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

Carl Zeiss Jena 8x30? (1 Viewer)

matt green

matt green

Norfolkman gone walkabout
Hi All

I have the opportunity to purchase a pair of 8x30 Jena binoculars with the original leather case, the asking price seems quite low so wandering if they are likely to make a good investment or possible resale on a certain internet auction site?

They seemed to be in immaculate condition, had a quick look through them and the optics were first rate..all in all a fantastic piece of classic birding kit, does anyone know how much these are currently worth?

Matt
 
I know that they were not expensive when I got mine for Christmas in the mid-80's - maybe £40 - £50. I still use mine, and would be interested to know if I am walking around with valuable antique bins round my neck!!
 
Matt,

Buy them!!

They are a tremendous little binocular, i use a Nikon 8x42 High Grade and have a pair of the Jena Jenoptem 8x30W DDR in the car as back up. Every time I look through them I cant believe how good they are.

Only draw back is the hard eyecup if you wear glasses...

Check if they are out of alignment by focusing on a straight line, eg top of a roof, then pull the bins away from your eyes keeping the line in view. (hope that makes sense)

If the line stays straight and doesnt drop/rise at one side your bins are OK, if it doesn't stay straight they need fixing, and that will cost you.

Good luck,

Paul
 
Paul Higson said:
Matt,

Buy them!!

Check if they are out of alignment by focusing on a straight line, eg top of a roof, then pull the bins away from your eyes keeping the line in view. (hope that makes sense)

If the line stays straight and doesnt drop/rise at one side your bins are OK, if it doesn't stay straight they need fixing, and that will cost you.

Good luck,

Paul
Click to expand...

Thanks

Unfortunately I only had the chance to handle them in a dark auction house sale preview. Looking over to the otherside the sale room everything seemed OK..though, they had the look of very little use, apart from a small mark on the metal body they looked pretty much immaculate!!

Agree with what you say abouit the optics, they're very sharp and have a nice natural view..the focus wheel moved easily and freely while the bridge piece remained tight and didn't budge one lil bit (unlike my opticron's)

Just deciding on how much to bid for them, they're only down for £10-£18!!

Matt
 
Matt,

If they had been out of alignment you would probably have had an inkling when you looked through them.

Can you get another chance to try them out before bidding?

Movement of the wheel and bridge sounds encouraging.

Getting them realigned would cost c.£40???

Cheers,

Paul
 
Paul Higson said:
Matt,

If they had been out of alignment you would probably have had an inkling when you looked through them.

Can you get another chance to try them out before bidding?

Movement of the wheel and bridge sounds encouraging.

Getting them realigned would cost c.£40???

Cheers,

Paul
Click to expand...

The sale starts around 13:30 tomorrow, no chance for another look but I inspected them thoroughly twice before leaving the sale. They are to be sold in a specialist vintage camera and optical equipment auction so there will be loads of Lovejoy antique dealer types sniffing around for bargains (me included!!)

Just seen a pair on fleabay for £85!!

Matt
 
I still sometimes use my old (and certainly not mint!) pair and at the price suggested I don't think you can go wrong,

John
 
They are a great pair of binoculars and if you get the later version with the better lens coatings, even better. Check Collimation and check they have a 7 digit serial number.
If the serial number is only 6 digits they are copies made in Japan. Still one of the better Porro binoculars in my collection.
 
Hold them at an angle and check the condition of the coatings on both the Objective and the exit lenses - look out for heavily worn coatings or deep scratches (avoid)....light "cleaning" fine marks may be acceptable and shouldn't really matter, unmarked - get in there. Secondly, look through the wrong end and check against a bright source of light (sky) for milkiness on the prisms or edges / dirt, dust or moisture inside. Goodluck. Even in excellent condition with original case / strap don't go over the top £50 -£75 unless you really really like them
 
PYRTLE said:
Hold them at an angle and check the condition of the coatings on both the Objective and the exit lenses - look out for heavily worn coatings or deep scratches (avoid)....light "cleaning" fine marks may be acceptable and shouldn't really matter, unmarked - get in there. Secondly, look through the wrong end and check against a bright source of light (sky) for milkiness on the prisms or edges / dirt, dust or moisture inside. Goodluck. Even in excellent condition with original case / strap don't go over the top £50 -£75 unless you really really like them
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback!

Don't think I'll dig quite so deep as I was originally thinking earlier, kinda glad they're not the valuable collectors item I was perhaps anticipating ..if I don't buy to sell on they may well get some use in the field....if they were going to be worth money (and assuming I'm the successful bidder!) they would have been on fleabay pretty sharpish or stored away in the drawer for safe keeping!!

Matt
 
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