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Long shot - Zeiss Jena Super Nobilem spare prisms? (1 Viewer)

sammyboy

Well-known member
I've just bought a pair of Carl Zeiss Jena Nobilem 8x50B binoculars off Ebay that apparently have a badly chipped prism and are out of collimation for £32 inc. postage. First question - from this picture HERE are they the 'Super' Nobilems? They look like it to me, in which case I believe they are quite rare - how many were made? I know that in good nick these go for hundreds of pounds but am hoping I've not just wasted 32 quid on this damaged pair :-C

Secondly, is there anywhere I could try that might have a spare prism for this model to replace the chipped one? I'd prefer somewhere UK based but am willing to widen my search. I know about Optical Repairs and will drop them an email once I have the bins but have a feeling they might not have the part I need. I'm going to have a go at re-collimating the Nobilems when I get them early next week to get them into a usable state, will evaluate how badly damaged the prism is too.

I hope I'm not chasing a lost cause here as these seem to be an excellent pair of bins and I'd love to get them into a serviceable condition and try them out at a local reserve!
 
I've just bought a pair of Carl Zeiss Jena Nobilem 8x50B binoculars off Ebay that apparently have a badly chipped prism and are out of collimation for £32 inc. postage. First question - from this picture are they the 'Super' Nobilems? I know that in good nick these go for hundreds of pounds but am hoping I've not just wasted 32 quid on this damaged pair :-C

I think these are Super Nobilems but with a badly chipped prism, no eyecups and well worn cosmetics, these may well be a "parts only" purchase. It's really a shame as the Super Nobilems were highly regarded when they first appeared. The model was evidently produced with a "cost not an object" approach and discontinued shortly after introduction as a consequence. The successor binocular, the 8 x 50B Octarem, is no optically slouch either, and was cheaper to manufacture and therefore still affordable in today's secondhand market.
 
I've just bought a pair of Carl Zeiss Jena Nobilem 8x50B binoculars off Ebay that apparently have a badly chipped prism and are out of collimation for £32 inc. postage. First question - from this picture HERE are they the 'Super' Nobilems? They look like it to me, in which case I believe they are quite rare - how many were made? I know that in good nick these go for hundreds of pounds but am hoping I've not just wasted 32 quid on this damaged pair :-C

Secondly, is there anywhere I could try that might have a spare prism for this model to replace the chipped one? I'd prefer somewhere UK based but am willing to widen my search. I know about Optical Repairs and will drop them an email once I have the bins but have a feeling they might not have the part I need. I'm going to have a go at re-collimating the Nobilems when I get them early next week to get them into a usable state, will evaluate how badly damaged the prism is too.

I hope I'm not chasing a lost cause here as these seem to be an excellent pair of bins and I'd love to get them into a serviceable condition and try them out at a local reserve!

Try Dougie Bigot At Viking Repairs in Glasgow 0141 248 7179 anything regarding Carl Zeiss Jena Optic repairs, he is your man, mention my name he may just have the parts and he is very reasonable on price

Paul
 
Thanks for the responses, I'll probably recieve the Nobilems either next Tuesday or Wednesday so will know more then. I'll give Dougie a ring then Paul, thanks for the info! :)
 
Got the Nobilems today, as you can see from the picture (If it hasn't auto-resized it to a tiny thumbnail!) that the left upper prism is quite badly chipped :-C

Just fired an email off to Optical Repairs to see if they can help, will ring Viking Optical tomorrow and see if they can help.

Despite the huge chip, the view through that tube is still quite good - though any bright points like streetlamps have odd patterns round them that spread though a large portion of the field of view.

They are also badly miscollimated, might get them serviced & recollimated anyway even if they can't source a prism, I think they'd still be useable and hopefully worth it for their rarity and quality of view!
 

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Harald Ros in Eisfeld, Germany, does repairs on these. He restored a 12x50 Nobilem Spezial for me that had gotten its prism mounts broken in shipping( thank you, Deutsche Post).
He is also the man for servicing the more recent Docter Nobilems, that are still being produced. Your repair cost will substantially exceed your purchase price but you will have a splendid glass for a lifetime, These things are optical treasures.
Contact info for Harald:


Geräte-Service & Montage
Harald Ros
Coburger Straße 71
98673 Eisfeld
Germany

+49 (0) 3686 / 61 59 28
FAX +49 (0) 36 86 / 61 59 29

[email protected]
 
A rather late update on this - I emailed Harald Ros and he got back to me saying they didn't have any spare prisms :(

I've just this afternoon sent the Super Nobilems off to Dougie at Viking optical repairs, a recollimation and service will cost me between £50 and £60 but should be worth it!

I'm leaving the chipped prism for now, the bins should be quite useable with the damage once they have been recollimated and cleaned! Looking forward to getting them back :D
 
I've now sent the Nobilems to Viking Binocular repairs - it'll cost £56 for the cleaning and realignment of the optics and will take 10-14 days before I get them back.

Can't wait to get them back and give them a proper test run! :D
 
Got the Nobilems back today from Viking Optical Repairs, what a difference £56 makes! The collimation is spot on now, internal optics cleaner, though the externals are still rather grubby and don't seem to have been cleaned. However this isn't much of a problem as the optics are now serviceable.

I can now see the full potential of this excellent binocular, I'd say if you can find one for sale then get a pair, excellent glass!
 
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