[Hermann]

Originally Posted by LPT

I don't have any Trinovids although I have several circa 1950's Leitz Porros (Binuxit 8X30, Decimarit 10X60, Mardocit 12X60) and these are superb binoculars. It's my impression that optically the Uppendahl prism Trinovids were not equal to the Porros they replaced although ergonomically they were far superior which was their great attraction. Opinions??

ANY roof prim binocular without phase-coating won't come close to a well-made porro, with resolution and contrast being the main issues. Phase-coating was only invented in the late 1980's.

Hermann

[looksharp65]

Today I received an old Meopta 6x30, single-layer coated and with center focus. They are in very good used condition. By the look of the logo I can tell it was made somewhere between 1947 to 1956.

This is not going to be a full-scale review. I'll mention about my initial impressions and make some superficial comparisons to a couple of other binoculars.
Complementary posts may be added.

The short story: This is a gem! I have preferences that never will be met by vintage binoculars, but in every respect they did meet or surpass my (admittedly low) expectations.

Let's start with its shortcomings:

1) Since I have the Vortex Fury 6.5x32 and usually wear spectacles, the Meopta was bought for the intended use with contact lenses. I was after a binocular with short eye relief. My wish was granted, by a very small margin against too low eye relief.
Another millimeter higher the rigid eyecup, and I would not be able to see the field stop. For me it's OK, for someone else they may have too little eye relief.

2) It does suffer from considerable ghosting in less favourable circumstances.
When the Sun is low, reflections become bothersome. Then again, not so at noon or (obviously) when looking away from the Sun.

3) Possibly as a result from restauration, the diopter moves too easily.

4) The close focus is around 3.5 meters


Then, here come the good things:

1) When I carried the parcel home, I harboured a gnawing suspicion that there's an empty leather case within. Luckily, I was wrong!
The binoculars are very lightweight, but not to the extent that they lack that reassuring solidity one has come to expect from vintage bins.

2) They are surprisingly small and svelte - much smaller than I remember that the Jenoptem 8x30s were. The ocular lenses are about 10-11 mm in diameter, but even the outer diameter of the oculars is liberatingly thin.

3) Apart from the freely turning diopter the mechanics are superb.
The central hinge is very stiff and the focus wheel - which of course goes clockwise towards infinity! - is easy to turn. It is surprisingly fast for such an old binocular. I haven't measured it, but it seems negligibly slower than the Fury's wheel. Everything seems very solid - imagine a Jenoptem with unnecessary bulk and weight removed. The central bridge can be rocked by about a millimeter but moves back promptly.
These look and feel more field-worthy than the sleek and delicate pre-war porros.

4) These are sharp! When boosting them 2.5x, on-axis CA is nonexistent.
The Furys show considerably more. The edge sharpness suffers from some curvature of field, but about 70% of the FOV can achieve full focus.
Unfortunately there is no clear sky now to provide any pin-point star test conditions. I'll get back about that.

5) The field of view is only a smidgeon narrower than the Fury's. I'd guess it's around 8.3 degrees or 145 m/1000 m or 435 ft/1000 yds but this may be proved wrong.
Their AFOV though, is visibly smaller than the Fury's due to their lesser magnification - probably around 50 degrees. In that sense, these can't be called wide angle binoculars. Anyhow, the low magnification grants a wide TFOV.

6) Their colour renditon is only slightly warm. I would say that the Zeiss (West) 10x40 BGAT* is marginally more yellow than the Meopta.
This is a real relief after having tried the Swift Newport MkII (very blue), the IOR Valdada 7x40 (heavy green tint) and the Jenoptem (considerably brown/yellow).

7) Despite the fact that they are single-coated, colour saturation and brightness is a lot better than I had dared to hope for.
Admittedly, the (FMC) Fury is brighter. But even though the difference is clearly visible, the Meopta isn't annoyingly dark.
On the contrary, it once again performs strikingly similar to many modern binoculars.

8) If it matters, the looks of the Meopta porro may be the most "classy" of all binoculars I have ever seen.
It is not only their looks, but also how the engineering has been exercised.
If these were to be used beneath a camera, the only possible one would be the Leica M3 or M4.
That is how I perceive these - solid but svelte, precision engineered and simply classy in a most modest way.
That said, they are undeniably dated. But still, they have aged with grace.

To be continued...

[Simon S]

Originally Posted by looksharp65

Today I received an old Meopta 6x30, single-layer coated and with center focus. They are in very good used condition. By the look of the logo I can tell it was made somewhere between 1947 to 1956.

This is not going to be a full-scale review. I'll mention about my initial impressions and make some superficial comparisons to a couple of other binoculars.
Complementary posts may be added.

The short story: This is a gem! I have preferences that never will be met by vintage binoculars, but in every respect they did meet or surpass my (admittedly low) expectations.

Let's start with its shortcomings:

1) Since I have the Vortex Fury 6.5x32 and usually wear spectacles, the Meopta was bought for the intended use with contact lenses. I was after a binocular with short eye relief. My wish was granted, by a very small margin against too low eye relief.
Another millimeter higher the rigid eyecup, and I would not be able to see the field stop. For me it's OK, for someone else they may have too little eye relief.

2) It does suffer from considerable ghosting in less favourable circumstances.
When the Sun is low, reflections become bothersome. Then again, not so at noon or (obviously) when looking away from the Sun.

3) Possibly as a result from restauration, the diopter moves too easily.

4) The close focus is around 3.5 meters


Then, here come the good things:

1) When I carried the parcel home, I harboured a gnawing suspicion that there's an empty leather case within. Luckily, I was wrong!
The binoculars are very lightweight, but not to the extent that they lack that reassuring solidity one has come to expect from vintage bins.

2) They are surprisingly small and svelte - much smaller than I remember that the Jenoptem 8x30s were. The ocular lenses are about 10-11 mm in diameter, but even the outer diameter of the oculars is liberatingly thin.

3) Apart from the freely turning diopter the mechanics are superb.
The central hinge is very stiff and the focus wheel - which of course goes clockwise towards infinity! - is easy to turn. It is surprisingly fast for such an old binocular. I haven't measured it, but it seems negligibly slower than the Fury's wheel. Everything seems very solid - imagine a Jenoptem with unnecessary bulk and weight removed. The central bridge can be rocked by about a millimeter but moves back promptly.
These look and feel more field-worthy than the sleek and delicate pre-war porros.

4) These are sharp! When boosting them 2.5x, on-axis CA is nonexistent.
The Furys show considerably more. The edge sharpness suffers from some curvature of field, but about 70% of the FOV can achieve full focus.
Unfortunately there is no clear sky now to provide any pin-point star test conditions. I'll get back about that.

5) The field of view is only a smidgeon narrower than the Fury's. I'd guess it's around 8.3 degrees or 145 m/1000 m or 435 ft/1000 yds but this may be proved wrong.
Their AFOV though, is visibly smaller than the Fury's due to their lesser magnification - probably around 50 degrees. In that sense, these can't be called wide angle binoculars. Anyhow, the low magnification grants a wide TFOV.

6) Their colour renditon is only slightly warm. I would say that the Zeiss (West) 10x40 BGAT* is marginally more yellow than the Meopta.
This is a real relief after having tried the Swift Newport MkII (very blue), the IOR Valdada 7x40 (heavy green tint) and the Jenoptem (considerably brown/yellow).

7) Despite the fact that they are single-coated, colour saturation and brightness is a lot better than I had dared to hope for.
Admittedly, the (FMC) Fury is brighter. But even though the difference is clearly visible, the Meopta isn't annoyingly dark.
On the contrary, it once again performs strikingly similar to many modern binoculars.

8) If it matters, the looks of the Meopta porro may be the most "classy" of all binoculars I have ever seen.
It is not only their looks, but also how the engineering has been exercised.
If these were to be used beneath a camera, the only possible one would be the Leica M3 or M4.
That is how I perceive these - solid but svelte, precision engineered and simply classy in a most modest way.
That said, they are undeniably dated. But still, they have aged with grace.

To be continued...

I have a few pairs of these, the latest have good optics.

[looksharp65]

[looksharp65]

Originally Posted by Simon S

I have a few pairs of these, the latest have good optics.

Simon, is that your Meopta 8x30 with Kershaw eyepieces and bridge?

//L

[Simon S]

Sorry for delay in responding. No it was just the eyelenses nothing else.
Love your Meopta, what is the view like?

[looksharp65]

Originally Posted by Simon S

Sorry for delay in responding. No it was just the eyelenses nothing else.
Love your Meopta, what is the view like?

Simon, I wrote about that a few posts up!
It is about as good as one could expect - the lack of modern multicoatings does make a difference. Apart from some ghosting and straylight, everything is fine.

//L

[Steve C]

I've decided I'm not really born to collect stuff just to have a collection of stuff. I'm still going to do that to a degree with my Swifts, but I have decided to sell some of the "way to blasted many" binoculars I have . I have put some in the classifieds, but will reference it here as well. So anybody interested can start there or PM me for a more complete list.

Another motivator I must confess, is the now becoming dire need to get my laptop replaced before it dies at a critical time.

I have a couple of nice Zeiss Jenoptems, 8x30, one of which (a fully multi- coated one), could pass for new. There are several really good Tasco 7x35's and some others too.

[coolhand68]

Over the last two years I've collected a few pair of classics. I just can't seem to pass up a good deal.

Tasco 7x35 extra wide angle light weight - surprisingly crisp, sharp and clear. Eye relief is not very generous though.

Hensoldt Wetzlar 6x30 - sharp, clear, and nice contrast. Very impressive little set of binoculars for this vintage (early 60's?).

Zeiss Jena 8x30 (Jenoptem) - Serial numer is in the 600XXXX range. Scored a mint set off an auction site. Nice, but there's something about Zeiss glass that doesn't seem to do it for me. They are bright and contrasty, but sometimes the colors seem to get washed out from too much brightness. I notice that with the newer 8x30 FL's as well. There's also a mysterious halo around the edges at certain angles during viewing.

Leitz Binuxit 8x30 - Mine date to about the mid to late 50's I believe, possibly early 60's. They have a nice clear, sharp image, slightly warm. Only minor gripe is that these older porros don't have very good close focus ability so they aren't ideal for backyard feeder watching. Great for other occasions like sporting events.

Hartmann Optik Wetzlar Porlerim 8x30 - Probably early 50's. Has these serviced by Nicolas Crista--he does great work. These are some sleepers; optically they are right on par with Zeiss and Leitz and very well made. Not sure why they don't get more recognition, but if you can score a pair of these in good shape don't pass them up!

Bausch and Lomb Zephyr 7x35 - Mine date back to around 1947, and I always impressed at the image of these vintage binoculars. Amazing clarity, sharpness and contrast for glass that's nearly 70 years old. They are also very light weight. Only minor gripe is that they have a narrow POV.

Yashica 10x50 - Nice, average in performance, I wouldn't go out of my way to score one though. I am curious how the Yashica 8x30's perform.

Pentax Jupiter 8x30 - I got these cheap and had them cleaned and serviced by Suddarth. Came back like a new set of binoculars. Not sure what the vintage is on these, maybe 1960's? Not very bright and focus distance is again not great, but if you can find these at a good price they are worth a look.

Nikon 7x50 Featherweight - Also had these serviced by Suddarth, who wrote back how impressive this vintage Nikon glass was. These are incredibly sharp and clear with great color rendition and contrast. One thing about these, don't let the featherweight fool you, these are some big honking binoculars. Sweet to look through though, especially in the twilight hour.

Nikon 9x35A - I often see these listed on ebay for around $125 in mint condition--at that price these are a bargain! They are a notch below the "E" series Nikon's but not very far below. You can do worse at that price with some of the newer glass out there. Of course you give up close focus and water proofing, but what a sweet view you get through these. Stick with the later ones if you can.

Nikon 7x35 Nippon Kogaku - Also had these serviced by Nicolas Crista, almost as nice as the 9x35 except these are slightly softer around the edges. The newer Action series will give you a better view overall, so unless you are a collector, you aren't missing anything.

I also have an older set of Sears 7x35 lying about. Not a bad glass. Made in Japan, only paid $5 for them at a flea market so I couldn't pass them up at that price.

[Pinewood]

Originally Posted by coolhand68

Leitz Binuxit 8x30 - Mine date to about the mid to late 50's I believe, possibly early 60's. They have a nice clear, sharp image, slightly warm. Only minor gripe is that these older porros don't have very good close focus ability so they aren't ideal for backyard feeder watching. Great for other occasions like sporting events.

.

Hello Coolhand68,

Some of the Geman binoculars from the 1950's had cement, Canadian balsam, which yellowed with age. I have a Binuxit with a definite warm tinge, but a slightly newer one does not exhibit this warm tone. The Binuxit has rather poor eye relief.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood

[Renze de Vries]

Originally Posted by coolhand68

Leitz Binuxit 8x30 - Mine date to about the mid to late 50's I believe, possibly early 60's. They have a nice clear, sharp image, slightly warm. Only minor gripe is that these older porros don't have very good close focus ability so they aren't ideal for backyard feeder watching. Great for other occasions like sporting events.

My Binuxit focuses close at ca. 4 mtrs or yards. Not too bad I'd say for a 1950's/60's binocular.

Renze

[Steve C]

I think you will find nearly all of the vintage porros, to have very limited (as in next to none) eye relief. Porros as a class do not excel at close focus. They likely never will, largely due to optical constraints imposed by widely spaced objectives.

So if lots of eye relief is necessary for you with a binocular, vintage porros likely will never be your cup of tea.

Other than that, there is a lot to recommend these oldies.

[Ysterkvisten]

Got the advice from FrankD to post my question here so here we go:

I just bought an old pair of porro Kowa 10x50 Field 7,2. Says Fully Coated Triple tested. No. 821484.
Does anyone know anything about them?
They are just amazing by the way.
Thanks guys

Janne

[FrankD]

In case he doesn't get to the thread anytime soon here is his Flickr page for binoculars.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/binoculars/

[Ysterkvisten]

FrankD
I've seen his collection and have been looking for any Kowa, but no luck.
Hopefully, an image will be attached here of my find.

[Simon S]

Originally Posted by Ysterkvisten

FrankD
I've seen his collection and have been looking for any Kowa, but no luck.
Hopefully, an image will be attached here of my find.

That looks very much like a Bushnell Banner as well, a nice optical performance.
A good find indeed, are the optics good?

[mooreorless]

J after our messages I found a Kowa 10x50 Prominar poro on Ebay that had been sold. Information says 7.0 Degree and yours has 7.2 ° listed. There is a picture but the listing is from Jan. 22,2013 and too old. It sold for $250 US. I don't think this is the same as yours. The seller has sold some nice binoculars.

[Ysterkvisten]

Close but no cigar Steve :-)
Thanks for trying to figure this out.

This is strange. Kowa must have sold more than 1 pair of binos back then (whenever that was). What happened to all Bino collectors?
The 3D effect in them is amazing. At 30 ft and bushes around the bird, it just pops out!
Skål (Cheers) Janne