Leica, Zeiss & Swarovski binoculars compared: A personal report (3 Viewers)

[NatureLover123]

Glad you're enjoying some very good binoculars! Your grandfather's binocular sounds like a "Nobilem" (the top-end product from the former East German Zeiss factory in Jena). If you still have it in your family, it'd be really interesting to hear about some comparisons between it and your 10x42 SF.

Yes I still have it. To be precise it's labelled as "Jenoptem 10x50 W" it has also engraved "DDR", "Carl Zeiss Jena" and "multi-coated". I think it's from around 1980. Maybe earlier. I can check a table with the serial number, somewhere?

It's still in a good condition after the years. No fungus in it. The purple color of the coatings is still there, but not that pronounced as on the SFs. There are no scratches on the optical surfaces and also it has no dust in it. But I think it got some time ago a shock, or some other reason to get the barrels misaligned a bit, because when I look through it, then it stresses my eyes. But I cannot remember a single time that it fell down a single centimeter. Maybe I send it to Zeiss for service to get it right again.

The field is smaller as on my VP 8x25. But it's still considered "wide". It seems around almost 60 degrees AFOV, but I don't know how to measure the exact value.

The sharpness in the center of the field is very good for that old piece of art.

The color rendition is not that good as on my modern binos, which have fluoride elements in. I cannot compare different fruits.
The CA is easily noticeable. I cannot compare to a normal modern ED glass, because I don't have one.

Yes, the more I think about it I should sent it to service to show respect to that piece of history and art. I hope they will keep it original.

 

[NatureLover123]

Yes I still have it. To be precise it's labelled as "Jenoptem 10x50 W" it has also engraved "DDR", "Carl Zeiss Jena" and "multi-coated". I think it's from around 1980. Maybe earlier. I can check a table with the serial number, somewhere?

It's still in a good condition after the years. No fungus in it. The purple color of the coatings is still there, but not that pronounced as on the SFs. There are no scratches on the optical surfaces and also it has no dust in it. But I think it got some time ago a shock, or some other reason to get the barrels misaligned a bit, because when I look through it, then it stresses my eyes. But I cannot remember a single time that it fell down a single centimeter. Maybe I send it to Zeiss for service to get it right again.

The field is smaller as on my VP 8x25. But it's still considered "wide". It seems around almost 60 degrees AFOV, but I don't know how to measure the exact value.

The sharpness in the center of the field is very good for that old piece of art.

The color rendition is not that good as on my modern binos, which have fluoride elements in. I cannot compare different fruits.
The CA is easily noticeable. I cannot compare to a normal modern ED glass, because I don't have one.

Yes, the more I think about it I should sent it to service to show respect to that piece of history and art. I hope they will keep it original.

Na stupid, am I? I fixed the diopter setting. It's on the right eye piece it was not at zero. Now the Jenoptem is more sharper than before. It puts less stress on the eyes, but looking through them is not that comfortable as with the SFs, what a surprise It's not needed to send it to the service

 

[Paultricounty]

Na stupid, am I? I fixed the diopter setting. It's on the right eye piece it was not at zero. Now the Jenoptem is more sharper than before. It puts less stress on the eyes, but looking through them is not that comfortable as with the SFs, what a surprise It's not needed to send it to the service

Zero on the diopter doesn’t mean that it’s perfectly set for your eyes. First thing to take into consideration is that the numbers on the diopter dial may not be accurate, and in many of these classic vintage binoculars they are not. Therefore, I wouldn’t worry about the specific number as much as getting the settings right for both your eyes.

Another thing to consider that is very important to comfort, and the performance of the Binoculars is the collimation (alignment of the optical train). A well serviced, collimated binocular with your IPD set make these wonderful performing optics. Good luck.

Paul