Hi all! I´m new here (1 Viewer)

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piaf79

Member

• May 10, 2018

• #21

Im so impressed how much details you come up with! Very exiting reading Thank you very much for using some of your time to answer me. Last year i sold a M.M.S 456, BLC 8x60 for my mother in law. What do you know about those kinds? It was passed down to my mother in law by her father who was stationed in Liverpool from 1940-45 as a naval officer on the ship ”Acanthus” until 1944 taking part in protecting convoys from the german uboats. It is very likely that particular binocular was obtained in actual combat from a german ship.

 

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Binastro

Well-known member

• May 10, 2018

• #22

The blc 8x60 is a Zeiss binocular, which I think is highly regarded and quite valuable.
I am no expert regarding these particular binoculars.
There are others here who specialise in various Zeiss binoculars of this era.

I have a small blc dienstglas and a Czech equivalent, which is actually better than the Zeiss original.

I did have a complete survey camera marked blc and another firm, Emil Busch maybe, using 30cm square format film.
They came with Zeiss 20cm Topogon, 50 cm Aero Tessar or 75cm Telikon lenses.
Enormously heavy cameras.

P.S.
I didn't know what M.M.S. meant.
It seems to be coastal lookout stations, particularly in Norway with its long coastline.
Flags may have been used for signalling and high quality binoculars.

P.P.S.
Apparently, Acanthus was a 1941 Scottish built 900 ton corvette that was manned by the Norwegian Royal Navy personnel and patrolled the Atlantic maybe.

I was not aware of this at all, and quite new to me. Thanks and interesting.

 

Last edited: May 10, 2018

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piaf79

Member

• May 10, 2018

• #23

I believe blc stands for the fabric it was produced in? I dont remember. You are right about the M.M.S. (Its stands for Marine Stella Sigma.) I think it is only produced about 200 of it.

 

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Binastro

Well-known member

• May 10, 2018

• #24

blc was one of many code names used, this one indicating Carl Zeiss. I think Emil Busch was cxn.

 

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piaf79

Member

• May 10, 2018

• #25

Is it this you are referring to? (Picture: ZOMZ BNU 7x50. Made in Russia. 1978)

 

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piaf79

Member

• May 10, 2018

• #26

I think it looks very similar to some of the Carl Zeiss Jena binoculars.

 

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Binastro

Well-known member

• May 10, 2018

• #27

Yes, I think so, post 25.
But the binocular you show looks brand new and I haven't seen one in such good condition.
Also the letters look green and I cannot remember this.

The Soviets took the Zeiss machines for producing cameras, lenses and binoculars and many of the Soviet optics are similar and sometimes identical to Zeiss. Some Soviet binocular prisms are I think exactly the same as the Zeiss prisms and can be used to repair Zeiss binoculars.

However, Russia had superb lens designers also. The Russar 20mm wide angle lens? and Maksutov mirror telescopes and lenses, which were also independently designed by Gabor and Bouwers I think. Vaisala in Finland was also on the same track.

P.S.
It is possible the N 7805 number indicates May of 1978. I am not sure.
I don't think they made tens of thousands in that year, but I could be wrong.

 

Last edited: May 10, 2018

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piaf79

Member

• May 11, 2018

• #28

In 10x50 of course..

 

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Bencw

Well-known member

• May 12, 2018

• #29

piaf79 said:

Im so impressed how much details you come up with! Very exiting reading Thank you very much for using some of your time to answer me. Last year i sold a M.M.S 456, BLC 8x60 for my mother in law. What do you know about those kinds? It was passed down to my mother in law by her father who was stationed in Liverpool from 1940-45 as a naval officer on the ship ”Acanthus” until 1944 taking part in protecting convoys from the german uboats. It is very likely that particular binocular was obtained in actual combat from a german ship.

Click to expand...

Binastro is right, the BLC (Zeiss ) 8x60 is a very rare and sought after binocular these days
This photo is from the 1950s Catologue of JA Davis & son who used to be in Demark Hill London SE5, I think they closed in the 1970s, so I expect Binastro might have known of them, you can see the BLC 8X60 was being sold by them at £55.10 (fifty five pounds, ten shillings) . The average adult wage in the late 1950s was around £9 per week, but many earned less than that, so this would have have cost the equivilent of a month and a halfs pay at least.

Hope of interest.
Ben

 

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Last edited: May 12, 2018

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Binastro

Well-known member

• May 12, 2018

• #30

I earned £6 week in the early 1960s. But that was up North.

No I didn't know of JA Davis and son.
I did know Marcus of London, English of Essex and various ex gov . optics suppliers, some of them quite large.
Also Proops.

 

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Bencw

Well-known member

• May 12, 2018

• #31

Hi Binastro,
Yes, I started work in London in the 1960s, and earned only about £6 a week, but I think in those days "the men" earned a lot more than the boys, or it seemed that way. I had a job loading the photo, had to re-size it.