John Dracon
John Dracon
Are vintage spotting scopes useful for birding? What may appear to be a rhetorical kind of question hinges obviously on the word, "vintage" which conjures up something very old.
Obviously, one has to talk about which vintage model when it comes to birding. Some are and some aren't. What got me thinking about this was that a package arrived in the mail a few days ago containing a Wollensak 20x Mirroscope. See www.monocular.info/wollen20x.htm for a nice description of that model.
I had forgotten I had left that particular piece at a very remote Montana cattle ranch I had visited in the late 1950s and had never returned to claim it. The rancher's wife now in her early nineties had kept it and remembered to whom it belonged. And with a keen mind and sense of honesty, she mailed it to me unexpectedly.
Its leather case was in mint condition and so was the mirror scope. So I had to put in on a tripod and see what it would do. According to the literature pulled off the net, it claimed 85% of light transmission and a field of 87' at 1000 yards/1 degree - 40 minutes. The ER was only 12 mm but with the eye cap unscrewed, it afforded a full field with eye glasses being worn. The exit pupil was listed at 2.3 mm.
Only nine (9) inches long and weighing less than nineteen (19) ozs with a 50 mm objective, it is quite compact. The finish is the black enamel of Zeiss quality. So how did it perform?
Obviously, its field was restricted, but it was reasonably bright on a very dull day. Getting to focus was a bit fuzzy, but I learned how to operate it again in a short time. Its most outstanding feature is that the image is sharp across the entire field. No falling off whatsoever. At 20 x it showed a nice image and would be useful for stationary birds way out there under ideal conditions.
It would not endure rough use and needs to be handled with care. I estimate it was made in the 40s or early 50s.
That prompted me to examine another vintage scope in my possession, a 20X Bausch and Lomb 40 mm draw-tube scope made in the 1950s. It goes by the name of Balscope Jr. It focuses down to 15 feet but has an ER of 9.5 mm which actually allows the full view without touching the glass, even though the exit pupil is only 2 mm It overall length with caps is 12 7/16" and it weighs 24 ozs, and it is all metal and glass. Beautifully finished it even has a special molded part of the tube to accept the standard 1'4 20 thread screw.
Its design was to accommodate pistol shooters in indoor ranges, but it has outdoor use as well. Birding? I would say yes, for quick peeks where the bird's identity was in question or when a tripod was available. While the FOV is only 75 feet, it, like the Wollensax, is sharp across the entire field.
The only other vintage scope in my possession is the Bausch & Lomb 60 mm Balscope Senior. If on a tripod or window mount, it is definitely a birding scope of great quality. This one was made in 1953, meaning it is over 60 years old. Yet it images are superb. B&L made a later zoom model which was significantly inferior to the fixed power Balscope Sr. which comes with screw in eye pieces of 15x, 20 x, 30x and 60 x.
Incidently, the Bushnell Rangemaster and B&L eyepieces are interchangeable.
The Balscope Sr. lacks rubber covering, but I covered one with oil tanned latigo leather with great success. The B&L will also accommodate a rotating turret which houses three (3) eye pieces for quick power selection, and this makes it very handy when looking at birds. I use the turret model all the time in my home even though I have several other high cost, state of the art spotting scopes.
For the person just getting into birding with limited resources, some of these old vintage spotting scopes , particularly the B&L and Bushnell models offer great value for minimum cost.
John
Obviously, one has to talk about which vintage model when it comes to birding. Some are and some aren't. What got me thinking about this was that a package arrived in the mail a few days ago containing a Wollensak 20x Mirroscope. See www.monocular.info/wollen20x.htm for a nice description of that model.
I had forgotten I had left that particular piece at a very remote Montana cattle ranch I had visited in the late 1950s and had never returned to claim it. The rancher's wife now in her early nineties had kept it and remembered to whom it belonged. And with a keen mind and sense of honesty, she mailed it to me unexpectedly.
Its leather case was in mint condition and so was the mirror scope. So I had to put in on a tripod and see what it would do. According to the literature pulled off the net, it claimed 85% of light transmission and a field of 87' at 1000 yards/1 degree - 40 minutes. The ER was only 12 mm but with the eye cap unscrewed, it afforded a full field with eye glasses being worn. The exit pupil was listed at 2.3 mm.
Only nine (9) inches long and weighing less than nineteen (19) ozs with a 50 mm objective, it is quite compact. The finish is the black enamel of Zeiss quality. So how did it perform?
Obviously, its field was restricted, but it was reasonably bright on a very dull day. Getting to focus was a bit fuzzy, but I learned how to operate it again in a short time. Its most outstanding feature is that the image is sharp across the entire field. No falling off whatsoever. At 20 x it showed a nice image and would be useful for stationary birds way out there under ideal conditions.
It would not endure rough use and needs to be handled with care. I estimate it was made in the 40s or early 50s.
That prompted me to examine another vintage scope in my possession, a 20X Bausch and Lomb 40 mm draw-tube scope made in the 1950s. It goes by the name of Balscope Jr. It focuses down to 15 feet but has an ER of 9.5 mm which actually allows the full view without touching the glass, even though the exit pupil is only 2 mm It overall length with caps is 12 7/16" and it weighs 24 ozs, and it is all metal and glass. Beautifully finished it even has a special molded part of the tube to accept the standard 1'4 20 thread screw.
Its design was to accommodate pistol shooters in indoor ranges, but it has outdoor use as well. Birding? I would say yes, for quick peeks where the bird's identity was in question or when a tripod was available. While the FOV is only 75 feet, it, like the Wollensax, is sharp across the entire field.
The only other vintage scope in my possession is the Bausch & Lomb 60 mm Balscope Senior. If on a tripod or window mount, it is definitely a birding scope of great quality. This one was made in 1953, meaning it is over 60 years old. Yet it images are superb. B&L made a later zoom model which was significantly inferior to the fixed power Balscope Sr. which comes with screw in eye pieces of 15x, 20 x, 30x and 60 x.
Incidently, the Bushnell Rangemaster and B&L eyepieces are interchangeable.
The Balscope Sr. lacks rubber covering, but I covered one with oil tanned latigo leather with great success. The B&L will also accommodate a rotating turret which houses three (3) eye pieces for quick power selection, and this makes it very handy when looking at birds. I use the turret model all the time in my home even though I have several other high cost, state of the art spotting scopes.
For the person just getting into birding with limited resources, some of these old vintage spotting scopes , particularly the B&L and Bushnell models offer great value for minimum cost.
John
