Carl Zeiss Jena 10x50, DDR binoculars

iWantWings

iWantWings

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So I wanted to get myself a pair of binoculars to look at airplanes in the airport's pattern and wherever else I could spot them.

Lots of choices with a wide range of prices. After some reading I figured I wanted something that would give me a wide field of view even at a 10x magnification, as well as a larger objective of 50mm to help gather just a little more light when there was less of it.

Eventually I figured out what I didn't want and looked for something a little different. So I ended up with a Carl Zeiss Jena 10x50, made in DDR (serial number dates its manufacturing in about 1989, probably not long before the unification of East Germany with West Germany, so no more DDR).

I love this thing; old, but really nice. It also has the relatively wide 7.3* FOV which gives about 128m @1000m (great for helping get airplanes in sight at 10x magnification even if the peripheral view isn't sharp - but center is great).

It took a bit of search to find one in very good condition which I finally found on the European eBay from a seller in Germany.

I wonder what ATC in an airport tower generally use in terms of magnification and field of view?
 
I've got a pair of Nikon 10x50's that i use for the same thing. They work fine for me.
 
There is a lot to choose from. I kind of like the WWII German 10x80 flak binoculars.

$(KGrHqZ,!l4FBD)k3VtkBRhsP+huhw~~60_35.JPG
 
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Geico266 said:
Don't even look at Bushnell. Junk.
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:yes:

With optics you get almost always get 100% of what you pay for. The one exception I ran into was the Cabella's brand Pine Ridge optics that were made around Y2K. Leupold-like quality at half the price. I'm not sure if they're still made or if they're still as good.
 
Capt.Crash'n'Burn said:
I've got a pair of Nikon 10x50's that i use for the same thing. They work fine for me.
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I read a good number of reviews that highly recommend them, so I considered getting one of the Nikon 10x50 models. But I got carried away with the reading and some other things and I got the East German pair.

In any way, I found it interesting and entertaining to watch airplanes in the pattern and see closely how the surface controls are deflected (or not), landing gear lowered, etc. Fun stuff.
 
kgruber said:
There is a lot to choose from. I kind of like the WWII German 10x80 flak binoculars.

$(KGrHqZ,!l4FBD)k3VtkBRhsP+huhw~~60_35.JPG
Click to expand...

First time i'm seeing these. Found a web publications (http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=196) mentioning that theses were deployed by the thousand in the military and in anti-aircraft defense. Just what I was looking for LOL.

Some interesting history there. Today some collect them while others restore them for astronomy.

Interesting for sure.
 
I have a set of Bausch & Lomb from WWII. There is no indication of the power of them. They have rubber eye cups that block out all peripheral light and are kind of heavy. They also have assorted filters and such. Great binoculars except all I need is a monocular my having only one eye and all. I bought them fourty years ago for fifty dollars.

-John
 
Geico266 said:
I have the same Nikon. Had them for years. Crystal clear.

Carl Zeiss is good stuff too.

I have a Swarvoski 90mm spotting scope for long range work and digiscoping. Very nice stuff.
http://www.opticsplanet.com/swarovs...HYALQ&ef_id=Uh5Z0wAAAb6G5EZ2:20131117120336:s

Don't even look at Bushnell. Junk.
Click to expand...

I'm curious, in what circumstances do you normally use the spotting scope? So they have a large magnification that require some form of stabilization, like a tripod. I've seen videos of them being used in hunting...
 
John Baker said:
I have a set of Bausch & Lomb from WWII. There is no indication of the power of them. They have rubber eye cups that block out all peripheral light and are kind of heavy. They also have assorted filters and such. Great binoculars except all I need is a monocular my having only one eye and all. I bought them fourty years ago for fifty dollars.

-John
Click to expand...

That's the thing about good optics: if fungus doesn't make them unusuable, you can have them for a life time. No firmware to update :D.

The Bausch & Lomb from WWII I saw on eBay were 7x50, issued for the Navy.
 
I'm curious, does anyknow know what type of binoculars (magnification, objective size, field of view) some of the tower ATC use?
 
iWantWings said:
First time i'm seeing these. Found a web publications (http://www.cloudynights.com/item.php?item_id=196) mentioning that theses were deployed by the thousand in the military and in anti-aircraft defense. Just what I was looking for LOL.

Some interesting history there. Today some collect them while others restore them for astronomy.

Interesting for sure.
Click to expand...

Here is your link:
http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/5710500/page/20/view/collapsed/sb/5/o/all/fpart/1
 
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