Hi everyone I’m new here and live out in the country in England. The wildlife around me is amazing and I’m looking forward to learning about all the different birds I see. I was wondering if anyone could help me with a bit of history on my binoculars. I have my late grandads who loved them dearly but I cannot find anything to tell me how old and where they were made. I have a pair of Astral triple tested 10x50,field 5.5 No 920852. Can anyone help at all?
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Binoculars (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Tillie
- Start date
Hi Tillie and a warm welcome to you from all the Staff and Moderators. Your post has been moved to the Binocular forum as they're better placed to be able to help you.
I'm sure you will enjoy it here and I look forward to hearing your news.
I'm sure you will enjoy it here and I look forward to hearing your news.
Ratal
Well-known member
Made in Japan, late 1960s early 70s and was made for sale under many brand names but all to the same design and specs, just with varying cosmetic differences (and based off of ww2 binocular designs)
A good solid field binocular of its day.
Thank you for the information I can’t believe there’s nothing on the internet. I treasure them because of the memories and will continue to use them
Thank you for your help 👍
Ratal
Well-known member
They are a treasure - Keep them and enjoy them all at the same time. A link to the fondest memories of the past.
Welcome, and I wish you much enjoyment with your grandfather's binoculars. A well executed 10x50, in good condition, can still be a pleasure to use today.
Ratal's post #3 notes the reason why it's been difficult to track down the provenance of your binocular: it was most likely made by one of a number of Japanese manufacturers that produced binoculars from the 1950s to late 1970s/early 1980s, but sold (rebranded) under one of several brand names. In the US the most famous of these were Bushnell, Swift (also sold in the UK) and Tasco (not to be confused with Tesco!) and in the UK there were the likes of Hanimex, Zenith, Prinz and others - some binoculars were sold under the Boots label. Japan at that time was the workshop of the world, much like China is today: products made in the PRC today are more advanced in design, but many (though not all!) binoculars made in Japan in those days are mechanically very sound.
One thing that may help a little with finding out your binocular's history are "JB" and "JE" marks/numbers which denote which manufacturer in Japan made the body (metalwork) and optics (glass). These can be quite tricky to find as they are often small and located in odd places, but if you can locate them, you should be able to tell where they came from. For instance: JB-45 means that the binocular was manufactured by Tamron, which is today a well-known camera lens manufacturer.
Good luck in your JB/JE search!
PS. putting my binogeek hat on: it'd be interesting to know which military model the civilian 10x50 5.5 degree was based on - from what I gather, many of the 7.3 degree 7x50s were based on US designs (Bausch & Lomb etc) but I can't recall a similar template for the 10x50 5.5 degree. But my knowledge of military binoculars, especially Japanese ones, is pretty thin.
Ratal's post #3 notes the reason why it's been difficult to track down the provenance of your binocular: it was most likely made by one of a number of Japanese manufacturers that produced binoculars from the 1950s to late 1970s/early 1980s, but sold (rebranded) under one of several brand names. In the US the most famous of these were Bushnell, Swift (also sold in the UK) and Tasco (not to be confused with Tesco!) and in the UK there were the likes of Hanimex, Zenith, Prinz and others - some binoculars were sold under the Boots label. Japan at that time was the workshop of the world, much like China is today: products made in the PRC today are more advanced in design, but many (though not all!) binoculars made in Japan in those days are mechanically very sound.
One thing that may help a little with finding out your binocular's history are "JB" and "JE" marks/numbers which denote which manufacturer in Japan made the body (metalwork) and optics (glass). These can be quite tricky to find as they are often small and located in odd places, but if you can locate them, you should be able to tell where they came from. For instance: JB-45 means that the binocular was manufactured by Tamron, which is today a well-known camera lens manufacturer.
Good luck in your JB/JE search!
PS. putting my binogeek hat on: it'd be interesting to know which military model the civilian 10x50 5.5 degree was based on - from what I gather, many of the 7.3 degree 7x50s were based on US designs (Bausch & Lomb etc) but I can't recall a similar template for the 10x50 5.5 degree. But my knowledge of military binoculars, especially Japanese ones, is pretty thin.
