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Zeiss Jenoptem 8x30W real or fake ? (1 Viewer)

J

jcc70

Member
Hello, is it possible to know if a pair of Carl Zeiss Jenoptem are false just by looking at the serial number ? thank you.
 
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JCC

Forgive me for suggesting that if a fake Jenoptem was given a copy of a genuine serial number this would mean the answer to your question woulnd be no. Search the internet and there is a lot of info about how to spot fake Jenoptems. Good luck.

Lee
 
jcc70 said:
Hello, is it possible to know if a pair of Carl Zeiss Jenoptem are false just by looking at the serial number ? thank you.
Click to expand...

Hi,

welcome to BF, first of all.

Yes, sometimes one can spot a fake pair by a serial number not fitting the model or some features of the pair. Sometimes other things are not as they should be.

Do you have any specific pair in mind?

Joachim
 
Zeiss Jena having licensed some production in Japan (as mentioned in Holger's site) somewhat complicates the issue - is it possible to tell the outright fakes apart from a binocular made in Japan under license (and, indeed, how comparable would these be?).

As an aside, it's a pity the Japan made versions appear not to be of the same build quality of the DDR models (which in the case of the later model Jenoptems was already "not all that"). If the JB companies that had produced binoculars for the likes of Swift and Bushnell had been the licensees, the resulting binoculars could have been very good indeed. The build quality of the Swift Holiday I've used was not bad at all, better than the DDR Jenoptem 8x30 I owned.
 
Hi,

quite frankly - yes the rumours about the japanese license production are out there, but the bins look nothing like the real deal and are not quite comparable. I would just ignore them - there's plenty of real CZJ bins out there.

Joachim
 
Hi,

the leather bags didn't have logos back then... serial number can't be seen so cannot check this. Rest looks ok.

Joachim
 
jcc70 said:
Thank you, i found these Jenoptem 10x50w, they have all the characteristics of fake ones but people are buying.

https://www.ebay.fr/itm/Karl-Zeiss-...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2055359.m1431.l2649


https://imgur.com/GcuCU5R.jpg

https://imgur.com/mZrc7Kw.jpg
Click to expand...


The box and case look genuine DDR items, but the binocular only has a six digit number, and all the hallmarks of being made in Japan. It does not look right, that does not neccesarily mean its fake as I understand Zeiss Jenna did licence some Jenoptems to be made in Japan, and they had some differences to the DDR made ones, so it is not a Zeiss Jenna product, made in the DDR, but could possibly be a Jenoptem made for Zeiss in Japan, generally considered to be "a copy". The box and case may be an addition to make it appear to be a DDR made model. I have never looked through a Japanese made version so cant comment on how it compares.
 
jcc70 said:
Another pair here, the pouch / case that come with the binoculars does not have the Carl Zeiss Jena logo on it, i don't know if that's mandatory, are these fake or not ?, thank you !
Click to expand...

The case looks identical to the one I had (DDR model with seven digit number) but you would want to look at the serial number to be sure. NB. I ought to have kept the case when I sold the binocular as cases like that are not really made any more - I see the cases themselves are now being offered for around the price I got for the binocular!

I would recommend looking through any Jenoptem before buying, as build quality of the later DDR models was sometimes not that good. If you can find a good one they are a nice enough binocular for the price (although prices seem to have gone up quite a bit over the last 12 to 18 months) especially if you do not use your binoculars with glasses/spectacles. Not many classic porros survived into the age of multi-coating.
 

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