA (rubber armour) in nice condition for sale on eBay UK for £349, with original grey webbing strap and case, if anyone has been looking for one. From the serial number it's just a little older than mine, mid 1980s. Wonderful optics, built to last for ever, very heavy, & still competes well with most modern models. If I could retain only one of my binoculars, this would be it: my favourite 'keeper'.

'Why do birdwatchers need binoculars? To sort the Wheatears from the Chaffinches'.
 
James Bean said:
Just noticed there's an Octarem 8x50 BGA (rubber armour) in nice condition for sale on eBay UK for £349, with original grey webbing strap and case.......................

'Why do birdwatchers need binoculars? To sort the Wheatears from the Chaffinches'.
Click to expand...

Hey James,
That's good! I like it. Did it originate with you?:t:
Bob
 
Hi Bob, Yes, I have a fascination for puns/plays on words/alliteration: "Prezeiss Zeiss", "I like a Leica" and "If I'm referring to binoculars, it's just an optical allusion". I also love to read others' quotations, eg. "I may not be totally perfect, but parts of me are excellent" and clever retorts, like when a lady told Winston Churchill, "If I were your wife, Winston, I think I'd give you poison", to which he replied, "If I were your husband, Madam, I think I'd take it!".
 
"Sir - you are drunk!" (Horrified lady, to Mr Churchill, at a social gathering).

"Madam - you are ugly - but in the morning, I shall be sober." (Mr Churchill, in response).

(What's this got to do with Octarems??)
 
At least I'm learning something about Octorems which I mistakenly assumed was an acronym meaning "8 rapid eye movements in a series" out of a sleep study. We started with your small ones which you want to sell and then we moved on to Super Nobilum and then to BGA and I realized that there were some pretty good porro's out there and James knows a lot about them and I'd like to get my hands on one!

As you see, we are not off topic!;)

Bob
 
That Octarem BGA sold for £300... There's another on UK eBay currently for £340 (BIN) with 4 days to go, this time the leatherette-covered version + strap, case and also an original (Zeiss) owner's leaflet. Could be worth trying a 'best offer' ?
 
Someone obviously did try a 'best offer' on that Octarem, and got it for £290 ($460).
Still not bad for a 'golden oldie' from the 1980s...
 
Well, my Octarems have now gone on to a new owner in the States. Many memories go with them, so I do hope he enjoys using them for many years. Mike
 
More high prices for Zeiss Jena Octarem family on UK eBay: currently, an 8x50BGA at a Buy It Now of £400, and a 12x50B Dodecarem at a starting price of £499...
 
Hello Everybody,

I am a new registered user, so it is nice for me to be here with your professional and practical themes.

Well, that Zeiss Dodecarem 12x50B offered on ebay.uk for price £499 was my auction. I am a still lucky owner of that fantastic binoculars. I have offered them on ebay for rather high price because they are in perfect both technical and visual condition, nearly like stock binoculars.
A few years ago I also had Octarem 8x50B.

I can confirm your previous opinion that these models of late Zeiss Jena production binoculars like Octarem 8x50B and Dodecarem 12x50B are very professional job of Zeiss, they have been constructed at times of 1985-1990, but still can compete with todays marked expansive binos.

Before last offer on ebay I inspected my Dodecarem with professional optical plant Astrokrak which build scientific telescopes, specialists apart from inspection additionally put nitrogen into my Dodecarem because Octarem and Dodecarem are binos that have factory installed special anti-leak system. Moreover, mechanical system of that binos is perfectly designed, comparable and even better quality that mechanics of todays more expansive marked binoculars...Carl Zeiss Jena at days of its golden age did not saved on good materials...
Optically Dodecarem and Octarem are based on T3M coatings, which are not revolutionary comparing with todays coating technology, but T3M system is still applicable as good quality.
Both Octarem and Dodecarem are rather quite big porro binos based on big prisms. In spite of being quite big Dodecarem and Octarem are very well balanced and reliable binos, which is important because when you make hands observations the picture do not jump...
But in active birding compact binos are seems to be more useful...

Greetings for all fans and owners of CZJ Octarem and Dodecarem binos.

Regards for all from Poland
Slawomir
 
 
Welcome Slawomir... It's nice to have another Octarem fan on board. There aren't many binocular enthusiasts who've experienced the delight of using this truly magnificent 'bin', most people assuming that Zeiss Jena were a 'poor relation' of Zeiss West, churning out thousands of quite good 8x30 Jenoptems for the masses. But the Octarems/Dodecarems and Nobilems demonstrated that, on occasions, Jena could equal or better Zeiss West. You have only to read Holger Merlitz's comparison tests to see what masterpieces CZ Jena accomplished in the 1980s, and some of us have the good fortune to be still using them 25 years on...
 
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