More on binoculars

I was given by my dad a pair of perfectly-performing Zeiss Jena 7x50s, marked 'JENOPTEM', bought at a house-sale in the 'nineties. Lovely to use, but I'm in such fear of damaging them that they never go aboard the boat.

I've often sung the praises of tiny monoculars which certainly can improve phone-camera photos amazingly...in fact without the mono, I'd scarely ever use the phone camera now...

...but I'd like a clear powerful pair of definitely-waterproof binocs for the boat. Are Lidl cheapies and similar stuff really satisfactory, or is the economy noticeable in quality/lifespan?
 
Gael Force are doing Focus-Free 7x50 Waterproof Binoculars £34.99
and 7x50 Floating Waterproof Binoculars w/Compass £89.99 (SWMBO picked up this one for me in a second hand shop for £30)
Unfortunately the compass has now developed a bubble and it will cost me £40 to get it repaired.
Luckily I hardly ever use the compass but the bins are quite good.
 
LadyInBed said:
...7x50 Floating Waterproof Binoculars w/Compass £89.99...Unfortunately the compass has now developed a bubble and it will cost me £40 to get it repaired.
Click to expand...

Thanks, that's tempting. I ought to have said 'floating', it's rather a basic essential feature for dinghy work.

I wonder why the compass developed a bubble? I've seen the same thing before...but if there's a crack, why does only a little of the liquid escape?
 
dancrane said:
...but I'd like a clear powerful pair of definitely-waterproof binocs for the boat. Are Lidl cheapies and similar stuff really satisfactory, or is the economy noticeable in quality/lifespan?
Click to expand...

The current Lidl ones are zoom and I've never tried those.

But have several of the ordinary 10x50 ones they offer every 6 months or so. Main problem I found is that the focus adjustment has some gunge to make it feel smooth but it solidifies at lower temperatures making it difficult to adjust. Maybe on a boat that won't matter so much (I mostly use them for garden wildlife). Also I discovered how to squirt WD40 in the works which improves them a lot.

Other problem is that the focus is a pin running in a spiral slot in a plastic sleeve. Any blow on the eyepieces will put a dent in the slot which will then feel like a detent. Also the front barrels screw into a partial thread in the body which makes them vulnerable to a side blow.

But then at their usual price (<< £20) they are discard-able; buy them in pairs!

Mike.
 
Twister_Ken said:
Swing them by the strap and catch someone alongside the ear with them. They won't get up in a hurry. Meanwhile, you can bayonet them.
Click to expand...
I have a pair of similar Russian 7x50 binos by the window at home to look at passing boats, optics brilliant, £10 at car boot sale. Gives me some weight training every time I pick them up.
 
mjcoon said:
Maybe no liquid escaped but for some reason the internal pressure was below atmospheric so a crack allowed equalisation.
Click to expand...

Hmm. To be honest I'll be shopping quite separately for a good compass, so it'd be more than I need in binoculars...like night-vision. Fun for the child in me but no great use.

mjcoon said:
The current Lidl ones are zoom... ...I found is that the focus adjustment has some gunge to make it feel smooth but it solidifies at lower temperatures making it difficult to adjust... ...Other problem is that the focus is a pin running in a spiral slot in a plastic sleeve. Any blow on the eyepieces will put a dent in the slot which will then feel like a detent. Also the front barrels screw into a partial thread in the body which makes them vulnerable to a side blow.
Click to expand...

I'm wary of budget tools and kit which ape the sophistication of pricey stuff...far more inclined to make problems than to be useful.

So I'd like a really bright, floating pair of 10x50s, without so many moving parts that they're vulnerable to faults. Although, my solid old Zeiss pair is so heavy, I'm inclined to doubt if a floater can be properly made! :rolleyes:
 
Unfortunately I don't know a good instrument or optics place in the UK to recommend.

I doubt if they are worth saving from a financial or practical point of view. You can probably get a better new pair for less.

They were your fathers, go ahead and get them restored, the value will be unique to you but well worth it.

My dad is long gone but I would never part with certain items which were important to him and provide fond memories one of those is his old Ziess Binos.
Another his Browning Box Camera. He was very proud of it. So awkward and difficult to use he hardly ever took any pictures.
 
At the end of WWII, the Russians "borrowed" the designs/info from the Carl Zeiss Jena factory and copied the Zeiss binoculars so the Russian versions are optically very good and well built. The OP's were made in the mid sixties and will have a heavy black wax sealing the front rings and the cover plates. The eyepieces slide up and down over a greased material ring. I dropped an 8x30 in the Thames near Lechlade, dived in and recovered it from the bottom and there was not a drop of water inside so this 7x50 is better than weather proof.
The cheap Bressers sold by Lidl etc are Chinese and not worth fixing if anything goes wrong. The cheap compass bins are made in Hong Kong or the Phillipines and the thin plastic components do not like being knocked. Some of the parts are super glued together so not repairable.
Bubbles form if the bino gets a bit too hot and the fluid leaks out of the filling hole. I have not seen a compass module crack.
IMHO paying a little more ( £110 for a 7x50 with compass) gets a much better instrument.
 
dancrane said:
So I'd like a really bright, floating pair of 10x50s, without so many moving parts that they're vulnerable to faults. Although, my solid old Zeiss pair is so heavy, I'm inclined to doubt if a floater can be properly made! :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
Can't give you a link but any binocular shop, or 5 min with Mr Google, and you'll find flotation straps - turn your heavy bins into floating ones. Just a thought.
 
Good thought, thanks, especially since the leather straps I'm accustomed to, don't look like they'd last a long season of salt and sunlight. Just the same, I'll want waterproof binocs.
 
dancrane said:
Hmm. To be honest I'll be shopping quite separately for a good compass, so it'd be more than I need in binoculars
Click to expand...

I find compass binoculars extremely useful despite also having a separate compass. It makes it much easier to find something at a distance if I know where to look. Whether a distant buoy at night, or a ship lurking around the horizon, if the AIS or the chart (with GPS) give me a bearing then I can look down that bearing to find it. I have the AIS display and the Yeoman set to display bearings in magnetic for this reason.

Admittedly this may not transfer perfectly to a dinghy in Chichester harbour, but then I've never heard of any dinghy in Chichester harbour carrying binos at all :)

Pete
 
prv said:
I find compass binoculars extremely useful despite also having a separate compass. It makes it much easier to find something at a distance if I know where to look. Whether a distant buoy at night, or a ship lurking around the horizon, if the AIS or the chart (with GPS) give me a bearing then I can look down that bearing to find it. I have the AIS display and the Yeoman set to display bearings in magnetic for this reason.

Admittedly this may not transfer perfectly to a dinghy in Chichester harbour, but then I've never heard of any dinghy in Chichester harbour carrying binos at all :)

Pete
Click to expand...

I've never been to Chichester. :D
I routinely take binoculars with me in my, runabout, row boat, dinghy, when fishing even on a canoe or kayak trip.
I am a keen wildlife spotter. A pair of Nikon 10 x 50 , also a smaller cheep Bushnell 8 x 42.
Spotting an Osprey, Sea eagle, Otter, makes the risk worth while. the only binoculars I have lost did not go over board just from one side of the boat to the other without assistance.
 
Am I getting paranoid? Osprey-spotting...hmm, funny but I've never seen another one, yet.

I can't see a reason not to have binoculars on a dinghy...at least, in a dinghy with secure stowage. Crossing to Seaview a very long time ago, I remember wishing I could make out the Warner from about a mile and a half away, across the main shipping lane...

...Chichester's lovely, but it wasn't ever the limit of my cruising ground, even 30 years back in a Topper.
 
prv said:
I find compass binoculars extremely useful despite also having a separate compass. It makes it much easier to find something at a distance if I know where to look. Whether a distant buoy at night, or a ship lurking around the horizon, if the AIS or the chart (with GPS) give me a bearing then I can look down that bearing to find it. I have the AIS display and the Yeoman set to display bearings in magnetic for this reason.


Pete
Click to expand...

I would have been with you on that, until I acquired a compass monocular. Unlike the bins, it fits in a pocket, can be used with one hand (try that with Steiners) and is no great investment if it goes walkabout.
 
Presumably if the monocular is simply half of a pair of equivalent binoculars, the price drops too? What manufacturer is your compass monocular, Ken? Is it waterproof?
 
Last edited:
Norman_E said:
I have a pair of East German Zeiss binoculars which I bought sometime in the 1970s. They are marked "Carl Zeiss Jena" on one side and "multicoated Jenoptem 8x30w" on the other. The optical quality is very good indeed.
Click to expand...

After the war, the former Carl Zeiss factory at Jena ended up in East Germany and became "Carl Zeiss Jena" while the rest of the company became "Carl Zeiss" in the west. Since the Jena factory had all teh prewar equipment, and knowledge, the quality of what they produced was excellent, and because they needed hard currency the prices were around 1/4 - 1/3 of western Carl Zeiss stuff. I have a superb Carl Zeiss Jena monocular which knocks spots off anything else I have tried. There were other similar examples: Lubitel cameras were basically pre-war Voigtlanders.

They used the Carl Zeiss Jena brand on other things too ... like the coordinate table at the base of my milling machine, which is not the sort of thing you expect to be made by an optical company.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top