Absolutely, looking forward to getting them out there and having a go! I was pleased at the cost I got them for anyhow so any which way I think they’ll be great!
Older binos- Zeiss BGAT P or Swaro El/SLC
- Thread starter Navarone
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Absolutely, looking forward to getting them out there and having a go! I was pleased at the cost I got them for anyhow so any which way I think they’ll be great!
Save your money. Folk no longer buy Rolls-Royce because they are made better than lower priced cars and I'd say the same of modern 21st Century "optics". Pretty much anything of quality made in the last decade will perform just as well as will Zeiss stuff made now some twenty or thirty plus years ago for 95% of users.
I've owned Zeiss 10x44 binoculars (better IMHO that the old "milk bottle" 7x42) and I've also owned Leica 7x42 BA. I think the Leica 7x42 BA were better than the Zeiss as they were more compact. Today I wouldn't hesitate to buy "glass" by other makers and feel at all that I had a lesser performing product. And one that was still in warranty with parts available.
I've owned Zeiss 10x44 binoculars (better IMHO that the old "milk bottle" 7x42) and I've also owned Leica 7x42 BA. I think the Leica 7x42 BA were better than the Zeiss as they were more compact. Today I wouldn't hesitate to buy "glass" by other makers and feel at all that I had a lesser performing product. And one that was still in warranty with parts available.
Older glass will have lead in it and that, supposedly, gives a better performance. Back in the day lead Zeiss lenses were really really good. Nowadays modern Zeiss are not that so far ahead IMHO of any other maker's product as to command a premium price just for the name.
The test I always think useful for us as "hunters" is the ability of good "glass" to see through cover. That sounds, as it is written, daft. How can one binocular or one telescopic sight "see through cover" better than a different binocular or telescopic sight?
It is something that can't AFAIK be actually measured as can yellow hue or colour balance. But pick up two different but same specification binoculars and try them and one will always see through cover better than will the other to a lesser or greater degree.
My best advice is visit a shop where you can try and compare rather than buy secondhand old glass online that has had twenty or thirty years to have been dropped and gone out of alignment. And when you do visit that shop go outside and look around at objects near and far.
Are these near the OP? On last thing as much as I loved my Zeiss 10x44 in general terms 7x is better for most users for what we do. But those Zeiss 10x44 seemed nevertheless to not have the usual problems of "shake" that some 10x power binoculars seem to have. And what feels comfortable held up to your eye sockets is also important.
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The test I always think useful for us as "hunters" is the ability of good "glass" to see through cover. That sounds, as it is written, daft. How can one binocular or one telescopic sight "see through cover" better than a different binocular or telescopic sight?
It is something that can't AFAIK be actually measured as can yellow hue or colour balance. But pick up two different but same specification binoculars and try them and one will always see through cover better than will the other to a lesser or greater degree.
My best advice is visit a shop where you can try and compare rather than buy secondhand old glass online that has had twenty or thirty years to have been dropped and gone out of alignment. And when you do visit that shop go outside and look around at objects near and far.
Are these near the OP? On last thing as much as I loved my Zeiss 10x44 in general terms 7x is better for most users for what we do. But those Zeiss 10x44 seemed nevertheless to not have the usual problems of "shake" that some 10x power binoculars seem to have. And what feels comfortable held up to your eye sockets is also important.
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Rake Aboot
Well-Known Member
Opticron
Best by far in their price bracket
Best by far in their price bracket
Some models didn’t have the * symbol after both the T or P. If you see them with T* P then they are most probably the same as T* P*.
I posted earlier that the P* ( phase corrected roof prisms) is from 1989; in fact a typo ( and I didn’t edit in time) as it was from 1988. T* from 1979.
IMHO, the 7x42BGAT is still one of the best, with the use of the Abbé Koenig roof prism, which was also used in the 8x56 model. The 10x40 had a Schmidt Pechan prism, which has a mirrored surface and as a result offers slightly less overall transmission. The 10x40 in the 70’s was most probably the most used premium binocular in the birding market, whereas the 7x42 BGAT was used more by UK hunters and in Germany the 8x56 model.
Hello, an update as I took the Zeiss out for the first time this morning. Terrible fog here early, literally pea soup. We met at 5.45 but didn’t get out of the truck until 6.20 or so, the fog meant it was just too dark.
Anyhow, once we did eventually get out I reckon visibility with the naked eye was no more than 50 yards, maybe less. I couldn’t quite believe it but raising the BGAPTs to my eyes when I thought there was no chance of seeing anything I could pick out fence lines at about 100 yards, yes it was still very murky but I could certainly see things I couldn’t with the naked eye. Deer were harder to spot but using the thermal to see where they were I could then pick out indistinct shapes through the Binos.
In proper daylight they are obviously lovely and clear and sharp. I’d agree that the colour rendition is very true to life unlike Swarovski’s I’ve looked though which have that slightly different colour tinge.
Overall I’d say I’m super happy, they seem great and are a huge improvement especially in low light from my previous pair!!
Anyhow, once we did eventually get out I reckon visibility with the naked eye was no more than 50 yards, maybe less. I couldn’t quite believe it but raising the BGAPTs to my eyes when I thought there was no chance of seeing anything I could pick out fence lines at about 100 yards, yes it was still very murky but I could certainly see things I couldn’t with the naked eye. Deer were harder to spot but using the thermal to see where they were I could then pick out indistinct shapes through the Binos.
In proper daylight they are obviously lovely and clear and sharp. I’d agree that the colour rendition is very true to life unlike Swarovski’s I’ve looked though which have that slightly different colour tinge.
Overall I’d say I’m super happy, they seem great and are a huge improvement especially in low light from my previous pair!!
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