Binoculars (1 Viewer)

G‘day from Down under!

I have been birdwatching for a long time, first in Guatemala, then in Austria and now in Australia. I have got 2 binoculars. Sadly I do not know anything about the small one I have got. It says MSC Eagle, coated optics 10x20, Field 4,3: no. 57281. nice heavy one I scored at a market in Victoria for $8 (australian). Any idea where it is made and how old it would be? I wish I could attach a pic to this but I can‘t. Have a great day

Hello Corina and welcome to BirdForum!

f you post your enquiry in the Binoculars section there are some real experts who should be able to help!

Chris

Hi Corina
MSC stands for Meiji Seiko Co. Ltd, a Japanese company who manufactured binos under their own name and for other companies. Some internet research may uncover more info for you and this place is a good start: http://www.miniaturebinoculars.com/page0028.htm

In the meantime welcome to Birdforum!

Lee

Hi Corina and a warm welcome to you from those of us on staff here at BirdForum :t:

I've moved your thread to the Binocular section and have subscribed you to the thread so that you will get email notifications when someone posts to your thread.

Little binoculars

Thank you. I have looked it up. Very confusing indeed

Thank you

Hi,

first of all, welcome to birdforum!

Lee has already dug up about the only link available on these... here's some images for comparison...

https://picclick.co.uk/Vintage-MSC-Eagle-Coated-10x20-Binoculars-with-Leather-153568714920.html

In general, it seems to be more of a curiosity than a useful pair of binoculars - the super tiny 2mm exit pupil will make for a dim view in anything beside bright sunshine and single coatings won't help there, correct eye placement is very difficult and the field of view is super narrow.
Plus I'm not sure how stable the whole contraption is when extended, especially how well it holds the interpupilary distance setting... otherwise you'll have even more problems to get the eye placement right...
Also even full size 10x bins are not so easy to hold stable - a tiny pair does not make this easier.

I have a Zeiss Conquest 10x25 and despite good quality it's not my favourite pair for the reasons mentioned... Probably should let it go as it does get zero use...

A small and cheap multicoated reverse porro in 7 or 8x and with 20-25mm aperture will be a lot better and might also be snagged up for cheap - even new some ok ones are available for $70 or so. Or get the Pentax Papilio II 6.5x21 which also can be used for watching insects up close...

Joachim

I have quite a few of these micro binoculars.
Not sure if one is a 10x20, but I don't recall the Eagle name.

The problems I have found are that many are out of alignment when bought used and even if conditionally aligned the axes are so way off it amazes me they work at all.

They look good and are fun to use.

Having said this, my Charles Frank Nipole 7x23 was my only binocular for perhaps ten years and served me well on my travels around the world and in the U.K.
Eventually it got out of alignment and now has rust, but a wonderful friend for all those years.

I suppose the problems cured me of wanting any more of these micro binoculars.

B.

Binastro said:

Having said this, my Charles Frank Nipole 7x23 was my only binocular for perhaps ten years and served me well on my travels around the world and in the U.K.
Eventually it got out of alignment and now has rust, but a wonderful friend for all those years.

Click to expand...

Hi,

yeah, but these are quite a different cup of tea... over 3mm exit pupil and 9 deg fov. I might even like those - if they're in collimation...

Joachim

Hi Corina and Joachim.

I found in one minute these.

Name plate missing.
Black with gold trimmed eyepieces. Looks smart.

Left rear back plate.
8x20
Field view at 1000yds: 304ft
Model NO.50 3 (the 3 displaced downwards as an after thought).

Front on centre axle.
J-B 231
JAPAN
H 1155

Possibly 3 single blue coats per barrel. Other surfaces uncoated.
Clean inside.

View good centre, quite good edge.
But I can't hold these steady. So not really much use.
String neck strap
Well aligned for me.

As to 10x25.
The Docter 10x25 is probably my most used binocular.
Roof prism, probably not phase coated.
Ultra tough.

Regards,
B.