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Bushnell 7x26 Elite Custom vs Elite e2 Custom (1 Viewer)

Re: 9x26 Customs. I bought mine on eBay about five years ago. I've had a standing search for 9x26 binoculars on eBay since then but have had no B&L Custom hit yet. They're obviously very rare.

Charlie
 
I remember the 9x26, though I never tried one. I think the B&L Custom near-twin, the Monk Explorer also came in 7x26 and 9x26 versions. Another bin to remember from the past was the Swift 8x26 Trekker. The body seemed to be made by the same company that made the first polycarbonate B&L 7x26 and Monk 7x26 Explorer, but I don't know how the optics compared.

--AP
 
Mark, Good news on the Elite 7x26. I figured what the hell, I have two of them. I just wiggled the rubber armor around the objective housing and exposed enough of the lens barrel underneath to see that it indeed looks like it is metal. I see machining marks along the edge, which is very sharp. If it is not metal, then it is the most metallic plastic I've ever seen. BTW, the rubber snapped back with no issues. I'll await any further evidence either way, but it does seem to be metal.

Mike

I just came across a review at this site: http://www.opticsreviewer.com/elite-custom.html that says the Bushnell factory technical rep advised the author that the new Elite 7x26 has an aluminum alloy body, not magnesium, under the rubber armor. It is a nice review, BTW.

Also, I just noticed a metal lapse in my big post of all the models. I ascribed version three, the metal body micrometer adjuster one with the new ocular housing as having moved the adjuster from left to right side. It was on the left side for all of this type (all metal and leatherette types) and the adjuster was moved to the right side with the later polycarbonate body version. (And I was looking right at them as I typed it! Duh!)

Mike
 
Further new information on the early metal Custom Compact chronology. I just found a magazine article, Field & Stream, March, 1965, reviewing the Custom Compact. Also saw photos of the instruction paperwork for one, dated 1964-65, packed with warranty card from 1967. These all have photos showing the Push-Pull eyecup model that I originally believed was the second version for the metal Custom Compact. It is actually the first model. I had believed it was the second model because it (oddly) has the closer focus distance of the third micrometer type Bushnell and fourth Bausch & Lomb versions.

So, the Push-Pull with the neck strap on the front center hinge cap was the 1960's original version, the cylindrical roll down cup one that came with Project Gemini paperwork, with inner prism housing mounted neck strap lugs was the 1970's version, the micrometer adjuster version was the 1980's and the Bausch & Lomb was the 1990's version (until 1993.)
 
Mike V - thanks for all the work and effort you have gone through doing your research.

Some additional info for you. Have literally had dozens of the Custom Compacts pass my hands. Have only retained a few pairs. One is the 60's 6x25 version which you described - lift up eye cups, diopter on left side, and really not designed to be carried around the neck with no practical attachment place to be found. I have jury-rigged a system which is heavy nylon black ties snugged up around the body with a cord running underneath, positioned so the compact hangs against my chest and yet can be tucked into a shirt pocket. Not pretty, but functional.

If you have not run into the rubber covers for the Customs. an after market product which I tried to use, I found them most unsatisfactory. Reason. When in place they affect both the focus and collimation.
Again, thanks for all your research.

John
 
Mike V - thanks for all the work and effort you have gone through doing your research.

Some additional info for you. Have literally had dozens of the Custom Compacts pass my hands. Have only retained a few pairs. One is the 60's 6x25 version which you described - lift up eye cups, diopter on left side, and really not designed to be carried around the neck with no practical attachment place to be found. I have jury-rigged a system which is heavy nylon black ties snugged up around the body with a cord running underneath, positioned so the compact hangs against my chest and yet can be tucked into a shirt pocket. Not pretty, but functional.

If you have not run into the rubber covers for the Customs. an after market product which I tried to use, I found them most unsatisfactory. Reason. When in place they affect both the focus and collimation.
Again, thanks for all your research.

John

Hi John, it is interesting that you have one with no strap. I recall someone commenting somewhere that the very first 1960's ones had no strap. The ones in the article show the same central strap as mine, mounted on the larger version of the hinge cap, and some photos show no strap, intimating that the strap was removable. (Mine can easily be removed by unscrewing the hinge cap and sliding the strap out the back end, then screwing the hinge cap back on. Does yours have the small hinge cap or a larger one with a hole (possibly plugged) in it?

Mike
BTW, I had heard of those covers and have photos of them, and yes, they were known to mess things up
 
Mike - Mine has the hole in the end, but that means the strap or string starts in the wrong place. I believe the original compact was thought of as a purely pocket binocular, John
 
Mike - Mine has the hole in the end, but that means the strap or string starts in the wrong place. I believe the original compact was thought of as a purely pocket binocular, John

Hi John, it sounds like you have one that had its strap removed. The early strap had the binocular hanging objective end up and was a bit awkward. You can make one up by getting a piece of black shoelace similar to the kind the factory made them out of, make a tight knot on the end and unscrew the hinge cap. Run the strap though the hole, using the knot as the retainer. You want the knot to be big enough to not slip through the hole, but small enough to still fit inside the cap. The factory used a short bit of plastic tubing to line the hole so as not to fray the strap. Then screw the cap back on. These photos show the setup:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a3d603b3127ccef3b8af5e76b400000030O00EaOWjFsycMQe3nw0/cC/f%3D0/ls%3D00108261409420130822232501044.JPG/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D720/ry%3D480/

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a3d603b3127ccef3b99cd116f600000030O00EaOWjFsycMQe3nw0/cC/f%3D0/ls%3D00108261409420130822232515662.JPG/ps%3D50/r%3D0/rx%3D720/ry%3D480/
 
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Over the past couple or more months I have purchased thru eBay, 3 pair of 7x26 Custom Compacts in as new condition. One pair is a Bushnell 7x26 non-Audubon. Blue lens coating. They are the only Cust. Comp. that I have seen with a diamond pattern focusing knob perimeter which is very 'grippy' to the finger.

The next pair is 7X26 Audubon - came in a box specifically used by Audubon labeled binoculars. Box bears designation BUSHNELL Custom Compact Binocular Model 10-7261 and the binoculars have a raised designation on the right hand barrel which says BUSHNELL. The lenses are blue coated. Box has a label from G.I. Joe's priced at $279.99. Google this seller. Maybe Wiki.

The last pair of 7x26 came in an Audubon box and were virtually brand new. They as well as the previous one had the Audubon bird logo on the LH barrel. The box bears designation Baush & Lomb Custom Compact Binocular 7x26mm Model 61-7261.The lenses are green coated and the right hand barrel has raised letters BAUSH & LOMB. Thes binoculars were originally purchased Nov. 25, 1991 from a retailer named LECHMERE. Price tag $259.99.

The 7x26 have a very narrow(depth of field) focusing range and are a bit more fussy as to eye placement. The optics are as outstanding as the 6x25 and the entire older Custom Compact series are in my opinion a first rate binocular. Well ahead of their time in every way. Hung around your neck, you soon forget they are there at 325 grams.

May 24/16
 
Over the past couple or more months I have purchased thru eBay, 3 pair of 7x26 Custom Compacts in as new condition. One pair is a Bushnell 7x26 non-Audubon. Blue lens coating. They are the only Cust. Comp. that I have seen with a diamond pattern focusing knob perimeter which is very 'grippy' to the finger.

The next pair is 7X26 Audubon - came in a box specifically used by Audubon labeled binoculars. Box bears designation BUSHNELL Custom Compact Binocular Model 10-7261 and the binoculars have a raised designation on the right hand barrel which says BUSHNELL. The lenses are blue coated. Box has a label from G.I. Joe's priced at $279.99. Google this seller. Maybe Wiki.

The last pair of 7x26 came in an Audubon box and were virtually brand new. They as well as the previous one had the Audubon bird logo on the LH barrel. The box bears designation Baush & Lomb Custom Compact Binocular 7x26mm Model 61-7261.The lenses are green coated and the right hand barrel has raised letters BAUSH & LOMB. Thes binoculars were originally purchased Nov. 25, 1991 from a retailer named LECHMERE. Price tag $259.99.

The 7x26 have a very narrow(depth of field) focusing range and are a bit more fussy as to eye placement. The optics are as outstanding as the 6x25 and the entire older Custom Compact series are in my opinion a first rate binocular. Well ahead of their time in every way. Hung around your neck, you soon forget they are there at 325 grams.

May 24/16

Hi John,

Nice trio there! Be careful or you will wind up with a dozen or more like me. Custom Compacts are addictive!!! The metal and leather B&L Audubon one is my personal favorite. The Audubon Bushnell with blue coatings and the embossed name on right housing was the last one made before the change to Bausch & Lomb branding and improved multi-coated lenses (green coating).

The first Bushnell you mentioned with diamond knurling matches one of my pre-Audubon Bushnells with an S serial prefix. That would be a fairly late version, prior to Bushnell marking them with Audubon markings. It should have the same late style flared out eye cups as the other two pairs, not the cylindrical ones of early Bushnells. Both of my metal B&Ls have square knurling on the rubber ring, and my Bushnell with Audubon marking has the same square rubber knurling. A different late metal Bushnell with a Q prefix has no rubber ring at all, but rather just grooves molded into the edge of the focus wheel. Not as nice as either rubber ring types. There are minor little detail differences all along the decades long production run of these little beauties. You definitely landed some of the choicest of the bunch.

Mike
 
Hello all:
My latest purchases are an( ELITE ) and 2 of the Plastic Fantastic. One came from England and had been tampered with on one barrel and simply was not usable. It had the Audubon Sandhill Crane on the focus knob. The soft carrying case had a small medallion which depicted a Roman gladiator. This is almost identical to the old logo that American Express used on their early credit cards.

The other came from the West coast and had a Raptor of some sort on the focus knob with wording 'BIRDING SERIES'. Also 'COMPACT '.

Both Bausch & Lomb and green coated both ocular and objective.

I like the feel and ease of use of the Plastic Fantastic. Optically they are the same to my tired eyes as the ELITE or any of the 7 x 26 by either Bushnell or Bausch.

I hope Mike V is still on this thread.
 
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