I have owned this instrument for several years but an observation today prompted me to post.
The variously designated 3x12B or 3x12T* (mine) has been in production for at least 30 years and AFAIK the only significant change has been phase coating and current manufacture in Hungary.
Of the six Zeiss monoculars ranging from 5x10 to 10x25 it is the only one of all metal construction and is the most expensive. It is now almost as costly as an 8x20 Leica Monovid so could not be sensibly recommended for general use. I suspect that it was originally intended for the sight-impaired and could be obtained on prescription, as could the Specwell and Schweizer monoculars.
The intended use for mine was as a booster for binoculars and scope. My attempts at resolution measurements with my binoculars were less than successful but with one of the Zeiss adapters I occasionally used it on the 30x eyepiece of my Swarovski ATM 65HD for 90x magnification. Despite a couple of reversing prisms and all that glass it gave me one of the best views of Jupiter I have had - probably very good seeing that night.
Today a really large buff-tailed bumblebee queen (Bombus terrestris) landed on my balcony. Despite a mild 14° C she was rather torpid, so I put down a drop of honey and was able to watch her feeding, which she continued to do for nearly two hours. Through the 3x12 Zeiss I was able to observe at around 20 cm and could see the tongue extend 2 mm from the proboscis about thirty times a minute. At a similar distance my 6x18 Zeiss monocular was less steady and more than filled the field of view.
Later in the afternoon the bumblebee had disappeared, so I might have contributed to her survival and had had a very interesting obsevation.
John
The variously designated 3x12B or 3x12T* (mine) has been in production for at least 30 years and AFAIK the only significant change has been phase coating and current manufacture in Hungary.
Of the six Zeiss monoculars ranging from 5x10 to 10x25 it is the only one of all metal construction and is the most expensive. It is now almost as costly as an 8x20 Leica Monovid so could not be sensibly recommended for general use. I suspect that it was originally intended for the sight-impaired and could be obtained on prescription, as could the Specwell and Schweizer monoculars.
The intended use for mine was as a booster for binoculars and scope. My attempts at resolution measurements with my binoculars were less than successful but with one of the Zeiss adapters I occasionally used it on the 30x eyepiece of my Swarovski ATM 65HD for 90x magnification. Despite a couple of reversing prisms and all that glass it gave me one of the best views of Jupiter I have had - probably very good seeing that night.
Today a really large buff-tailed bumblebee queen (Bombus terrestris) landed on my balcony. Despite a mild 14° C she was rather torpid, so I put down a drop of honey and was able to watch her feeding, which she continued to do for nearly two hours. Through the 3x12 Zeiss I was able to observe at around 20 cm and could see the tongue extend 2 mm from the proboscis about thirty times a minute. At a similar distance my 6x18 Zeiss monocular was less steady and more than filled the field of view.
Later in the afternoon the bumblebee had disappeared, so I might have contributed to her survival and had had a very interesting obsevation.
John
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