Classic binoculars

<p>Should be an easier field to define than classic cameras. Maybe binoculars from roughly the same era as classic cameras. We can eliminate the autofocus binoculars that Minolta offered as well as the electronic image stabilization models.<br /> Why binoculars? Many advertisers in vintage photo magazines had ads for them. In addition to imported binoculars from Japan and Germany, during the 1960's Edmund Scientific offered "new" American-made binoculars that their plant assembled from WWII surplus binocular components. You have to hold an American made 7x50 binocular in your hands to appreciate the solidity and heft.<br /> I'll start with the binocular section of a 1954 camera ad.<br>

Feel free to share any ad copy or perhaps photos of some actual binoculars you own. I do have a classic pair of Empire 7x35's that I bought in 1971. All of my others are much more modern.</p><div></div>

<p>Seems to me that classic binoculars have the two prisms like shown in the picture.</p>

<p>I found out not so long ago how to adjust them. There are screws, usually hidden under the covering, that move each prism. That allows for two orthogonal axes. </p>

True. Roof prism binoculars would be too modern.

<p>Good lord, now I have to think about binoculars. Bargained these down to $1 in Moscow about 8 years ago. From what I read they are competent and I found no problems with them. Otherwise I am completely ignorant about them</p><div></div>

<p>A few years ago I had a nasty accident as a result of which my brain stem got bashed, and my trochlear nerve damaged, so now I see double over much of the field. Because it's a matter of differently tilted horizons, it's not correctible by ordinary optics. I have binocular vision in about the top 1/3 to 1/2, so binoculars must have a high enough eyepoint that I can angle them and look only through the top half of my visual field. I have found a couple of cheap and damaged mini binocs and cut them into monoculars (the adjustable side focuses well), and my Minolta mini 8x20 binocular has a high enough eye point, but others are hard to find. Not too long ago I stumbled on this nifty little Zeiss pair at a thrift store for a measly $5. One of the nicest ones I've run across. Unlike many older and cheaper binoculars, these are high in contrast, and really nice to look through. I can't see the full width of the field when tilting them, but get a pretty good view.</p><div></div>

<p>Too late to add to above, the odd thing is that according to the literature, those binoculars have unusually short eye relief, and thus should not work worth a darn. But they do. </p>

<p>This is, by the way, a Zeiss "Oberkochen" pair, apparently, post war and West German, probably from the 1950's. </p>

<p>I actually have a Hambletonian binoculars that are very good although big and heavy. I always associated them with the big harness racing event. I also have USSR made binocs that have very good glass but the mechanics of focusing is a bit rough.</p>

<p>You'll find a lot of information on binoculars in threads on birdwatching forums....</p>

<p>http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=139957</p>

<p>One of my classics, a monocular. Specifically a Tasco 8x20 monocular that I bought from Edmund Scientific in the early 1980's. Well made and is still usable even today. It was $14.95 post paid. Obviously half the size of the compact binoculars made in the day.</p><div></div>

<p>Are these admissible?</p><div></div>

<p>I'd love an old pair of Zeiss binoculars, but as a fan of the Contaflex SLRs, first I'd like to acquire a Zeiss Monocular for those. Perhaps a classic pair of Zeiss binoculars to complement the Zeiss lenses I have will follow, one day.</p>

Wow. Definitely classic, Rick. How old?

<p>Difficult to determine the age, <strong>Mike</strong>, as this pattern was made for many years. My guess would be somewhere between 1890-1920. They are, of course "opera glasses", used mainly for surveying other members of the audience...</p>

<p>Among the various old binoculars I have, there is also this set, a fairly common "Merchant Marine Paris" Day-Night binocular dating, at a guess from some time in the early 20th century. I can't remember now whether the missing piece of leather exists somewhere. The case does somewhere, but has gone astray. Picturesque but optically lousy, they did not give good binocular vision even before my accident and now magnify it. Shelf decoration only.</p><div></div>

<p>And as long as we're on the subject of odd old binoculars, I'll throw in this little one. My dad had amblyopia and one eye shut down, so he did not get along with binoculars. He had this little Clement monocular for many years. At some point it fell on to a car floor and got some nasty corrosion, but it's still optically OK. Pretty decent image from this one, and of course no worry about double vision. e.t.a. I would tentatively date this from late 1950's.</p><div></div>

<p>Rick's Oculus thread mentions a monocular that could be threaded onto a normal lens to serve as a telephoto attachment. During the late 50's through the 60's this was a common offering, especially popular if you had a non-interchangeable lens SLR. The point here, though, is the monocular could be removed for visual use and was often capable of delivering sharp views. </p>

<p>Back in the 60's I knew someone who had a T mount for a spotting scope that served pretty well on a tripod, when speed was not needed. Slow as slow could be, but a cheap way to get high magnification.</p>

<p>Awakened by this thread I began testing binoculars, and was rather disappointed to realize that the reason those Zeiss binox work so well for me is that the two fields diverge so radically that one is simply lost to the brain altogether. Well, darn. I have others that are far enough off to be disturbing, but close enough that I can't readily cancel out either image. For some reason the only binocular that is truly binocular for me is a compact Minolta 8X22 roof prism set, which, although getting pretty old by current standards, hardly seems classic. </p>

<p> </p>

<p>Damn, I'm jealous as I only have a new pair of Nikon binoculars....love your pair Rick!</p>

<p>Not sure if these qualify as vintage, but I'd share my Soviet monocular collection anyway:</p>

<ul>

<li>ZOMZ 5x25, probably from 1970s, in bright red enamel finish.</li>

<li>LZOS "Pupil-8" 8x20, based on Zeiss Turmon design but with multicoated optics and plastic prism covers.</li>

<li>ATN "Golden Eye" 8x12 (formerly marketed by ATN Corp., made in Russian or Ukraine by unknown manufacturer), Porro II prism design. Remarkably sharp and clear, about the size of a car cigarette lighter and less than 1 oz.</li>

</ul>

<p>An excellent resource for monoculars is http://www.monocular.info.<br /> <img src="/photo/18266502" alt="" /></p><div></div>

<p>Nice collection, Dave. In the day it was comparatively easy to make a decent performing monocular or binocular using porro prisms. Today some of the low priced makers are producing mediocre roof prism monoculars and binoculars, which generally require more care and greater precision in construction to produce clear images. <br>

In looking in back issues from the 1950's I found an ad for Bushnell binoculars. I had no idea that they went back that far. I will try to find the ad and post it soon. </p>

<p>My first pair of binoculars. Bought them in 1971 (still in high school) with money I earning cutting yards. Bought them at a Woolco.</p><div></div>

<p>Found an ad for the binocular/minocular camera coupler. Never bought one but if I carefully held the Empire binoculars up to the lens of my dad's Mamiya Sekor, I could get fair good images.</p><div></div>

<p>Thinking more about the binocular holder in the ad, in my youth (I didn't know any better) I asked my dad why we couldn't adapt his Mamiya C33 TLR to my binoculars: one side for viewing lens and the other for taking lens. I wonder if anyone ever tried such an arrangement.</p>

<p>Back in a previous life when I was a camera dealer, I would buy and sell binoculars if I could find them for the right price. I recall a nice vintage set of Zeiss 6x30s I had at one time. Compact and, according to one fellow who knew more about them than I did, probably WWI vintage. They did not have a central focusing knob, but rather the individual diopter correction rings for each eyepiece. As I dimly recall, they were very well corrected and produced a nice image.</p>

<p>For my own personal use, I bought a set of rubberized Minolta 10x50s some 25 years ago and I still have them. They're just a decent, solid set of binocs with a nice wide field of view and very sharp images. About 20 years ago, I bought a set of Tasco International 7x35s at a garage sale -- don't recall what I gave for them, but the seller wasn't blowing them out, I recall that much. That is, I ended up paying a decent amount for them. And I did because, for starters, they were in mint shape inside a mint case, they have an extra wide field of view, and the image I saw through them was actually one of the best I'd ever seen. Better than the Minoltas, at least as good as those old Zeiss ones. I still have these as well. A few years back, I picked up another set of binoculars at a local yard sale for cheap -- Oshman's 7x50s. Oshman's was a high-end sporting goods store and these binoculars were just relabeled. But because the store was Oshmans, the binoculars weren't cheap, but actually of decent quality. Made in Japan, but I don't know by whom. My dad gave my mom a very nice set of roof-prism Zeiss binoculars because she was really into bird watching. This was some 30 years ago or so, and I still lust after those things. I think he paid about $700 for them sometime during the mid-80s. I think they're like 8x30s, but I don't recall anymore. It's been quite a while since I've looked through them, but I still recall just how nice the view was.</p>

 

<p>My sharpest binoculars are a pair of Bushnell Elite 7x26 with reversed porro prism design. Not classic by date, but similar design. Just more advanced lens construction and more effective coatings. One thing I don't see anymore: wide angle 7x50.</p>