Zeiss 7x42 Dialyt T*P* Coatings Upgrade? (1 Viewer)

[brocknroller]

This is a spinoff from Jay's thread on the 7x42 Dialyt, but specifically addressing the AR coatings that Ed asked about.

I've read comments about the Dialyt's AR coatings showing a yellow-green cast.

This from dogfish on the BF thread below:

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=36261

"The difference in the optical qualities between the two is small; the FLs have a purer image (less yellow-green cast) with slightly better contrast and brightness IMHO."

From Holger's review (he listed 1988 as the YOM on his sample):

http://www.holgermerlitz.de/swaro7x42.html

"Both Zeiss and Docter produce a somewhat warmer tone, a little towards yellow."

I've read other comments that noted varying degrees of "yellow-green bias" in the 7x42 Dialyt, but they don't mention the YOM. Consequently, the samples reviewed could have been manufactured a decade or more apart.

As I've seen myself from trying samples of the same bin, AR coatings can change significantly over a decade, with updated coatings often having better color saturation, better contrast, and more neutral tone.

Has anyone compared a late model 7x42 Dialyt (2000-2004) to a 1990's model or late '80s model? Did you notice differences in the coatings in regard to color bias, color saturation, and contrast?

How can you tell the YOM from the serial #s?

Brock

 

[jaymoynihan]

No color cast in mine. Neutral. Kodak color balancing card, on snow, on cloudy day, couple minutes ago.
7x42 BGA T*P "West Germany", SN 574477

 

[brocknroller]

No color cast in mine. Neutral. Kodak color balancing card, on snow, on cloudy day, couple minutes ago.
7x42 BGA T*P "West Germany", SN 574477

Thanks, sounds good. Now I need to find out how to decode the YOM from the SN.

I had the scheme at one time, got it off europe.com, but lost it when my iMac fatally crashed. It gave me the idea for the SE SN scheme.

All I can find are the production numbers from Peter Abrahams' list, but those appear to be just the number of bins made by Zeiss, and the list only goes up to 1991.

http://www.europa.com/~telscope/zeissbin.txt

Brock

 

[elkcub]

No color cast in mine. Neutral. Kodak color balancing card, on snow, on cloudy day, couple minutes ago.
7x42 BGA T*P "West Germany", SN 574477

My 7x42B BGAT*P "West Germany" has SN 399805, and would appear to be a bit older than yours. According to Renze's database, P-coated models consistently have a ribbed rubber armored hinge, although there might have been exceptions when it was first introduced in 1988.

Holger's specimen, which he says are P-coated, may have been such an early exception, but one would hope that it was marked. I have seen some claims on BF that some BGAT* specimens (i.e., no P or P*) could not be distinguished from P or P* models.

Ed

 

[LPT]

All I can find are the production numbers from Peter Abrahams' list, but those appear to be just the number of bins made by Zeiss, and the list only goes up to 1991.

http://www.europa.com/~telscope/zeissbin.txt

Brock

That list covers only Zeiss Jena. I have never seen a SN list for West German Zeiss Oberkochen/Wetzlar.

My Zeiss 7X42 Dialyt BGAT* P is SN 572257. Color appears to be neutral but upon close examination while looking at a snowscape it might be ever so slightly warm. However, it's so faint that I certainly wouldn't describe the binocular as having a yellow/green bias.

The Zeiss West German SN's are not straight forward. My Zeiss 8X56 Dialyt BGAT* which I'm confident was made in the mid-80's is SN 1910359.

 

[Pinewood]

Hello Brock,

I purchased mine, after it was discontinued, in 2004 or 2005, the serial no. is 2774xxx.
I would say that it tends to the warm side with one eye and not warm at all, with the other eye. I suspect that my response is of no help.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood

 

[Pinewood]

Hello Brock,

I purchased mine, after it was discontinued, in 2004 or 2005, the serial no. is 2774xxx.
I would say that it tends to the warm side with one eye and not warm at all, with the other eye. I suspect that my response is of no help.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood

I get the same result and the same colour quality with a non-Lotutec 8x32 FL.

Arthur

 

[brocknroller]

Thanks for your responses. Sounds like the yellow bias is slight to none unlike like some bins I've used, which showed a noticeable yellow-green bias particularly under low light conditions. It would be nice to match a year to the SN to make sure it had the latest coatings (assuming that the coatings were updated, which seems likely).

In the past, I've seen some sweet deals on this model ClassiC. A T*P* sold for a bit over $700 about seven years ago on Amart, just missed it. I wrote him when it was still for sale, but someone beat me to it. It got scooped up within a few hours of the ad.

He bought it from a local optics shop from someone who traded it in on an FL. He liked the optics but not the ergonomics (too long for his hands), and also said he didn't like owning such a pricey bin (pricey? wonder what he thinks now of the $2K clan?).

Another T*P* in "excellent condition" sold for $850 this month. Like the Nikon HG, the image quality on the 7x42 T*P* Dialyt seems to have been ahead of its time and still somewhat competitive with alphas costing much more.

OTOH, I've also seen some high prices on this model, and I wondered if newer models were being priced higher because they had more advanced coatings or if the prices have just gone up because the Dialyt has now become a "collectible".

Brock

 

[jaymoynihan]

..Dialyt .... still somewhat competitive with alphas costing much more. ...

Yep. And, they are kind of the original "open bridge" design

 

[looksharp65]

Hello Brock,

I purchased mine, after it was discontinued, in 2004 or 2005, the serial no. is 2774xxx.
I would say that it tends to the warm side with one eye and not warm at all, with the other eye. I suspect that my response is of no help.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood

Does the cast follow the barrel when you turn the binoculars upside down?

 

[Pinewood]

Does the cast follow the barrel when you turn the binoculars upside down?

Hello Looksharp,

No, the difference is a matter of my eyes. I have a nascent cataract in the left eye, the one with the cooler view.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood

 

[elkcub]

Hello Looksharp,

No, the difference is a matter of my eyes. I have a nascent cataract in the left eye, the one with the cooler view.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood

Arthur,

That's what I guessed. If you turn the binoculars upside down then the color bias reverses. True?

Ed

 

[Robert Wallace]

My 7x42s T*P* were purchased in the UK in 1997 with a SN 2095836. Can't see any significant tinge or difference between them and my pair of Nikon 8x32 HGs.
Will I still have "street cred" when using my Zeiss?
Actually my street cred is seriously diminished by my using a Swarvoski 30x 75 draw tube scope anyway.

 

[jaymoynihan]

using a Swarvoski 30x 75 draw tube scope anyway.

Very cool

 

[looksharp65]

Arthur,

That's what I guessed. If you turn the binoculars upside down then the color bias reverses. True?

Ed

:h?: Reverses how? Follows the barrel or the eye?

The only feasible way to judge whether a binocular's color bias differs between the barrels or not, would be to close one eye, then look in one of the barrels, then change to the other barrel.
(Possibly repeat with the other eye to add some statistics to the estimation)
Or use a digital camera with auto white balance turned off and take a photo through each of the barrels.

//L

 

[ceasar]

Correct. If it is the binocular's problem.

Not if the eyes are at fault though because if you turn the binocular upside down the eye's color bias should still show even with the tubes reversed.

 

[looksharp65]

Correct. If it is the binocular's problem.

Not if the eyes are at fault though because if you turn the binocular upside down the eye's color bias should still show even with the tubes reversed.

That's what I'm trying to say :-O.
If only one eye is used, and the color cast differs between the barrels, there is something strange about the binocular.

If both eyes are used to evaluate the color cast, you have to turn the binoculars upside down. If the right barrel + right eye has a more yellow cast and this remains when the right barrel is used with the left eye, it's not an eye problem but a device problem.

Like I wrote above, it's better to choose one eye to make this evaluation.
Things get sort of easier that way.

//L

 

[spyglass]

Don't know is Steve Ingraham still works for Zeiss, but if so, ya might try e-mailin' him & c if he can get the mfg date for yr Dialyts.....just a thought.

 

[ceasar]

That's what I'm trying to say :-O.
If only one eye is used, and the color cast differs between the barrels, there is something strange about the binocular.

If both eyes are used to evaluate the color cast, you have to turn the binoculars upside down. If the right barrel + right eye has a more yellow cast and this remains when the right barrel is used with the left eye, it's not an eye problem but a device problem.

Like I wrote above, it's better to choose one eye to make this evaluation.
Things get sort of easier that way.

//L

Sorry about that!

Put it down to vertigo caused by standing on my head while imagining how it would affect the colors seen in the binoculars.:-O

Bob

 

[brocknroller]

Don't know is Steve Ingraham still works for Zeiss, but if so, ya might try e-mailin' him & c if he can get the mfg date for yr Dialyts.....just a thought.

Thanks for the idea. Yes, he's still for Zeiss, he's their "Birding and Observation Specialist." Didn't find an email address for him but he's on twitter:

http://twitter.com/singraham

Now if I only had a phone smart enough to tweet.

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