Given the choice of buying Vintage Leitz Wetzlar vs New Oberwerks Roof binos (1 Viewer)

[lofapco]

Trying to decide which to buy: Vintage Leitz Wetzlar vs New Oberwerks Roof Binoculars

This is my first post on the forum and of course it is asking a question of you experts. I am new to the binocular hobby after buying a set of Oberwerks 25x/40x 100mm Binoculars for my balcony deck where I have views of mountains for miles. I also live in a designated "Dark Sky" community and astro viewing around here is amazing. I have a very old pair of Canon Camera Company Japanese made porro 7x35mm binos that I have been using in my yard but now I have decided to spend $300 on a quality pair of everyday roof binoculars to grab and go with. I was pretty sure I was going to buy the Oberwerks 8x42 Sport ED binos seen in this link:

https://oberwerk.com/product/oberwerk-sport-ed-series/

However, I saw a pair of Vintage 1969 Leitz(Leica) Wetzlar Trinovoid
7 x 42mm binos listed for sale by a private seller locally for $650 and said to be in excellent condition. On a whim I sent a message to the seller and offered $300 cash and to my surprise she said she would sell them to me at that price. My research on these show she was likely asking a fair price for a vintage pair in excellent condition so now I am torn as to which would be better as a daily use pair to own. While I love vintage things and have read some wonderful things about the Vintage Leitz Trinovoid 7x42b quality and glass, I still think having new ED glass with coatings would likely out perform the old glass. Please help me decide which I should do!!! Thanks in advance for any advice. I have to likely decide by tomorrow which way I am going especially if I go for the old Leitz pair.

 

[jring]

Hi,

first of all, welcome to birdforum!

The first question you should ask yourself is: Are you young enough to actually profit from a 6mm exit pupil vs a 5mm one in the 8x42. The second one would have been if your sky is dark enough to make it worthwhile... but I'll assume that the answer is yes...

The true fields of both pairs are about equal, with the 8x pair having a wider apparent field naturally. The Trini has a very wide sweet spot and pretty good edge performance and nice depth of field during daylight, so you don't need to focus that much. On the flip side the image has a slight yellow cast (though less than old CZJ or even worse, some old soviet bins) and the coatings are a bit dated - the later made in Portugal pairs might be better in that category - some say mechanics were not so great with them but my Portugal made pair is fine. Your 1969 pair is certainly only single coated... also all the Leitz Trinis didn't have phase coating, although at 7x that is not such a big problem.

It really depends on how good those Oberwerk chinese roofs are... for astro, I'd probably rather get their 10x50 porro for those $300 and use the 7x35 for walks...

Joachim, who likes his trinis but tends to grab other bins for astro... usually the SE 10x42 - better suited to our not so dark skies...

 

[lofapco]

Good information! Thank you. I am actually 59 years old so the extra mm would likely not be so important but I do live in a wonderful Dark Sky community in Arizona and can get to the desert and total darkness within about 15 minutes of where I live which is wonderful to view through my super big Oberwerks Bino/telescope but that weighs about 40 lbs when you add the 13lb tripod! I am more interested in using the smaller binos for viewing the multiple birds, lizards, snakes and other wildlife we have pass through my yard and light star viewing in the evening. Mostly, this pair will be going in my Jeep for when I go on the trails out here to the vista views from the mountains. I am actually now leaning toward the 10x42 Oberwerks roofs from the link I posted above. I think the added magnification will give me a nice difference from my vintage Canon 7x35 porros. I have to think that although the vintage Leitz 7x42 are probably excellent collector bins that would hold value, I would use the Oberwerks more due to the superior updated optic coatings they have. I do know that the owner of Oberwerks, Kevin, makes himself available to anyone with questions and stands behind his products strongly. On the Cloudy Nights forum, he is well respected for his quality and service. The particular 8x42 Oberwerks was choosen as a "best of " by Space.com for an all around carry around binocular. I am certainly leaning toward the 10x42 Sport ED, as you cannot find ED glass for less that I know of.

 

[jring]

Hi,

quite frankly ED glass is not needed to build a good pair of bins. For telescopes, by all means, but there is quite a lot of bins with good color control around which don't use ED.

Here is a test of the Oberwerk 10x pair... while he sings the new owners glory song, the gist is that the sweet spot is not so great... and thus the wide field is kinda relative...

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/654916-initial-impressions-of-oberwerk-10x42-sport-eds/

I case you get it, please let us know how it is...

Joachim

 

[lofapco]

After much consideration, I chose the Oberwerk 10x42 over the old Leitz Wetzlar 7x42b. The main reason other than the newer optic coatings and ED glass is that I discovered that the b indicated that it was for people who use glasses. I never wear glasses for driving or binocular use. I only need them for reading things so I went with the Oberwerk and made my order. I am excited to see how they compare to my vintage Canon 7x35 porros which I really like. Should be fun to see as other than my Oberwerk 25x/40x 100mm binoculars and a very crappy pair of Bushnel 10x24 sport glasses I have and never use anymore, they are my daily users currently. Thanks for commenting guys!

 

[jring]

Hi,

well, yes the b stands for Brille (german for glasses) but the long fold down eyecups of the old Leitz Trinis work very well without glasses.

Congratulations to your new bins - I keep my fingers crossed that you get a great pair and like them. Please let us know how they are!

Joachim