Recent content by OPTIC_NUT

I think 30-->32 and 40-->42 were just a way to set things apart for marketing, especially for the roof models as they built up.

A note on weight, old vs. new: The thick vinyl armor on most of today's binoculars often makes them as heavy or heavier than the old ones. Nikon Prostaff 7S, 8x30: 15 oz. (~2018) Nikon Monarch 7, 8x30: 15 oz. (~2018) Ranger DeLuxe 8x30: 15oz (~1958) Nikon Aculon...

A cheap (lightweight) tripod with the legs in the air can do a lot of steadying. Many use a monopod, but it steadies mainly in one axis (when not on the ground). Opening out the cheap tripod legs gives you inertia in 2 axes.... A light tripod that's really jerky on the ground can do better...

Fun diversion, the super-junkers. Anyway, looking at the OP, and considering field trips to well-stocked sporting stores, and lumping 8x30 and 8x32: --At first glance, something like the Barska Crossover 8x30 WP (~$60) seems to offer the right things, the coatings, the field, the...

I use Scope amber-coats(no, not the severe metallic type) or Bushnell Customs tracking deer and turkeys in the woods. It isn't so much that the brown comes through as the grey-blue and shine on the limbs is lowered. It is easier to follow the deer especially, and fisher-cats. IT does yellow...

The EPs and coatings look good. Pretty solid Japanese stuff. There are early Omegas, with wide fovs and wide EP glass, but uncoated and short eye relief...not great. These are not those....pretty solid stuff. Given the age (even though they look young), the contrast would smarten up with...

Two brands are rapidly becoming my favorites: Scope and Tower. I have trouble moving them on to the antique shop shelf. I love the contrast and field quality on the Scopes. The 7x50 / 414-ft "Overfield" cleaned up to amazing condition, The 10x35 Model 2900s have been incredible on beach jaunts...

Good eye relief and sensitive eye placement, good precision. Sounds like some kind of 5-element EP...not your average set. Especially given it's 75-deg apparent! A good night pair.

Q1: what is the perceived color (to the naked eye) of a reference white tile on an overcast day? Q2: On 4pm of a sunny Appalachian July day, what is the perceived color of a reference flat black tile 150yds away, in smog from distant cars or nearby pines? Hint: White and Black...

Indeed. Which raises a mystery: how did they actually become non-working, and will that happen under your ownership? Many old mechanicals work great with just surface cleaning. A third need an internal cleaning. Some are busted. But they seem to fare a lot better over time than electrically...

Relaxed view... a key characteristic of the Customs. Easy to step into.

Oh dear...that's a beauty. The pre-Customs seem to have a little less eye-placement generosity but a bit sharper field edges. Awesome. I like the trade-off more towards the Featherweight field. That is great condition...most Customs get used hard for decades. They still work great though.

There ya go. Maybe some variation though... They need to make a special model that works perfectly on color swatches at 30 feet. And keep the other one for hunters, guides, explorers, rangers, tourists, and people where the weather can get messy. I could save a lot on birdseed if I looked...

Haha....yes, they look like Lego binoculars or something...or for a Wii. Still, if I were an old auntie taking a nephew on a European art tour, they might be fun.

Velocity...I assume, is about damping factor and how too much stabilization can keep you from following a bird on the move. If you can't get a steady picture through stabilized binoculars while holding still, you need to return the binoculars...or call an ambulance :t: When I follow birds...