Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/04/10
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]At 11:03 AM 4/11/99 -0400, Terry Price wrote: >I recently found a pair of mint Leitz Wetzlar 7x50s, about 35 years old. >These are a bit bulky but incredibly sharp. I have never used a nicer pair >of binoculars. I can see clearer details with them than with my Zeiss >10x50s which are no slouches either. I can easily pick out 4 seperate moons >of Jupiter on a clear night. Well, you should be able to see the four Galilean moons of Jupiter with virtually ANY optical aid: there are tales, disputed, of folks whose vision was acute enough to allow them to see these moons without any optical magnification. The "Zeiss" binoculars you have are probably Jena DEKAREM/DEKARIS glasses. These, along with the 8x,21mm TURMON monocular and the 7x,50mm BINOCTEM/BINOCTIS and 8x,30 DELTRINTEM/DELTRINTIS, were designed and entered production in 1922. The 10x,50mm and 7x,50mm glasses lasted until 1994, a 72 year production run, while the TURMON remains in production at the Eisfeld plant, now under Docter Optic ownership (and with a snazzy new option with a purple (!) finish, and the 8x,30mm glass is still produced in Russia. Certainly, a 1922 porro-prism design will not perform as well as a much later design, any more than a 1922 camera lens will do as well in general use as will a 1950 or 1999 design. However, these are fine binoculars, especially in their coated Postwar permutation. Absolutely, positively, the finest binoculars I have yet used are the late Jena 10x,40mm ED BGA's, the guys that the Checkpoint Charlie guards used to sport. Heavy, but absolutely stunning. And, with the reticle-equipped model, you can even call in an artillery strike or two. Marc msmall@roanoke.infi.net FAX: +540/343-7315 Cha robh bas fir gun ghras fir!