bausch and lomb elites info please (1 Viewer)

[Prestdj]

when i started bird in 1985 at the age of 13 i had some pretty rubbish binoculars, i think my first were unbranded 7x35 made in japan but as a first pair they were great, then in 1990i visited the isles of scilly and saw a lad about my age with a pair of very sleek looking bins, i looked through them.........wow
so at the age of 18 and earning £32 a week i saved and saved then finally a year later i went to focal point in cheshire courtesy of dad he of course made sure i was sure!, as £600 in 1990 was a lot of money
i left with a pair of bausch and lomb 8x42 elites stunning and still are as i used them for 31 years until in april 2021 i bought a pair of 10x42 elites £169 on ebay same model and just as happy with them

good field of view
and the natural view no brighter no darker its natural also the depth of field on my 8x40 is amazing just a little turn brings it into focus

great optics

so i would like to know the history of these binoculars

thanks

 

[Mark9473]

Here's an article from around 2001 or so on the renowned Better View Desired website:
Waterproof Elite 8x42

 

[henry link]

This thread from 2011 has a huge amount of information on the first few generations of Elites, including the optical designs and the history of model changes.

Early Elite's

I am interested in information pertaining to the early B and L Elite roof prism binoculars. These would be the non phase corrected, non rubber covered versions, probably pre 1998. I believe there came in a 7 x 35 and an 8 x 42. I tried a ton of Google searches and have not even managed a...

www.birdforum.net

 

[Gijs van Ginkel]

When we lived in the US for a couple of years I went to a binocular shop asking for a B and L Elite. The shopkeeper, hearing my Dutch accent said: sir, the European binoculars are so much better, why for heavens sake do you want to buy a B and L Elite? I believed him, so I ended by buying a Leica binocular and we were both happy.
Gijs van Ginkel

 

[Prestdj]

many thanks for the replys