Porst 7x50 spezial nacht.

[Karhumies]

So i just impulse bought some binoculars i never heard of for 30 euro. Honestly i doubt i can go wrong for that price with old german glass.

Google doesnt turn up mutch more than that it is in fact german. No dates, no nothing.

Anyone come across these? i doubt its Zeiss quality but i would imagine its not going too be too far behind the other german glass?

Already bought it for pocket change but iam curious to know what i just purchased

It says Porst Spezial nacht 7x50 125/1000

 

[MilesW]

So i just impulse bought some binoculars i never heard of for 30 euro. Honestly i doubt i can go wrong for that price with old german glass.

Google doesnt turn up mutch more than that it is in fact german. No dates, no nothing.

Anyone come across these? i doubt its Zeiss quality but i would imagine its not going too be too far behind the other german glass?

Already bought it for pocket change but iam curious to know what i just purchased

It says Porst Spezial nacht 7x50 125/1000

Google also brings up that Porst was a large camera/optics dealer with no manufacturing and the Porst branded items are a mixed bag of rebadged gear. Much of it Japanese but also from Euro makers. It doesn't matter one iota if they are good. I have several 80's Japanese binos and they are superb.

 

[Karhumies]

Google also brings up that Porst was a large camera/optics dealer with no manufacturing and the Porst branded items are a mixed bag of rebadged gear. Much of it Japanese but also from Euro makers. It doesn't matter one iota if they are good. I have several 80's Japanese binos and they are superb.

interesting. Any clue from looking at them what Time period they might be from?

 

[NoIDeer]

They look like Zeiss Jena, these are 8 x 30s. I believe they made loads badged for whoever wanted their name on them. They aren't bad but don't stand up to modern stuff. Worth the 30 euros you paid.

 

[MilesW]

interesting. Any clue from looking at them what Time period they might be from?

My guess is mid 70's, early 80's.

 

[Karhumies]

View attachment 410183

They look like Zeiss Jena, these are 8 x 30s. I believe they made loads badged for whoever wanted their name on them. They aren't bad but don't stand up to modern stuff. Worth the 30 euros you paid.

modern stuff worth hundreds you mean i do have to give credit to my 15 euro lidl binos, they did actually spot deer in the late evening/snowy moonlit nights. gave me a headache too, and then fell apart, literally. Those are modern

 

[375win]

As Miles said Foto Ports was a large German retailer of photographic equipment.Nacht Is the German for night - state the obvious. Rebadged Zeiss Jena perhaps. I read somewhere they cooperated with the East Germans.

 

[Karhumies]

sounds like it may be half decent glass then. altho iam bot too familiar with jena, always viewed it as fake zeiss in a way. But thats not based on a lot of fact, its just what i have heard

 

[Karhumies]

Well its in, it doesnt look too high quality for the Time but it does beat new chinese binoculars for the same price. Cheap plastic strap on it, the diopter eyepiece spins freely. Maybe iam missing some functionality there?

 

[Karhumies]

 

[Karhumies]

https://miniaturebinoculars.com/part5/Page289.htm

The serial is missing from the list but the prefix and format Match. quite a few serials are missing from the list.

 

[Karhumies]

Also a fingerprint on the inside of the lens? any good source for how to service these myself? may as well learn on a 30 euro pair

 

[Freeforester]

As Miles said Foto Ports was a large German retailer of photographic equipment.Nacht Is the German for night - state the obvious. Rebadged Zeiss Jena perhaps. I read somewhere they cooperated with the East Germans.

Unlike Mr Merz…

They definitely look to have all the attributes of Carl Zeiss Jena 7/50, I started out with a pair. The case and (creased) leather strap was brown on the Zeiss offering, apart from the branding they look very similar, though I can’t see the lenses to determine whether the coatings are theirs or another maker.

 

[Karhumies]

Unlike Mr Merz…

They definitely look to have all the attributes of Carl Zeiss Jena 7/50, I started out with a pair. The case and (creased) leather strap was brown on the Zeiss offering, apart from the branding they look very similar, though I can’t see the lenses to determine whether the coatings are theirs or another maker.

The logo+number on the body seem to be japanese, JB xxx identifies a maker but so far i only found a list of small binoculars

 

[Karhumies]

these look almost identical including The box and strap

Collectable Binoculars watchman prismatic 7x50mm Coated Optics Made In Japan | eBay

Collectable Binoculars watchman prismatic 7x50mm Coated Optics Made In Japan | Collectables, Limited Editions | eBay!

www.ebay.com.my

 

[Karhumies]

looking trough them in daytime they are very nice. The inside needs a clean tho, if i can figure out how to dissassemble them. and the diopter is odd, either iam missing something or its broken? the eyepiece just freespins, just rattles in place basically

edit, got the thing out, so the outher ring freespins around the assembly

 

[Freeforester]

looking trough them in daytime they are very nice. The inside needs a clean tho, if i can figure out how to dissassemble them. and the diopter is odd, either iam missing something or its broken? the eyepiece just freespins, just rattles in place basically

edit, got the thing out, so the outher ring freespins around the assembly View attachment 410491

They appear (to me) to be of Japanese origin judging by the colour of the lens coating.

 

[Karhumies]

They appear (to me) to be of Japanese origin judging by the colour of the lens coating.

that matches the numbers on the frame. JB is a japanese manufacturing code, once i saw that code i had an easy time googling it. Still figuring out wich manufacturer tho, the code is missing on my list.

 

[Karhumies]

Ok, been fiddling witt The damn thing for hour now... so the set screws arent tight causing the free spinning. However the set screws appear to be covered up and i cant find any non destructive way to get to them so i can tighten them....

 

[MilesW]

Unlike Mr Merz…

They definitely look to have all the attributes of Carl Zeiss Jena 7/50, I started out with a pair. The case and (creased) leather strap was brown on the Zeiss offering, apart from the branding they look very similar, though I can’t see the lenses to determine whether the coatings are theirs or another maker.

Pretty much all the binoculars of that era could be described as sharing the attributes of Zeiss. The Japanese were not big on originality at that point and the American consumer particularly wanted a product that looked familiar but at a much better price point than the Euro offerings.