Binocollector
Well-known member
There has been a gap in my collection for quite some time. Especially since I'm German myself, I don't own that many German binos. So far I only had one Optolyth 8x30 and 2 Hartmann 8x30.
I often saw those vintage Zeiss porros but so far never pulled the trigger on ebay. Often the condition didn't look good enough to warrant the price.
But after reading a few reviews on Holger Merlitz's website, mainly about military optics, I came across the Jenoptem 7x50. And I kind of have a "7x50-phase" at the moment. Before that there were the 8x30-phase, the 7x35-phase, etc.
So long story short - went on eBay and found a 7x50 that looked almost too good to be true. Less than 120€ and condition looked great.
I got home from vacation today and had 3 packages waiting, one was the 7x50 and it is far better than I expected. I was a bit worried about edge sharpness or too much field curvature but it's actually quite good. Brightness is much better than I'd have thought for such an old bino. It has those lovely purple coatings and even though I'm well aware that color of coatings doesn't mean much - it just looks so gorgeous. Everything else works like a charm. Super smooth focuser, perfect alignment, just some slight scratches on the prism covers and beauty rings around the objectives. I'm thinking about ordering a set of those rubber covers for the tubes and winged eye cups.
Really happy with that purchase. It's sharper and brighter than my recently acquired Nikon "Marine" 7x50 (that one was kind of a disappointment).
But a thread is worthless without pics.
I often saw those vintage Zeiss porros but so far never pulled the trigger on ebay. Often the condition didn't look good enough to warrant the price.
But after reading a few reviews on Holger Merlitz's website, mainly about military optics, I came across the Jenoptem 7x50. And I kind of have a "7x50-phase" at the moment. Before that there were the 8x30-phase, the 7x35-phase, etc.
So long story short - went on eBay and found a 7x50 that looked almost too good to be true. Less than 120€ and condition looked great.
I got home from vacation today and had 3 packages waiting, one was the 7x50 and it is far better than I expected. I was a bit worried about edge sharpness or too much field curvature but it's actually quite good. Brightness is much better than I'd have thought for such an old bino. It has those lovely purple coatings and even though I'm well aware that color of coatings doesn't mean much - it just looks so gorgeous. Everything else works like a charm. Super smooth focuser, perfect alignment, just some slight scratches on the prism covers and beauty rings around the objectives. I'm thinking about ordering a set of those rubber covers for the tubes and winged eye cups.
Really happy with that purchase. It's sharper and brighter than my recently acquired Nikon "Marine" 7x50 (that one was kind of a disappointment).
But a thread is worthless without pics.