modern military binoculars (1 Viewer)

smurf.for.mark · Dec 1, 2016

Hi, i havnt posted here for a few years but had my interest re kindled by the recent acquisition of a pair of czech military 6x30's and russian bpo 7x30's followed by a pair of Romanian IOR Valdada 7x40's and it didnt stop there! as now have a set of Serbian made zrak rd 7x40's!
the czech 6x30s are of an older design yet dated 1991, extremely light and with good optical performance.
the russian bpo 7x30 have excellent resolution but found a little lacking in low light.
the IOR 7x40 though is an astounding instrument! heavy at 900 gms with a warm cast but extremely sharp center field and contrast, excellent stray light control and low light performance. coupled with the low magnification and mass they are extremely stable in use and the eyecups are the most comfortable i have ever used.
my latest find is a pair of serbian made zrak rd 7x40's with very similar characteristics to the ior and an almost exact copy of the carl zeiss nva (licensed) it has a neutral image and is sharper a little further out into the field of view than the ior which is wide i think 8.5 degrees the same as the ior.
all have a range finding retical with the zrak's being tritium illuminated. the zrak's also have an inrared detector that can be swung into the field of view, basically a very dark filter that reacts to infrared light... not something im likely to need but it was interesting to play with. it charges in sunlight from the dark round window on the rear left prism plate.
just wondered if anyone else had an interest in modern military binoculars?

NDhunter · Dec 1, 2016

I agree that they are interesting. You could check on the Holger Merlitz website, he
discusses some models like yours.

It would be interesting reading. His reviews are always well done.

Jerry

smurf.for.mark · Dec 1, 2016

ah, yes i saw that. heres a link to the review http://www.holgermerlitz.de/ior7x40.html
i was unable to find much info on the zrak rd they seem hard to come by, this is all i could find http://www.holgermerlitz.de/rd7x40.html

james holdsworth · Dec 1, 2016

I'm certainly intrigued by some of the Hensoldt models, as they seem to command top dollar [thousands] on auction sites. I'm not even sure that these Hensoldts are even still in production? And, if so, are they still made by Hensoldt or is it Zeiss?

smurf.for.mark · Dec 1, 2016

i havnt tried a Hensoldt though there is a review of an 8x30 by Holgermerlitz here http://www.holgermerlitz.de/zeiss8x30.html
in the first link i posted the ior's dont appear to score highly on image sharpness but are infact as Holger puts it 'razor sharp' at the center to about 60%, they loose points due to the image sharpness falling off towards the edge. they are certainly the sharpest binoculars i have used for a long while. the zraks are pretty much the same though sharper a little further out, i cant do a fair comparison with the zrak yet as they need repair... prism lean. hopefully will be able to send them for a service soon. im still waiting for the ior's to come back, they needed some internal cleaning (slight haze and loose swarf in one barrel)

Gijs van Ginkel · Dec 1, 2016

James, post 4,
Hensoldt was taken over by Zeiss in 1928, but the brand name Hensoldt was kept and after WW-2 the Hensoldt military binoculars were actually made in Wetzlar, in part of the building that was Zeiss property. (military production was separated form civilian production).
Gijs van Ginkel

Bencw · Dec 5, 2016

Thats a very nice little collection Mark, thank you for showing and for the write up. I have US military and the Brit Avimo, I like these individual EP focus military binoculars, they always seem relaxed to use, and give good depth, although I admit the Avimo is fixed focus and maybe not quite as good as the US Fuji ones. I have often been tempted to buy one of these East European models but never quite got around to it. Is the Zrak fixed or EP focus?

smurf.for.mark · Dec 5, 2016

Bencw said:
Thats a very nice little collection Mark, thank you for showing and for the write up. I have US military and the Brit Avimo, I like these individual EP focus military binoculars, they always seem relaxed to use, and give good depth, although I admit the Avimo is fixed focus and maybe not quite as good as the US Fuji ones. I have often been tempted to buy one of these East European models but never quite got around to it. Is the Zrak fixed or EP focus?

thanks, these Eastern European binoculars have high quality optics, the zrak is IF focus (EP focus) it also has excellent depth of focus when set to -1 from around 50 yards to infinity the same as the ior. as mentioned in earlier posts the zrak also has a neutral image cast giving natural color. the ior has a slightly warm cast

Hans Weigum · Dec 7, 2016

@ mark22c

1. To my knowledge Sarajewo, where ZRAK is located, never was part of Serbia.

2. Nowadays, when there are quite few purposely designed military binoculars in use, one of the design wise certainly outstanding is the Kern/Leica 8x30.

Hans

Mono · Dec 7, 2016

The British Army has just brought thousands of Steiner 8x30r

The requirement brief for the tender makes interesting reading for the binocular buff.

typo · Dec 8, 2016

Mono said:
The British Army has just brought thousands of Steiner 8x30r

The requirement brief for the tender makes interesting reading for the binocular buff.

Thanks for that link.

You are right. Seems quite bizarre to me. Some criteria appear woefully inadequate and others technically impossible. I'm sure Steiner are grinning from ear to ear. I wonder if anyone else tendered for the contract?

David

gulf1263 · Dec 8, 2016

Lots of interesting glass out there for the military collector.
The newer glass is laser and radiation flash resistant in many cases.
Steiners are disposable, many parts are glued together and they can't be repaired under most circumstances.
Modern military forces in many cases have found it more economical to simply throw away the broken bits since they can purchase at very low prices.
Probably somewhere around $270.00 for the plain, non laser 8x30's.
The high end glass with laser rangefinders built in they repair.
I looked at a pair of Vectrox (?) 7x40's that can lase out to 6+ klicks and they cost $9,000.00+.
Loved my 7x40 aus Jena roofs but the 7x42 Leica does everything better but resist radiation flash and grunt inflicted abuse.
Art

Hans Weigum · Dec 10, 2016

[QUOTE=gulf1263;
Steiners are disposable, many parts are glued together and they can't be repaired under most circumstances.
Modern military forces in many cases have found it more economical to simply throw away the broken bits since they can purchase at very low prices.
unquote

What you describe as disposable Steiner military binoculars applied to a very early ( around 30 years ago) version as the first one used by the German Army. As those proved to be still too expensive to be non serviceable, they later were replaced by conventionally built (and more expensive) Hensoldts. A subsequent version of Steiner (despite looking identical to the first one ) purchased later by the German army then were designed serviceable.

HW

Binastro · Dec 10, 2016

The question is whether there are any binocular technicians nowadays in the British Army who could service the Steiners or any other binocular.
In decades past there were many such technicians.
Perhaps faulty units are shipped back to Steiner and the contract includes servicing.

I have bought optics ex gov. and clearly they didn't have a clue, at least in the field. This was of course good for me as they were low price and easily fixable.

etudiant · Dec 10, 2016

Binastro said:
The question is whether there are any binocular technicians nowadays in the British Army who could service the Steiners or any other binocular.
In decades past there were many such technicians.
Perhaps faulty units are shipped back to Steiner and the contract includes servicing.

I have bought optics ex gov. and clearly they didn't have a clue, at least in the field. This was of course good for me as they were low price and easily fixable.

If memory serves, the US Army also had a fling with the Steiner disposables and reverted to a conventional design. GIs can be very hard on equipment...

Nevertheless, I think those are merely teething troubles for a new paradigm.
The cost of the logistics tail for maintenance and repair is too high, because it involves hordes of expensive people. Blister packed systems are less expensive overall, even if lots of stuff gets tossed while still fixable.
It can be argued that the very generous customer service policies of Swarovski are a long step down that road.

ceasar · Dec 10, 2016

War has changed too.

Cheap replaceable drones can replace a lot of expensive artillery and tanks which require expensive maintenance.

Bob

Hans Weigum · Dec 12, 2016

Binastro said:
The question is whether there are any binocular technicians nowadays in the British Army who could service the Steiners or any other binocular.
In decades past there were many such technicians.......

How a design purposely service (and manufacturing) friendly heavily influences the burden of maintenance of a military binocular may be seen by the fact, that a group of only about 3 (!) well qualified specialists since years maintains all of about 30'000 Kern/Leica 8x30 of Swiss Army and Border Patrol. Their present main type of binocular, purchased more than twenty years ago.

I heavily doubt about the concept of disposable binoculars. These are likely to built such, that they may get damaged before their even get used for the first time.

Binastro · Dec 12, 2016

Hi Hans,
I would think that the Swiss have kept skills that are being lost in the U.K.

Taylor Hobson used to carefully design optics such as lenses to be routinely stripped and cleaned, but much modern equipment, particularly low price Chinese optics are sometimes referred to as 'One use only'.

I had a number of Wild Falconer lenses that needed cleaning. They were very well sealed indeed and although a U.K.specialist optics firm did clean them, they chipped one element and the performance of most proved under par after repair.
They really needed to go back to Wild, but that was uneconomical, and may not have been sanctioned.
The focal length of each was individually measured and marked on the lens by Wild from memory to 0.01mm at 80m altitude, the working height.

I am not sure if the British Army has 30,000 binoculars nowadays. Maybe including mothballed stocks decades old?
The Avimo is still being used, normally upside down.

Mono · Dec 12, 2016

I am not sure if the British Army has 30,000 binoculars nowadays.

The 2014 Steiner order was for 15,000 pairs.

Binastro · Dec 12, 2016

Thanks Mono.
That is interesting.

Did it include servicing?

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