No-Name 8 x 30 porro prisms (1 Viewer)

[Anon2020]

Yesterday, when responding to another thread, I made a passing reference to my 50 year old 8 x 30 porro prisms which I still own and which I acquired, I would guess, some time between 1969 - 1971. I was asked whether I could identify them but cannot.

For those who may be interested, however, I attach three photos and invite you to figure out their provenance. They would have been purchased in what was then West Germany and the only other clues I have are two barely legible markings on the left and right "plates" (I don't know the technical term) which connect each lens body to the front of the central hinge. The left front marking reads "B110" and the front right marking "E15". Both markings are preceded with a hieroglyph that looks something like this: J-.

I've just out of curiosity compared them to my modern Opticron "Adventurer T WP" 6 x.5 x 32 porro prisms which taking account of inflation probably cost roughly as much as the 8 x 30s. Unsurprisingly the Opticrons offer a much brighter and more vivid view but the 8 x 30s are still perfectly usable, although with their minimal eye relief only get used these days for the occasional glance out of an upstairs window at the rabbits and chickens in the field to the rear of my house.

 

[pat mitchel]

For starters try looking through this list of Japanese makers that were registered in Japan and issued "jb and je " identification- the jb numbers was the builder and the je number was the maker of the chassis (if I recall correctly).

http://home.europa.com/~telscope/jbcode.txt

So the binocs would likely be made in Japan in the in the mid to late 60"s (the prism cover screws of a slightly earlier time would have been flat screws as opposed to phillips). That's a shot in the dark. As to the "MLC" on the left prism cover- that's often the place for the name brand to be placed but in the quick and dirty search on the "miniaturebinoculars.com" website, ( a wealth in scattered info that) I found no reference to a binocular sold with such a name. Doesn't mean it didn't happen- could have been a small production run for a private house brand. The 8x30 format back in the day was a huge market judging by the stuff that shows up on auction sites. I have several - all BK7 prismed (somewhat dim)- most with decent focus and optics. Still quite useful if you don't need to use glasses (most don't have the eye relief) Regards, Pat

 

[Foss]

JB 110 = Tsukuba Kogaku Co. Ltd.