Zeiss 8x30, 50 years apart (1 Viewer)

[dalat]

My grandfather's Dialyt 8x30B, made in 1972. And my 8x30 SFL, probably made in 2022 or 2023.

 

[Pinewood]

Hello Dalat,

What differences do you perceive? Of course, fifty years of use or just aging, and phase coating do put the Dialyt at a disadvantage.
Happy bird watching,
Arthur

 

[dalat]

Hi, the Dialyt is still in very good condition, I just had the eyecups changed some years ago. The lack of phase coating is visible, the image is not as sharp and clear as in a modern bin. The focus wheel is a mechanical marvel, but rather hard to turn compared to the SFL, with it's smooth action and large comfortable knob.
So progress is clearly there. But the Dialyt is still very much usable.

 

[Pinewood]

Hi, the Dialyt is still in very good condition, I just had the eyecups changed some years ago. The lack of phase coating is visible, the image is not as sharp and clear as in a modern bin. The focus wheel is a mechanical marvel, but rather hard to turn compared to the SFL, with it's smooth action and large comfortable knob.
So progress is clearly there. But the Dialyt is still very much usable.

Hello,

I have the last of the 8x30 Dialyt Classics, from 2003, which does have phase coating, and decades newer lens coating. It is more than "very much usable."

Happy bird watching,
Arth

 

[Rg548]

Why do old bins always look so much better than the new stuff...
Same with cars I guess !!!

 

[Ignatius]

And motorbikes, watches, whisky bottles, everything really, except ... oops ... have I painted myself into a corner here?

 

[Patudo]

That, in a nutshell, is why this format has been and continues to be one of the most popular.

 

[tenex]

How does that 1972 Dialyt compare to a Zeiss 8x30 Porro of the same vintage, and how much more did it cost?

 

[henry link]

I only saw an early Dialyt 8x30 once and that was almost forty years ago. I remember it as just another awful roof prism binocular like all the others that come from that time. With no phase correction, single layer AR coatings and silver or perhaps even aluminum mirror coating how much could be expected?

I'm also not a big admirer of most of the Oberkochen Porros of the same vintage, but the last version of the 8x30 B was certainly the cream of the crop. I think mostly because Zeiss finally abandoned the wide air spaced tele objective design of all the others.

 

[Patudo]

and how much more did it cost?

I cannot remember the source (apologies) but I remember seeing a price list from the 60s or thereabouts and the Zeiss West 8x30 porro was actually more expensive than the Dialyt roof.

I keep thinking I really wouldn't mind an example of my P version 10x40 in leatherette... until I knock them against something!

 

[MandoBear]

Regardless of optical quality, I'll bet you really treasure your grandfather's old Dialyt 8x30s. ❤️

 

[John A Roberts]

In terms of the pricing of the roof prism verses the Porro prism Zeiss 8x30's,
see 4 pages from the US version of a Zeiss West Germany products listing from 1965
(As there's a lot of interesting details, I've included the full 4 pages):





The complete list of optical related products is 52 pages! Besides the Carl Zeiss and Hensolt ones,
there's also photographic items from Zeiss Ikon, Voigtlander and Metz.

It can be found along with a lot of other catalogues at: Pacific Rim Camera : Catalog Index
PRC mainly has old photographic catalogues, but there also some binocular details included.


John