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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Old Leitz Bidoxit 6x30 Refurbed. (1 Viewer)

B

Bencw

Well-known member
This is the Leitz Bidox 6x30 shown in photo 1 stripped down, completely refurbed.
Cleaned inside, the white lettering on the prism plates was cleaned and brightened with a little washing up liquid on an old soft toothbrush,then the letters and numbers masked with liquid latex painted on with a fine brush. The plates and objective rims sprayed black acrylic, then the masking removed from the plates then all was given 2 coats of clear lacquer. The body has been recovered in black and red snakeskin.
 

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Hi Binastro,

Ha.ha, I really dont like snakes but this is fake snake !! . I could probably open one, but i'm too old to be bothered now, I enjoy doing this stuff at my own pace though.
 
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Hello Bencw,

Nice work! I gather that this binocular may have been manufactured in 1948. It was specified at 8.5° Field of view. Is it coated?

Happy bird watching,
Arthur
 
Thanks all,

Arthur, 8.5 yes, but I dont think it's coated, I had thought maybe a bit earlier, late 1930s ?
 
Bencw said:
Thanks all,

Arthur, 8.5 yes, but I dont think it's coated, I had thought maybe a bit earlier, late 1930s ?
Click to expand...
Leitz sn # 486833 would have been made early post-war 1945 - 1946 (Leitz resumed civilian production almost immediately after the war selling to Allied servicemen). I think you're correct that it's not coated - other examples with serial numbers in this range that I've seen were not coated yet.
 
I'm not too hung up on binocular aethestics most of the time, but must admit the black and red snake leather looks absolutely stunning on that classic old Porro. Very inspired choice!
 
Thanks all, and thanks for the dates LPT.

I just noticed I put Bidoxit by mistake, it is of course a Bidox IF.
 
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Bryon Wright said:
Hi, enjoyed looking at this renovation. How does one align the binocular vision on reassembly?
Click to expand...

The right way—By training, understanding, and the proper tools.

The wrong way—By following the millions of words on the internet wherein people are taught “how EASY it is” and trial, error, and the observer’s spatial accommodation comes into play.

The adequate way—If the instrument is to be used by ONE person or another with nearly the same IPD, the WRONG way may be used. It will get you “Conditional Alignment,” and that may be all you need. It will not, however, get you clinical 3-axis “collimation.”

Technical accuracy or semantics? Only you can decide. :cat:

Bill
 
Bryon Wright said:
Hi, enjoyed looking at this renovation. How does one align the binocular vision on reassembly?
Click to expand...

Well, as long as the binocular is comfortable to look through before disassembly (at the least it's conditionally aligned or close to it) then when you disassemble be sure to mark the exact positions of the prisms and objective lenses in relation to their housings/seatings before removing them so that you'll be able to put them back in the same locations. With lower quality binos prism seating may be loose and getting them back in same locations may be difficult, but with binos like Leitz they'll usually seat very tightly and there should be no problems.
 
LPT said:
Well, as long as the binocular is comfortable to look through before disassembly (at the least it's conditionally aligned or close to it) then when you disassemble be sure to mark the exact positions of the prisms and objective lenses in relation to their housings/seatings before removing them so that you'll be able to put them back in the same locations. With lower quality binos prism seating may be loose and getting them back in same locations may be difficult, but with binos like Leitz they'll usually seat very tightly and there should be no problems.
Click to expand...

Hi LPT:

Please allow me to temper your comment a bit. What you said about marking positions WORKS VERY WELL when you’re at the level of marking the objective housing against the prism housing. However, unless you are working with a very old Zeiss, where each prism would only fit in one direction of one quadrant (good job, Carl) it gets a little more complex.

A light ray will exit a mirror at twice the angle of incidence. A prism is taking the place of a mirror and when compounded with the light passing through two consecutive prisms—and those prisms needing to work with two additional prisms in the other telescope, it can become quite a head scratcher and TINY errors in alignment at the prism can lead to major errors at the exit pupil. Will the technique get you in the ball game? It most certainly can. More often, however, it won’t unless you have an astounding range of spatial accommodation. But then, I’ve had customers with a “perfectly collimated” binocular—in their minds—that the collimator said otherwise.

‘Just something to think about; I meant no harm. :cat:

Bill
 
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LPT said:
Well, as long as the binocular is comfortable to look through before disassembly (at the least it's conditionally aligned or close to it) then when you disassemble be sure to mark the exact positions of the prisms and objective lenses in relation to their housings/seatings before removing them so that you'll be able to put them back in the same locations. With lower quality binos prism seating may be loose and getting them back in same locations may be difficult, but with binos like Leitz they'll usually seat very tightly and there should be no problems.
Click to expand...


As LPT said, the older Leitz porro prisms are usually a good tight fit, these just snapped back in place no problem, and the position of everything was marked, prisms, objective housing, all to go back as they came out. I also have a home made collimator, made to specs in J Seyfrieds book, as Bill will attest this will not give professional perfect alignment, but give conditional alignment, however I have found that if I check alignment at 3 different IPD settings using it, it has been good enough for my purposes, the Leitz was no problem, no fiddling or adjusting to be done, but sometimes with some binoculars it can take hours of tweeking. After that I often use the old Japanese "triple tested" method ( smile) I get 3 differrent people to look through them and tell me if they see any problems, I admit, all fairly unscientific. The way I look at it, if restoring an old bin thats in a bad way, it's going to be better than it was whatever, and I enjoy it.
 
It is a pity they don't fix sick binoculars on the NHS.
It would help me a lot.

Who to vote for now from our local candidates?
Kim Jong who promises me a free Nikon WX or Putin offering a free Russian mail order bride. :)

Decisions, decisions.
 
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Bencw said:
As LPT said, the older Leitz porro prisms are usually a good tight fit, these just snapped back in place no problem, and the position of everything was marked, prisms, objective housing, all to go back as they came out. I also have a home made collimator, made to specs in J Seyfrieds book, as Bill will attest this will not give professional perfect alignment, but give conditional alignment, however I have found that if I check alignment at 3 different IPD settings using it, it has been good enough for my purposes, the Leitz was no problem, no fiddling or adjusting to be done, but sometimes with some binoculars it can take hours of tweeking. After that I often use the old Japanese "triple tested" method ( smile) I get 3 differrent people to look through them and tell me if they see any problems, I admit, all fairly unscientific. The way I look at it, if restoring an old bin thats in a bad way, it's going to be better than it was whatever, and I enjoy it.
Click to expand...

Ben:

If a picture is worth a thousand words, you have done at least 4,000 words worth. Furthermore, is pleasing to know you know the difference between conditional alignment and collimation.

I have performed conditional alignment on my own instruments, when I knew it would suffice for my needs, and the binos of others who didn’t want to pay for the “full meal deal.” I just get wrapped around the axle when some novice’s novice—who’s been into binoculars for a whole ... 10 days—starts telling others he has “collimated” his binocular, and how EASY it was, when I bloody well know he thinks a collimator is a cross between a collie and an alligator. But, only then because I know following that sub-elementary advice can take the instrument ever-farther AWAY from clinical collimation. The early stages of inexperience can provide great information for the new tinkerer. But, it can harm the instruments of others who trustingly take the advice. Your mature logic will always keep you safe. :cat:

Bill
 
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