Ross Stepruva Question (1 Viewer)

[Eric_D]

Another 10x42 Ross "Kensington" of this black-and-white logo outsourced re-badging period surfaced.
Looks very like an Opticron model ... that embossed border to the leatherette ...
I note Dollond also started badging Japanese binoculars ...

 

[pat mitchel]

Also looks like a vintage celestron ultima, a vixen ultima and swift ultra-light which are very nice binos as well. Pat

 

[Eric_D]

Also looks like a vintage celestron ultima, a vixen ultima and swift ultra-light which are very nice binos as well. Pat

Thanks. That sort of hard-to-find info is very useful to collectors, or repairers hunting for spare parts.

Interesting too, for historians studying the demise of the British binocular industry, in the face of the Japanese JTII quality control and quality assurance wave. And now the Chinese.

There are also lessons to be learned about markets and marketing, about how undiscerning the average buyer is, and how deceptive manufacturers can be, and get away with it.

On any Amazon search, try sorting by price maximum and minimum. You will see £10 binoculars on offer for £1000. There must be people with money to burn who actually believe "You get what you pay for"!

Having a good product does not guarantee commercial success. It reminds me of the competition among VHS, Sony Betamax and Philips 2000 videotape formats. Popularity was inversely proportional to technical quality.

An interesting early binocular re-badging exercise is the Schütz Cassel Porro II model which appears as Aitchison Imperial and Foth. Unbranded binoculars with a blank maker's prism plate turn up. Some of these are manufacturer's samples, sent to prospective re-badgers for evaluation. Unbranded military models might also be approval samples for government procurement departments.

Of course, there are also unofficial copies, particularly of Zeiss, which may not have equivalent quality. There is a story that Zeiss went to Japan, and ended up selling a license to manufacture, rather than suing them, as the quality was good. Zeiss owned factories in Vienna, Győr - Hungary, St. Petersburg ( or Riga?) , and London

There are also fake binoculars and MX-7000 video cameras, which were made for scamming unsuspecting tourists, in Mediterranean countries. I don't know if there was a bait-and-switch scheme, where the display model was better, even genuine, than the sealed box the customer bought. If they returned to the shop, they would find it closed for the rest of the week.
Googling the model [site:canon.com "LB" binocular] 24x50 finds nothing on the official site, and very little in the whole web. They haven't gone to the same lengths of setting up fake websites with glowing reviews and inflated prices, as the gangs selling hifi speakers from white vans in car-parks to students did.

Of course, some fakes may be optically worthwhile, if the price is low enough ...

 

[Eric_D]

Although I doubt very much this is made by Canon, it does seem better than much Chinese output.
The MX-7000 camcorder has a fake lens, a viewfinder that has to be held at arm's length, and only takes 2MB SD cards.

 

[Binastro]

Probably two packs of lies.

The apparent field of the binocular is given as 110 degrees, despite narrow eyepieces.

Made in Japan, doubtful.

Red coated optics.

Canon, Made in Japan.
Who are they kidding?

The camcorder, I have no idea.
2MB or 2GB?

How wonderful is the internet?
The whole knowledge of the world in one place.

Unfortunately, not this world.

Regards,
B.

 

[Eric_D]

"2MB or 2GB?"

2MB
Very much restricts its usefulness, even if you can find such a tiny card.
Oh, and you have to put 2xAA inside the fake battery.
There are still a couple of dozen on that auction site, up to £40.
Sadly, people must buy them ...

The binoculars might actually be well-sealed 'Dustproof'. There is a 'people's liberation army' look to the construction.