Opticron porros... (1 Viewer)

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Paul_Gower

Well-known member

• Oct 15, 2004

• #1

OK - I have now acquired the Opticorn bins I mentioned before. They came without any documentation, boxes etc. They are black, rubber armoured, with heavily ribbed patches on the body, top and bottom, where fingers and thumbs grip them. They have fold-down rubber eye cups.

On one tube it says in white "Opticron Imagic" and on the other "Rubber armoured multi coated". On the butt of the hinge, between the eyepieces, it says "10x42 Wide 6.5 degrees"

Any further info would be welcome!

Paul

 

pduxon

Quacked up Member

• Oct 15, 2004

• #2

Hi Paul sound like an old version of the Imagic Porro the current version is the TGA

what do you think of them?

 

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Paul_Gower

Well-known member

• Oct 15, 2004

• #3

So far they seem very good. I'm at work, looking through a dirty 7th floor window at the beach a few hundred yards away, in overcast conditions, and the black dots (to the naked eye) on the beach become very clearly oyster catchers, black and white but you can't make out the orange bills! I'll take them out at the weekend and give them a proper trial.

Interestingly, on the bottom of the hinge, not picked out in white, it says a serial number 5141, GKA, Japan. I have emailed info@opticron with that to see if they can give any more info.

Paul

 

geedub

Well-known member

• Oct 15, 2004

• #4

Hi Paul,

Snap! I've got an identical pair of Opticron Imagic porro bins which were my first pair of decent quality optics and are now my reserve bins. The description of yours matches mine exactly except for the serial number - optical and build quality extremely good for the money, which seems to be par for the course with Opticron kit. Hope you get as much use from yours as I did with mine!

 

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Paul_Gower

Well-known member

• Oct 15, 2004

• #5

Thanks GeeDub - I hope so too - how long did you have yours before upgrading, and what did you move to? Is the difference significant?


I've solved the mystery of what they are called. Helpful email from Opticron, within a couple of hours of mine to them - very impressive - and a quick Google produced the following from In Focus:

"OPTICRON IMAGIC ZCF 8x32 8x42 10x42
NEW WATERPROOF MODEL

All models are rubber armoured, with good close-focussing and multi-coated optics. Push-up /down eyecups - suitable for spectacle wearers and now waterproof in this latest model. Claims to have 'highest optical performance of any instrument in their class'.
Good value for money, compact and easy to handle, well packaged with 30 year warranty.

TYPICAL SPECIFICATION (8x42) Length 174mm / Weight 640gms / Close focus 3.9m Field of view 114m at 1000m"

They seem to be mid-range - retail currently £170. Mine are alleged one year old but as new, and I paid a good bit less than that, so I am happy. Hope to give them a workout over the weekend if it stops raining.

Still want a nice pair of Leica or Swarv one day tho!

Paul

 

pduxon

Quacked up Member

• Oct 15, 2004

• #6

Not sure if they'll be waterproof or not Paul. The waterproofing was fairly new. Probably a very good buy though.

 

geedub

Well-known member

• Oct 16, 2004

• #7

Paul,

I think I paid around £130 for my Imagics (non waterproof) and had them for the best part of 3 years before I upgraded them to a pair of Opticron DBA's. There is a definite difference in quality - which there should be considering the £400+ difference in price but I justified the expense to myself because I'd had a pretty ropey year and a bit of retail therapy was just the thing to cheer me up so I got the DBA's and an ES80 GA ED scope! Now living on baked beans for the next 6 months but well impressed with all my Opticron kit

 

pduxon

Quacked up Member

• Oct 17, 2004

• #8

geedub said:

I justified the expense to myself because I'd had a pretty ropey year and a bit of retail therapy was just the thing to cheer me up

Click to expand...

I had a ropey morning and went out and bought a new lens for my scope!!

 

geedub

Well-known member

• Oct 17, 2004

• #9

Makes you feel a lot better don't it? Almost hoping this year turns out to be a bit below standard so that I can buy more/better kit to cheer me up!

 

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Paul_Gower

Well-known member

• Oct 18, 2004

• #10

Well, so far I am pleased with the bins - I am sure they aren't a patch on top of the range models but they are an improvement on anything I have had before. I have warned my wife that they will do for a year or so, but will need upgrading so she can have them at some point!

I don't want to be insensitive to geedub and pduxon |=)| but I have posted in the Nikon Scope forum today - I had a bit of luck, which justified a new scope. It's a great system - if you have a bad time you buy something to cheer yourself up, if you have a good time you buy something to celebrate. You just have to avoid ISQ!

Paul

 

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normjackson

Well-known member

• Oct 22, 2004

• #11

Glad you're pleased Paul. Was a bit concerned the eye relief on the older Imagics might not be enough. Had a pair of 10x50s (excellent budget star gazers) which probably wouldn't be OK for use with specs. (Gave them to my nephew but don't tell anyone; I figure I'm too young to be Canon ISed. And they were pretty cheap after all...).

 

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Paul_Gower

Well-known member

• Oct 22, 2004

• #12

normjackson said:

Glad you're pleased Paul. Was a bit concerned the eye relief on the older Imagics might not be enough. Had a pair of 10x50s (excellent budget star gazers) which probably wouldn't be OK for use with specs. (Gave them to my nephew but don't tell anyone; I figure I'm too young to be Canon ISed. And they were pretty cheap after all...).

Click to expand...

Thanks Norm,

I find the eye relief pretty good - may be I'm lucky with my present specs, but I can cope with comparatively little eye relief. I have also acquired a pair of quite old Zeiss Deltrintems and I do find the FOV is a bit limited with specs, but the Opticrons are good. I have frameless varifocals at the moment, just to add to the problems, but I think the frameless specs probably require less eye relief because they sit closer to the face.

Mind you, the weather has been so appalling the last few days that I am forgetting what the view thru bins looks like!

Paul