russian binoculars? (1 Viewer)

i got another pair today in the post, this time dated 1995. focuser was better on this pair they are collimated and they seem a little sharper than the first but even though they look new the build and finish isnt so good. left eyecup was spinning loose and needed tightning and eyepiece bridge was sloppy and needed a wider shim and there were gaps in the putty like seelant around the objectives and back plates, oh and the objective have differant colour coatings, left side is a golden hue and right side has a purple/blue hue?...doesnt seem to make any differance though.
case is a little differant too with a narrower leather hinge.

regards mark

Mark, I have noticed that when a tiny bit of finger or face oil gets on some coatings they change color and if this oil is smeared around evenly it will change the color completely. This doesn't impair the view significantly, but on my green coated optics, they often change to a purple color reflection etc. Of course the color problem you are having might also be the notoriously poor QC in Russian factories.

I purchased a pair of CZJ Binoctar 7x50s and 2 pairs of 10x50 Dekarems in Poland in 1992 and 1995. The color of the multicoatings on the objective lenses varied slightly in each case, even new out of the box, if I allowed light to pass through the eye lenses. But when I blocked the eye lenses, the color variations were reduced. I think that one of the internal lens surfaces on each side of each bin had a heavier multicoating of some color film and this made the final view seem slightly more purple, or yellow-gold or red. The binoculars work great to this day.

I purchased these 3 pairs of bins after looking at about a dozen pairs of each one. I was most concerned with the final view through the eye lenses and the maximum sharpness possible. This meant that I was primarily testing the alignment of each lens in the light path and whether each lens set was ground and polished correctly and then glued together correctly. The way the multicoatings looked for inspection purposes was a lesser consideration.

So if the view is sharp and contrasty, the flares are minimized and the collimation is good, then I will probably like the bin, assuming the FOV is wide enough. I hope the Russian bins you got do well for you. The prices are quite astounding when you compare them to others from Japan or even China, new or not.

they are differant even after cleaning with solvent but this doesnt seem to affect the view they are infact slightly sharper than the first pair.
i am bidding on a pair of russian bnu5 12x45"M"'s(what does M signify?) dated 95 in new condition but not sure how far to go with bidding inlight of QC problems with my second pair of bnu5's dated 95. the early ones do seem to better made. but then all the problems were not to hard to fix

regards mark

mark22c said:

they are differant even after cleaning with solvent but this doesnt seem to affect the view they are infact slightly sharper than the first pair.
i am bidding on a pair of russian bnu5 12x45"M"'s(what does M signify?) dated 95 in new condition but not sure how far to go with bidding inlight of QC problems with my second pair of bnu5's dated 95. the early ones do seem to better made. but then all the problems were not to hard to fix

regards mark

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hi mark, i think the [m] is for military but they are not, and if you google [ todds binocular evaluation] there is a short review on the 12x45s. regards stuart.

thanks stuart. i found one place selling the 12x45's for $59 new and the 8x30's for $89...so probably wont be bidding any higher on the 12x45's... still loving these 8x30's.

cheers mark

Bob A (SD) said:

Just won a pair of ZOMC-Kronos BPWC2 6x30 bins with a 12.5° FOV. Here's a review: http://www.holgermerlitz.de/kronos6x30.html. Hopefully the optics in mine will match those Holger experienced.

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Holger's review was spot on. These are keepers !

i've been bidding on and won today a pair of BPC2 12x45M's in new condition dated 1995.
went a little over what i wanted to pay though at £44 plus P+P! i just hope they find me collimated and in good order.
i post what i think of them when they arrive. i got them mainly as cheap astronomy bins to use hanging out the window at my mildly Light polluted home but will take them with me on a few walks to use prone resting on a rucksack for long distant work... until i can afford something better.