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Message: <blockquote data-quote="KorHaan" data-source="post: 1244815" data-attributes="member: 49910">Hi Brock, Thanks for the link. Brought back some memories of the years I owned Optolyth Alpins; in 1982 I purchased the 7x42 model, which was very lightweight and very easy to use. The FOV was better than on my old Russian 7x50 porro's, but since the Alpins were the second pair of binoculars I purchased since I started birding I had very little experience of bad/good FOV at the time. Anyway, the Alpins had ONE major flaw: the housing was to thin ( that's what made them lightweight, of course) and they fogged up the very first time I used them in light rain, merely drizzle. It was so dreadful I couldn't see a thing through them anymore. Brought them back, got a new pair ( I only had them 3 days!) and quickly learned to put them under my coat when out in the drizzle or rain. All went well until I foolishly left them on the plane on my way to Africa. Ordered new ones, Alpin 7x50 this time, very lightweight ( 625 grams if I remember correctly) with same thin housing. Used them a year in Africa, in arid climate, with no problems. Once back in Holland, they succumbed to the wet conditions very first outing and fogged up as badly as my first pair of 7x42 had. No use drying them, after weeks a permanent layer of foul mist remained on the inner glass surfaces. It is my theory that the warmth of my hands holding the binoculars firmly, in connection with the thin housing, caused the fogging inside.I would like to warn people who are thinking of getting the 'old style' Optolyth Alpins that these porro's can not be used in wet and cold weather, but are very nice in dry circumstances. The supplied rainguard in the ad suggests that it is OK to use them in all weather, but you'd better not!The nitrogen-filled versions probably are OK in this respect, though I've no experience with these. Regards, Ronald</blockquote>

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