• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Vintage binoculars (1 Viewer)

Another pair of binoculars that I have, a pair of Ross Power 6 magnification IF's with 24mm objective lenses, these are I believe a licence built Zeiss copy(please feel free to let me know otherwise as historical accuracy is paramount) they are extremely good giving a very clear,sharp image with a very good 3D image.
Makers information etc on prism plates appears to be inlaid in silver wire and leather covering is brown not the usual black.
They are so good I am looking forn 8x CF version!
 

Attachments

  • DSC02197.JPG
    DSC02197.JPG
    27.7 KB · Views: 331
Last edited:
By an amazing stroke of luck I came across a new and still packaged Baby Boa in a charity shop, got it for £3.50!

I plucked up the courage to have a go at cleaning my old Voigtlander bins. Took them apart (got off a stiff objective lens with the Boa!) to give the prisms a good clean, though couldn't get the eyepiece end prisms out fully as couldn't get the shoulder plates off as couldn't work out how those individual focus eyepieces came out. Noticed sadly one of the prisms is chipped but out of the FOV so doesn't affect the view. I cleaned the prisms and lenses I could get to with some cleaning fluid (meant for 'high tech' appliances lol!) which worked a treat! The view is now much better, although there's still a bit of cloudiness and some dirt particles, probably in the eyepiece optics which I can't get to or the parts of those prisms I cannot fully remove. However it's brought the Voigtlander's potential out, and the view is very sharp and not too dull for a pair of probably pre-WW2 binoculars! :D

btw how do I remove the IF eyepieces? Do they screw off, or are there screws somewhere? If there are I can't find any, there's a couple of tiny holes in each eyepiece with the eyecups unscrewed but seem too small for screws, and can't see any screw in there anyway.

@potts34137a - how good are those L & B bins? I see quite a few of them on Ebay and wonder about giving them a try but always thought they were cheap Japanese optics - am I wrong on that front? If so I might invest in a pair!
 
Hi SB,
I guess you miss typed L&B ? for Leibermann and Gortz? if so well it depends...it seems originally they were possibly a genuine German concern based in Berlin that may or may not have made binoculars for other companies to badge themselves.
It appears that around the last war(WW2) they moved to England possibly London and collaborated with British makers, noticeably Wray and Dolland and possibly Newbold & Bulford.
This last part is my own theory as I have several pairs of Wray,Dolland and L&G and at a certain point/ time they are all pretty much identical in performance and build as well as serial numbering see here for further information on a different forum(my theory only)

http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthre...age/0/view/collapsed/sb/5/o/all/fpart/29/vc/1

The above thread is worth reading all the way back from page 1 and is also worth joining the group purely for it, contributiona are frequent helpfull and friendly.
As for optical performance on L&G's well some are average, some are good, some excellent and some quite poor! I have a decent pair of 10x 40's that are very respectable but I also have a very clean almost mint pair of Newbold & Bulford(enbeeco) 10 or 12 x 40's that are very dim and dull!
 
Hello Potts,

I do not do photographs but I would like to mention two old but still useful binoculars for bird watching:

B&L 7x35 Zephyrs with centre focussing and
Leitz 8x30 Binuxit

Both should be sought in the coated versions but both have shallow eye relief and fixed eye cups, making them problematic for wearers of specs.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood :scribe:
 
Leitz Binuxit is a lovely binocular but it won't focus closer than 25 - 30 feet, not close enough; sometimes I watch birds in the garden from inside the house and they come to within 12 feet of me. I would sooner have a Carl Zeiss Jena Deltrintem which is as good as a Binuxit, and better in that it focuses down to about 8 feet.
 
Thanks for tip Pinewood, I will look out for them, eye relief is not a problem for me yet.
I have just bought a pair of Emil Busch Ultralux 6x 24 CF's, after a clean they are extremely clear and crisp with an excellent 3D image also colour rendition appears spot on, obviously they are uncoated being c1925 (serial No173289) image is a little dim on dull days but these appear great for watching the birds on the table feeding just outside my window at around 8feet away...pictures to follow.
 
as promised Busch Ultralux 6x 24's, image is on a par with a Carl Zeiss Silvarem 6x 30 possibly a little narrower in field but optically as good.
 
John H.-S. said:
Leitz Binuxit is a lovely binocular but it won't focus closer than 25 - 30 feet, not close enough; sometimes I watch birds in the garden from inside the house and they come to within 12 feet of me. I would sooner have a Carl Zeiss Jena Deltrintem which is as good as a Binuxit, and better in that it focuses down to about 8 feet.
Click to expand...

Hello John,

I just checked my Binuxit, which focussed as close as 20 feet or six metres.
The 7x32 Zephyr gets a little closer. It is possible that the close focussing was improved on the Binuxit. Mine was made in 1951.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood :hi:
 
latest find -Zomz 12 x 40's

These arrived the other day, they are almost mint though case needs a restitch.
Image is excellent being BRIGHT, crisp , clear, VERY sharp, 3d effect is very good there is very little of the yellow cast usually associated with Russian binoculars.
The image does 'roll' a bit when panning but is fine when viewing stationary.
They are also well made and fairly light, eye relief is around 12mm, they focus down to around 12 feet so are pretty useful for birding.
Not sure of serial number system on Zomz but I guess built around mid 1970's? does anyone know different?
 

Attachments

  • DSC02312.JPG
    DSC02312.JPG
    30.6 KB · Views: 443
Last edited:
I think the first two numbers of the serial no. are the year of manufacture, I've got a very similar pair of 12x40s which I think are from 1977, will get some pics up later.

Again, a very nice, sharp view and little of that yellow tinge to the colour but not overpowering, the only problem is they seem to my eyes to be a tiny bit out of collimation? The images do line up but there is a slight delay as my eyes compensate for a slight misalignment, and again when I finish viewing but whilst using the bins there's no strain, the view is then quite relaxed. Would that be the bins or my eyes?

From what I've read these former-USSR binoculars had rather hit and miss build quality but rarely go out of alignment, so wonder if these have been mis-collimated at the factory and are still out now? Any way to align them or am I best living with the slight collimation issue?
 
Hi SB not sure that rule works with Zomz bins, I have a pair of earlier logo Zomz 7x50 IF's and they begin with 11 and were not made in 1911 I am sure? I think I posted a pic of them on this thread, they had the old logo which was used until 1962 also they are marked made in CCCP in Russian and I dont think CCCP was around until after the revolution?
The first 2 digits of the serial number does however work with Komz binoculars I am asured.
Did you get the Voigtlanders sorted?
 
Just about got them sorted, thanks! Think the collimation is very slightly out now though :( not surprising as I was messing about with the prisms removing and cleaning them! Think to finish them off I need to find out how the eyepiece optics come out so I can clean them, and should then be able to get the shoulder plates off so I can get the eyepiece-side prisms out to clean them properly too. Much clearer view out of them now anyway, sharpness is up there with a lot of modern bins!

I'm going to give my ZOMZ 12x40s a bit of a clean now, they're in good nick but lenses a bit grubby - with any luck it's that which is making the bins look a bit mis-collimated, though I suspect I'm being a bit optimistic there!
 
if the Voigtlanders are IF's you willneed to check there are no screws holding the occulars in place, when your'e sure there are NO screws left then just unscrew them either by hand or using strap wrench.
the occulsrs themselves usually just screw out from inside bottom of lense, you may need some small pliers used with padding to protect the screwthreads and very careful not to damage the lenses.
Make sure you note which way up all the lenses come out...there may be 3! in each side!
 
Not sure where to put this really, but just a thought could this thread be made into a sub-forum? just for vintage say pre 1985? binoculars.
Threads on older and vintage binoculars keep popping up on brand specific sub-forums and thus information about older binoculars is all over the place. Would it not be better to keep it all in one forum where the 'experts' or enthusiasts are and can help with questions etc....just a thought.
 
Warning! This thread is more than 15 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Similar threads

D
Recommendation for a binocular
Replies
6
Views
544
MiddleRiver
MiddleRiver
D
New binoculars under 200€
2
Replies
32
Views
3K
Davide_Videvitt
D
S
Which ones are your dream binoculars?
3 4 5
Replies
98
Views
6K
Ofthewoods
O
G
Leica, Zeiss & Swarovski binoculars compared: A personal report
2 3
Replies
42
Views
4K
Paultricounty
P
P
What do beginners notice most when looking through binoculars.
2
Replies
33
Views
2K
Paultricounty
P

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top