Carl Zeiss Jenoptem 8x30 circa 1985. Upgrade (1 Viewer)

[suuntobob]

Hi,
I have recently got back into birding after 30 odd years, as I am now retired. I have dusted off my old Jenoptems which I still think are quite good.
My question is do these still hold up to what I have seen for around £300 to £400 say Nikon Monarch M5 or Zeiss Terra ED I think I would want the 8x42 models has they are about the same weight and size, or should I just stick with the old Jenoptems.
Sureley someone on here has made a similar upgrade as they were the go to binocular in the eighties on a similar budget. Any suggestion would be gratefully received.
Thanks in advance
Bob.

 

[Binastro]

Hi Bob and welcome.

The 8x30 Jenoptem is still good if internally clean and well aligned.

It depends which direction you wish to go.

Maybe try the binocular and see if you are still happy using it.

Regards,
B.

 

[dwatsonbirder]

Although no doubt a classic which still provides a nice view, I'd suspect that a more modern pair which are fully multicoated with ED glass would offer a surprisingly different view, particularly if you wear glasses. Within your budget, I'd suggest the Opticron traveller ED, which is compact, rugged, light and offers a very good view for a modest outlay. You could get lucky with a used Zeiss Conquest HD, Vortex Viper or Nikon HG within your budget.
The best advice would be to take your old pair along to a local dealer and test them against suitable alternatives - if you don't feel the upgrade is worth it, save your money and just enjoy the birds 👍🏼

 

[William Lewis]

Hi Bob.

Congratulations on returning to the hobby! I'd say it may be worth sending the old jenoptems in for a service if they've not had much love since 1985, I use optrep but there are many good alternatives.

The latest and greatest will be better in many quantitative ways but its mainly about using an optic you enjoy and if that's the zeiss then it's all you need.

Will

 

[suuntobob]

Thanks for the suggestions guys, although I wondered if anyone on here had upgraded from the Jenoptems to a £400 ish binocular and had a comparison, negative or positive.

 

[William Lewis]

I think most people who did that upgrade probably did it many moons ago but hopefully someone will jump in who has!

The main practical difference will be that most modern binoculars are waterproof and nitrogen filled so they won't fog up too badly in inclement weather.

Handling wise you'll probably be looking at a roof prism model (the majority are now) which means slightly different ergonomics, compared to your Jena's you hands will be closer together when holding them, i don't tend to get on well with smaller roof prisms but many more do find them excellent, I'm in the minority.

The eye cups will also likely be twist out on a new model so it's easier to set them for your eye relief, talking or which if you wear glasses a more modern design should have more eye relief so you can see more of the field of view with glasses on.

Optically the Jena's are good, the field of view (field width) is better than most although some designs in your price range will have a flatter field of view I.e more of it will be in focus, the Jena's have quite a lot of field curvature so the edges become progressively more blurry. My understanding is that your Jena's may have early multi coatings on the glass elements if they are a new model from 1985 so the light transmission will be ok, maybe 85-90% although the image will be more skewed towards the yellow, a modern binocular may be more neutral in terms of colour rendition although in terms of transmission will probably be broadly similar due to Schmidt pechan prisms inherently loosing more light as well as roof prism models having more glass elements to loose light in.

I'd say try some out but don't discount that you may still find the view through the Jena's more appealing, resolution will be broadly similar.

 

[suuntobob]

I think most people who did that upgrade probably did it many moons ago but hopefully someone will jump in who has!

The main practical difference will be that most modern binoculars are waterproof and nitrogen filled so they won't fog up too badly in inclement weather.

Handling wise you'll probably be looking at a roof prism model (the majority are now) which means slightly different ergonomics, compared to your Jena's you hands will be closer together when holding them, i don't tend to get on well with smaller roof prisms but many more do find them excellent, I'm in the minority.

The eye cups will also likely be twist out on a new model so it's easier to set them for your eye relief, talking or which if you wear glasses a more modern design should have more eye relief so you can see more of the field of view with glasses on.

Optically the Jena's are good, the field of view (field width) is better than most although some designs in your price range will have a flatter field of view I.e more of it will be in focus, the Jena's have quite a lot of field curvature so the edges become progressively more blurry. My understanding is that your Jena's may have early multi coatings on the glass elements if they are a new model from 1985 so the light transmission will be ok, maybe 85-90% although the image will be more skewed towards the yellow, a modern binocular may be more neutral in terms of colour rendition although in terms of transmission will probably be broadly similar due to Schmidt pechan prisms inherently loosing more light as well as roof prism models having more glass elements to loose light in.

I'd say try some out but don't discount that you may still find the view through the Jena's more appealing, resolution will be broadly similar.

Thanks for that William, I am visiting Tichwell Marsh in a few weeks ( my relative works there) so I am hoping they will let me compare a few with mine.
For the record I dont wear Spectacles yet, only reading glasses.

 

[William Lewis]

A rare treat. I only get up to titchwell once a year when we stay in a cottage in brancaster staithe in October. Walk slowly, listen carefully and look constantly- especially for movement, unless your viewing an especially open vista I find it best to see the birds naked eye before using the bins to try and i.d them- your ears can be equally useful for this though once you've tuned them back in! I usually try to get there early and head down the path that heads off east from the back of the shop, much quieter and there's usually a nice selection of raptors etc in the dead trees before you get to the back of the pools waiting for it to warm up so they can start hunting.

Good shop in titchwell, wide selection of swarovski's finest as well as Leica, zeiss and Nikon. Go steady looking through those though given your budget - the Nikon monarch 7+ might be worth a glance, they're around £500.

If you have an hour or 2 to spare there's an even better shop called cley spy just down the coast - predictably enough near cley marshes. They hold a very good selection and also usually have second hand options, I rarely buy new.

 

[suuntobob]

A rare treat. I only get up to titchwell once a year when we stay in a cottage in brancaster staithe in October. Walk slowly, listen carefully and look constantly- especially for movement, unless your viewing an especially open vista I find it best to see the birds naked eye before using the bins to try and i.d them- your ears can be equally useful for this though once you've tuned them back in! I usually try to get there early and head down the path that heads off east from the back of the shop, much quieter and there's usually a nice selection of raptors etc in the dead trees before you get to the back of the pools waiting for it to warm up so they can start hunting.

Good shop in titchwell, wide selection of swarovski's finest as well as Leica, zeiss and Nikon. Go steady looking through those though given your budget - the Nikon monarch 7+ might be worth a glance, they're around £500.

If you have an hour or 2 to spare there's an even better shop called cley spy just down the coast - predictably enough near cley marshes. They hold a very good selection and also usually have second hand options, I rarely buy new.

Thanks William, I will take a look at Cley

 

[Patudo]

I was one of those who made that upgrade (although I do still keep a couple of 8x30 porros around for nostalgia). I think if you don't need glasses your Jenoptems will still be adequate on nice days (might be worth getting them serviced if they have been in their case for 30 odd years!) but for more marginal weather something waterproof is going to be much more practical. 8x42 is the classic birding configuration (especially in the UK/Europe) but modern 8x30/32s can be very good nowadays and have the advantage of being smaller and more handy.

Unless you need a binocular urgently I'd keep an eye open for good secondhand models at reputable shops (like Cley). You may be able to get a much better binocular for your budget than anything new. If you're not familiar with the make/model you can always get some opinions here!

For what it's worth, I replaced my Jenoptem with a waterproof roof prism binocular (Swarovski SLC 8x30 mark II) and ultimately with a secondhand Zeiss 8x32 FL. But there are plenty of other makes/models that would serve you well. Welcome back to the fold!

 

[Stephen Prower]

"My question is do these still hold up to what I have seen for around £300 to £400 say Nikon Monarch M5 or Zeiss Terra ED I think I would want the 8x42 models has they are about the same weight and size, or should I just stick with the old Jenoptems.
Sureley someone on here has made a similar upgrade as they were the go to binocular in the eighties on a similar budget."

Bob

My excuse for contributing to your thread as a relatively new birdwatcher is that I happen to have a recently purchased pair of binoculars, a modern Roof binocular and an old Japanese-licensed Zeiss 8x30 Jenoptem* sitting right beside me.

I suggest, like William Lewis, that you go for almost any new £300 to £400 model of Roof binocular to get the benefits of waterproofing and better optics. But you may regret it if at the same time you don't also keep the Jenoptems for occasional birdwatching in good weather and good light.

Personally, given good light I find that the optical gap between a good old Porro like the Jenoptem, and a good modern Roof is not so very great. For everyday birdwatching the relaxed "delivery" of the view by the Porro by virtue of its proven specification and design, and often high standard of manufacture may contribute substantially to a satisfying day out. Bad ergonomics can offset every other attractive feature of a new Roof for its owner as effectively as bad ergonomics can offset them for an old Porro.

I warn from my experience that it could be more likely that, ergonomically, you will find a Roof binocular to be too cramped for your hands compared with your Porro Jenoptems.

Thus I was only happy with the modern Roof binocular after I had modified it to free my hands. I added 15mm extensions to the objective barrels. This afforded me a natural handhold that, as a matter of impression to date, does seem to improve the stability of the binocular, and bring it to my eyes in precise balance.

No such modifications were needed for the Japanese Zeiss Jenoptem!


Stephen


* I don't want to re-open the controversy whether the Japanese Zeiss 8x30 Jenoptem is inferior to the original East German Jenoptem. The lively market on Ebay for Jenoptems when I last looked did not offer a large discount on the price for the Japanese model compared with the price for the East German model

 

[suuntobob]

Hi,
I have recently got back into birding after 30 odd years, as I am now retired. I have dusted off my old Jenoptems which I still think are quite good.
My question is do these still hold up to what I have seen for around £300 to £400 say Nikon Monarch M5 or Zeiss Terra ED I think I would want the 8x42 models has they are about the same weight and size, or should I just stick with the old Jenoptems.
Sureley someone on here has made a similar upgrade as they were the go to binocular in the eighties on a similar budget. Any suggestion would be gratefully received.
Thanks in advance
Bob.

In case anyone else on here has 8x30 Jenoptems and is thinking of upgrading like I was, I can report I have bought a Pair of RSPB 8x42 HD and are very satisfied, the difference is night and day in my opinion.
Thanks for all the replies though.
Cheers Bob