Nikon 8x30E11 (1 Viewer)

[David Swain]

That is minor stuff compared to having the covering bubble up and come loose as it has done on a couple of occasions on my older, vintage 2002 Nikon 8x30 EII. Wear like yours shows "character!":t:

Agreed. I had some gray bodies for two years, and the covering never stayed in one place long enough to show wear :eek!: (unlike the metal, which was showing some "brassing" in spots).

Sad to hear some people aren't enjoying theirs for fear of undue wear or damage.

David

 

[Alexis Powell]

I believe I am the only poster to BF to ever have noted wear on the armor, so I seriously doubt my experience is common. As I noted, I usually wear them bandolier-style (grab-and-swing). I do a lot of field work as well as recreational birding, so I suppose I put some wear on them. I don't consider small smooth spots where my right thumb and index finger rest to be objectionable. I value these as tools, not investments. Indeed, they are exceptional binoculars--real classics--but they do require some care of the all-metal housing and religious use of the rain guard in foul weather.

David

Are you sure what you are seeing is wear? I've seen similar on the crinkle/pebble finish of other Nikon gear that turned out to be grime/gunk (plastic or tar-like fusion of dead skin cells, skin oil, etc). Might be worth seeing what a scrubbing with an old tooth brush and a bit of soapy water or alcohol solution would do.

--AP

 

[brocknroller]

Has anyone knocked an EII out of alignment?
I've had a string of porros that were either out when I purchased them (but only lately I discovered how to check for it) or got knocked out by a fairly simple bump. I read into the use that is described here that the EII may be more robust than my general porro experience indicates. Perhaps I shouldn't be scared to use mine....


Dave

The EII's construction doesn't appear to be as robust as the SE's, so I wouldn't be surprised if they got knocked out of alignment more easily, but I've had my present sample EII for about 10 years and it's still aligned properly, and I'm not the original owner (I was of the others I sold). This sample was purchased from Captain's Nautical Supplies and collimated by none other than retired Navy Chief Opticalman Bill Cook, who wrote the book on collimation, or at least the paper. I'm not sure if that's why it has the largest sweet spot of the three 8x EII samples I've had.

Binocular collimation vs conditional alignment
Author(s): William J. Cook

It's had a few bumps but no drops. I think what's helped keep it aligned are the hard rubber Bushwacker covers. The EII's have no rubber armoring on the objective housings (unlike the SE), so if the front end knocks into something, there's nothing to absorb the shock (and you might end up with a dent). I would recommend buying Bushwackers or Butler Creek objective covers for the EIIs. They also give better balance to the 8x model by allowing you to wrap your pinky finger around the covers.

Brock

 

[Cluster]

Thanks for the pointer, Brock. This will be worth doing, if I keep them (some have to go).

Are they available in Europe?

Dave

 

[PeterPS]

perseid28:

Get an EII asap, or else you run the risk to pay much more for them when they become extinct. In anticipation of that time, Amazon is selling used EII's for 4700$!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B000HOJGS6/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used

 

[PeterPS]

Forgot to mention: new EII's on Amazon are only 410$ but who wants to buy new? An used EII with the right kind of patina has more character....

 

[David Swain]

Are you sure what you are seeing is wear? I've seen similar on the crinkle/pebble finish of other Nikon gear that turned out to be grime/gunk (plastic or tar-like fusion of dead skin cells, skin oil, etc). Might be worth seeing what a scrubbing with an old tooth brush and a bit of soapy water or alcohol solution would do.

I was intrigued by this possibility, and did a little scrubbing. Indeed, some gunk did come off, but the overall area still shows noticeable wear, if not so obvious as the shiny areas in the pictures. Odd, given that I use my SEs a lot more and they show neither any obvious wear or gunk build-up (just an overall "polish" to the covering).

But perhaps such patina is worth something after all!

David

 

[Alexis Powell]

I was intrigued by this possibility, and did a little scrubbing. Indeed, some gunk did come off, but the overall area still shows noticeable wear...

Oh well, it was worth a try! Thanks for checking/confirmation of the wear

--AP

 

[brocknroller]

I was intrigued by this possibility, and did a little scrubbing. Indeed, some gunk did come off, but the overall area still shows noticeable wear, if not so obvious as the shiny areas in the pictures. Odd, given that I use my SEs a lot more and they show neither any obvious wear or gunk build-up (just an overall "polish" to the covering).

But perhaps such patina is worth something after all!

David

This story must go in Bill's "De-MYTHizing Binoculars" book.

Btw, if you want your bin to have a colored "patina," rub some copper sulfate on the bin, expose it to the air, and soon you will have the only blue-green algae colored EII on the planet. It should at least fetch $4,000 on Amazon.

Here's the color it will turn:

http://www.opp.psu.edu/about-opp/divisions/cpd/images/SALA.jpg/image_view_fullscreen

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[David Swain]

Oh well, it was worth a try! Thanks for checking/confirmation of the wear

Nevertheless, I think there is something to your gunk/tar-like-substance theory with this particular tacky cover material, perhaps in combination with hands as sweaty as mine :eek!:

:t:

David

 

[David Swain]

Forgot to mention: new EII's on Amazon are only 410$ but who wants to buy new? An used EII with the right kind of patina has more character....

Perhaps an industrious porro fan wants to offer pre-worn E IIs? :king:

 

[perseid28]

perseid28:

Get an EII asap, or else you run the risk to pay much more for them when they become extinct. In anticipation of that time, Amazon is selling used EII's for 4700$!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B000HOJGS6/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used

At least I know they'll have excellent resale value

 

[brocknroller]

At least I know they'll have excellent resale value

Unless you get a fugly spoiler who undermines your effort at getting a good price for your EII like karmasutra did on my recent EII ad:

EII ad post #2

Apparently, doing this is not against the TOS because one of the moderators bought my EII. I was looking for $475 + $17.50 insured Priority Mail shipping in CONUS since the lowest price on eBay from Hong Kong and Japanese stores was $585, so that was still about $100 less. But then this US store out of the blue somehow got a hold of some EIIs (EIIs haven't been sold in the U.S. for about six or seven years). The store as asking $450 + $5.50 shipping (REALLY, they can ship for $5.50 to anywhere in the U.S.?).

To stay competitively priced with my lightly used sample, I had to sell below the store's price, so I offered free shipping, which cost me a bit over $20, so I made less than $430 on the sale, thanks to karmasutra. I'm not sure if I would have gotten $475 for it, I did last year on my other sample, but at least i would have had a chance.

Rest assured, I'm checking the classifieds and when he posts something for sale, I will search for a better price elsewhere and post it to his ad to undermine his sale the way he undermined mine (an eye for an eye and a sale for a sale). That is, unless the powers that be forbid this sort of thing, which I think should be forbidden. You ask what you ask in a BF Classifieds ad. Nobody should be allowed to post to your ad and alert others that they can get a better deal someplace else from a store, which a private seller cannot compete again. Pissed me off! :C

If you check the rest of the posts on my ads, you'll see a couple other members also didn't like his interference with my sale. It was bad form.

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=297328

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[NDhunter]

Brock:

I agree, it is bad when some will come on here, and try to downplay about any
for sale item that anyone has mentioned on the forum. The marketplace does
dictate the price that optics will sell for.

Jerry

 

[breydon]

Read the reviews on the EIIs So went for a pair with the credit card.Good price £305.00 inc Then thinking have I realey spent thee hundred bills on a pair of poro's. They arrived today my day off work so was able to take them out for a look through. All I can say is wow every word is true whats been said the view so sharp and bright as good as alpha roofs to me how everything pops into focus and the build quality is superb . When using them I found my self smiling to my self smug if you know what i mean . The quest for the perfect view could be over for me. It was these or the Opticron sr ga 8x32 Well pleased with the EIIs

 

[Torview]

Breydon, congrats, love mine, my all time favourite view, the only true keeper for me.

 

[breydon]

Breydon, congrats, love mine, my all time favourite view, the only true keeper for me.

Thanks my friend Just tried them in the fading light. Still as brilliant

 

[breydon]

Hi All. Quick ask can anyone let me know what size Bushwacker to get to fit my 8x30 EIIs All so do they come in packs of two or one Thanks for any help Chris

 

[brocknroller]

Hi All. Quick ask can anyone let me know what size Bushwacker to get to fit my 8x30 EIIs All so do they come in packs of two or one Thanks for any help Chris

#5 Bushwackers. I bought mine from Eagle Optics, which sells them for $7.95 a piece. For me, they really help with the balance by giving my pinkies something to wrap around.

PESTO: Check out the "patina."

 

[breydon]

#5 Bushwackers. I bought mine from Eagle Optics, which sells them for $7.95 a piece. For me, they really help with the balance by giving my pinkies something to wrap around.

Hello my friend. Thanks for your reply can i just ask what is the size in mm of the number five size.as i ordered a number five size here in the UK and it was to big. Thanks again Chris