Good Nikon Porros? (1 Viewer)

Red_Shoulder · Jan 28, 2015

I've heard the SE are really good, any others I should consider? Are the Action and Aculon good?

I love older binoculars, are there any great older models

Alexis Powell · Jan 28, 2015

Red_Shoulder said:
I've heard the SE are really good, any others I should consider? Are the Action and Aculon good?

I love older binoculars, are there any great older models

SE, EII, E, ProStar, Astroluxe are all superb depending on the use you put them to. For birding, I like SE best.

--AP

Red_Shoulder · Jan 29, 2015

Thanks I was looking at the B&H site I think, and they just had the Action and Aculon.

Looks like the E series might be relatively inexpensive. Not an imminent purchase, partly wondering what to shoot for and what I need to get to get a good binocular. Looks like the E II is still manufactured, so that's good, heard they don't make the SE anymore.

I would use them for birding, I think. I have 20x80 for astronomy. Mostly concerned with center resolution and probably brightness

Steve C · Jan 29, 2015

Well, the Aculon is not the SE. Having said that, it is likely one of the two best bang for the buck binocular deals out there, the other being the Leupold Yosemite. While they aren't the SE, they are easily available and cost less than $100 and are pretty good optically. I have an Aculon in 7x35 I bought simply to satisfy my curiosity. I was going to sell it, but the Border Collie pup put a few engravings on it, so I kept it

. For its price it is very good optically. The image will be good enough to give satisfactory birding performance. Get the Action EX for a waterproof model. Some claim there is an optical difference between the Aculon and Action EX, but it seems to me too insignificant to matter, if it even exists. The Aculon replaced the regular Action series.

Nikon made a couple of pretty good 7x35's in the Sentinel and Gold Ring series which appear pretty frequently on eBay. Winning an auction there might be about the only way to snag an SE here. AP pretty well listed the other Nikon porros.

The present home of the modern porro is pretty well tied into the inexpensive line of binoculars anymore.

OPTIC_NUT · Jan 29, 2015

Red_Shoulder said:
I've heard the SE are really good, any others I should consider? Are the Action and Aculon good?

I love older binoculars, are there any great older models

The Aculon has a number of improvements over the Action series,
but isn't in the same league as the 8x30E.

Between them, you have the Action Extreme,
ProStaff series and the Monarchs, better and better.

If you can give a bit on length and field, the Nikon Prostaff 7S 8x42 is pretty amazing.

Nikon has a huge variety of models in the past 20 yrs,
but they didn't have that variety in the past, and it wasn't as distinct.

The most impressive and comfortable oldies I use are the
Bushnell Customs and the Kowa Prominar.

My best "sleeper value" (price not driven up by collectors
but super field quality) is the Tower 7x35/7.1 deg "Featherweight".
Leaves many moderns standing still in terms of sharpness and 3D.
Very rich, crisp view.

henry link · Jan 29, 2015

Steve C said:
Nikon made a couple of pretty good 7x35's in the Sentinel and Gold Ring series which appear pretty frequently on eBay. Winning an auction there might be about the only way to snag an SE here. AP pretty well listed the other Nikon porros.

Steve,

Looks like you made a Leupoldian Slip. The old Nikon binocular series was called Gold Sentinel, identical to the first Action series of the mid 1980s, except for nicer leatherette covering, better case and a little multi-coating.

The OP might be interested in this thread that covers some of the old Nikon Porros. With a little searching you should also be able to find lots of information here on the history of the E series and some information on the earlier A series and even earlier Mikrons of the 1950s.

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=220714

Henry

Steve C · Jan 29, 2015

henry link said:
Steve,

Looks like you made a Leupoldian Slip. The old Nikon binocular series was called Gold Sentinel, identical to the first Action series of the mid 1980s, except for nicer leatherette covering, better case and a little multi-coating.

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=220714

Henry

Oops...a slip it was :eek!: Seems there was the Gold Sentinel and a similar porro without the gold rings.

I thought about that a while ago, and figured I'd look for that thread, thanks for saving me from that

.

brocknroller · Jan 29, 2015

Red,

I like older Porros, too, and I've owned a number of them over the years. It's been out of necessity, because while a good Porro is hard to beat (to quote a notorious roof convert), a good Porro is also harder and harder to find these days since roofs rule the roost.

What I have found is that modern AR FMC coatings are so much better that even an inexpensive Aculon will produce a brighter and more contrasty image than a good old Porro. I have a Nikon 7x35 WF from the 1980s that I like very much, but particularly on an overcast day, when compared to the 7x35 Aculon, the image is lackluster. The sweet spot is bigger in the WF, but the image has a bit of green cast to it since the lenses are coated with Nikon's bluish, single layer AR coatings.

They are, however, still better than roofs of the same vintage, whose leaky prisms lacking phase coatings and dielectric coatings couldn't touch the center sharpness and contrast of a $75 Aculon sold today.

If money is no object, find yourself an SE or EII. If you're on a budget, buy an Action EX or Aculon. I've tried them all, and they all produce bright, sharp images in the center, with varying degrees of field curvature at the edges, most of which can be refocused.

Brock

NDhunter · Jan 29, 2015

Red:

Welcome to the Birdforum. The Nikon porro binoculars are a great way to view the world.

You have received some good advice above, and the entry level Action, Action Extreme, and
Aculon are all good choices, and are available in a multitude of sizes. I have some examples of
several. The older Action Widefield models mentioned above are one that I think a lot of, I have
the 7x35 model, and also the 10x50 Widefield that has a FOV of 6.5*, which is wide for a 10 power, and I really like these.
Brock was right about the coatings, but I find this model has a wider sweet spot than the newer action
models.

This 10x50 does have a gold ring, and they are often described that way when offered for sale.
These must date back to the late 70's or early 80's. And there are posts back in the Nikon subforum
about this model.

Let us know, when you find a model and how you like it.

Jerry

Steve C · Jan 29, 2015

brocknroller said:
Red,

What I have found is that modern AR FMC coatings are so much better that even an inexpensive Aculon will produce a brighter and more contrasty image than a good old Porro.
Brock

Try that with the Aculon side beside a Bushnell Rangemaster or a Baush & Lomb Zephyr and get back to me. Even the mighty SE will have to work exceedingly hard to come out much ahead of the Zephyr.

The Aculon has some advantages in brightness certainly, but as with all things great and new, sometimes the side by side realization of just how good the best of the old porros still are needs seeing for believing.

brocknroller · Jan 30, 2015

Steve C said:
Try that with the Aculon side beside a Bushnell Rangemaster or a Baush & Lomb Zephyr and get back to me. Even the mighty SE will have to work exceedingly hard to come out much ahead of the Zephyr.

The Aculon has some advantages in brightness certainly, but as with all things great and new, sometimes the side by side realization of just how good the best of the old porros still are needs seeing for believing.

I still have my 804 Audubon, one of the sharpest bins I've owned, and with the least astigmatism. Stars are perfect pinpoints. I've also owned an 8x50 Octrarem, also one of the best Porros. But neither can match the bright and contrasty image of the low-priced Aculon. Both have overall better optics and less field curvature, but when I see a modern cheapie Porro with the latest coatings, I realized that the greatest advance in optics has been AR coatings.

If only there were an aftermarket company that would apply modern coatings to old Porros, I wouldn't ever consider buying a.... roof. I prefer Porros, but roofs are where companies are putting their latest and greatest coatings. Even the sliver-coated prism Nikon HG "blew me away" (to borrow a phrase) when I first saw the color saturation and greater contrast than my 501xxx 8x32 SE. The SEs finally caught up with the 550 model, about 7 years later.

Same with comparing the black body EII with the older gray body model. Here you have the same optics, so the only difference is the coatings (presumably, the BB also handled flare better, which Henry's looking into

), and the difference was very noticeable to me - more contrast, better color saturation.

As much as I like old Porros, modern coatings leaves them in the dust.

Brock

Red_Shoulder · Jan 30, 2015

I don't want to interrupt the discussion, but just a quick post to thank everyone. Great thread. Also, how do I tell if I'm getting the good Action models? Looked up several of these models: the Zephyr, Tower, etc. I prefer the older ones, although I'm sure that the coatings have improved. I need to look through some Aculons.

So you prefer them to the Audobons? I don't want a roof prism, there's no way to Collimate those, I don't think. Unless you send them in.

Torview · Jan 30, 2015

I agree with Brock on the coatings updates, when I got my EII I was amazed at the improvemnt over my 500*** SE, the 550*** I now have is dare I say even better than the EII.

Pileatus · Jan 30, 2015

Torview said:
I agree with Brock on the coatings updates, when I got my EII I was amazed at the improvemnt over my 500*** SE, the 550*** I now have is dare I say even better than the EII.

SE's with 504xxx and above serial numbers are all excellent. The 550xxx is a tiny bit brighter than this group but it takes a very close comparison to see it. My wife has a 550 that she rarely uses (8X32 SV is now her choice) and I still use my 504. The 550 is available but I'm never tempted.

Torview · Jan 30, 2015

I`v just bought a 7x35 7.3* nippon kogaku from an optics retailer all checked over, been after one for a while now.

henry link · Jan 30, 2015

NDhunter said:
Red:

Welcome to the Birdforum. The Nikon porro binoculars are a great way to view the world.

You have received some good advice above, and the entry level Action, Action Extreme, and
Aculon are all good choices, and are available in a multitude of sizes. I have some examples of
several. The older Action Widefield models mentioned above are one that I think a lot of, I have
the 7x35 model, and also the 10x50 Widefield that has a FOV of 6.5*, which is wide for a 10 power, and I really like these.
Brock was right about the coatings, but I find this model has a wider sweet spot than the newer action
models.

This 10x50 does have a gold ring, and they are often described that way when offered for sale.
These must date back to the late 70's or early 80's. And there are posts back in the Nikon subforum
about this model.

Let us know, when you find a model and how you like it.

Jerry

Jerry,

That's a 10x50 Gold Sentinel from the late 80s. I used to have one of those, a very nice binocular indeed! Like most series the different Gold Sentinel models mixed and matched eyepieces and objectives. This one uses the same eyepiece as the 7x35 and the same objective lens as the 7x50.

Henry

Steve C · Jan 30, 2015

Red_Shoulder said:
I don't want to interrupt the discussion, but just a quick post to thank everyone. Great thread. Also, how do I tell if I'm getting the good Action models? Looked up several of these models: the Zephyr, Tower, etc. I prefer the older ones, although I'm sure that the coatings have improved. I need to look through some Aculons.

So you prefer them to the Audobons? I don't want a roof prism, there's no way to Collimate those, I don't think. Unless you send them in.

Not quite sure what you mean by good action models. Unless you are talking about the earlier versions of the Nikon Action. You will have to buy those used form someplace like that big internet site, then it's a crap shoot. Those were all pretty decent, but I'd go with the new ones for the better coatings. You also get new equipment warranty. Go an extra few bucks for the Action EX if you want waterproof binoculars.

The Zephyr and Rangemasters will have to be gotten through a used auction site. Be prepared to send them for service. Be prepared to service any used binocular.

I would not take the Aculon in preference to an Audubon, Rangemaster, or a Zephyr for a day in the field. But that is just me. I'd have to think long and hard about leaving the Zephyr in the case and using an SE or an EII.

As Bill has so often pointed out, you and I can get conditional collimation. You want the best from the older ones, send them to somebody who can collimate them and posses the equipment to do so.

PIER PAOLO · Jan 30, 2015

Henry, I am trying to send you a PM but I can't because you have too much messages. I have a question for you after having read some your posts about the nikon ED50A......;-)

Pinewood · Jan 30, 2015

Steve C said:
Try that with the Aculon side beside a Bushnell Rangemaster or a Baush & Lomb Zephyr and get back to me. Even the mighty SE will have to work exceedingly hard to come out much ahead of the Zephyr.

The Aculon has some advantages in brightness certainly, but as with all things great and new, sometimes the side by side realization of just how good the best of the old porros still are needs seeing for believing.

Hello Steve,

Are you writing of late model, Japanese made Zephyrs? Did they have multi-coating?
I have used uncoated Zephyr 8x30 and the 7x35 single coated Zephyr, both made in Rochester NY. The 8x30 would be really nice with any coatings, but it is still useful, if dim, uncoated.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood :hi:

Steve C · Jan 30, 2015

Pinewood said:
Hello Steve,

Are you writing of late model, Japanese made Zephyrs? Did they have multi-coating?
I have used uncoated Zephyr 8x30 and the 7x35 single coated Zephyr, both made in Rochester NY. The 8x30 would be really nice with any coatings, but it is still useful, if dim, uncoated.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood :hi:

No Arthur, mine are 1951 made in Rochester NY. They, if I understand (or recall) correctly possessed of multiple layers of MgFl. B&L called the process Balcote and applied it to all air glass surfaces. They advertised it as a hard coating. B&L said it is colorless, but there is a definite MgFl blue tinge to the lenses. I was not then prepared for the image they give. I still have to sort of pinch myself to realize these things are over 60 years old. They are 8x30 with an 8.3* (445') fov. I have all factory literature, case and box.

Dim they are not. They will fall off faster in twilight faster than multicoated types, but if that is a concern, I'll have a 5 mm EP binocular. Gray cloudy days they are not as bright as a multicoated glass, but I'd not ever call these dim. I suppose it depends on individual eyes and eyesight,, individual needs and perceptions as to how much one will like an older glass. One thing sure is that they have exceedingly limited eye relief.

I got these from an internet auction supposedly in "pristine" condition. Not so, not by a long ways. I was able to secure a substantial partial refund and sent them to Nicholas Crista. Nick does good work and it shows.

Good Nikon Porros? (1 Viewer)

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