Have you noticed how many older, and often experienced, birdwatchers use ancient binoculars, often in poor condition? I met one such elderly gentleman recently and after offering the use of my scope to view a distant flock of Avocet we got to discussing optics. He was using east German Zeiss 8x30 Jenoptem, nearly all the paint had worn away and he was regularly scrubbing at the eye glasses with his pocket handkerchief! He opined that he did'nt need new ones as he could see the birds well enough with the ones he had.
I thought it would be interesting to put his premise to the test as I have a similar binocular, a 30 year old Deltrintem which is used as a "windowsill bin" for grabbing quick views of garden birds.
Yesterday, in very dull light conditions, I spent some time in a hide which is ideal for comparing binoculars as it enjoys views in two directions, north across a marsh to a small village 1200 yards distant and south over an estuary to a boatyard and moorings on the far side.
To represent a modern binocular as favoured by most birdwatchers I used my Nikon HG 8x32, there are no scientific tests employed here, just a general impression of using these two glasses in a typical birding situation. The first thing I noticed was the difference in colour balance, the Zeiss image is yellow with a much reduced contrast while the Nikon gives a magnified image of exactly what my eyes see, secondly the Nikon image is sharp across most of the field while the Zeiss is only really clear over the central 25%.
To test absolute resolution I attempted to read the names on boats moored at 1400 yards, both binoculars could make out one with white lettering on a black background but only the Nikon could read one with red lettering against black. The centre sharpness of the old Zeiss is pretty good and improved greatly when the sun made an occasional appearance, the Nikon was consistently sharp in all light conditions (this demonstrates the importance of testing any potential optics purchase in poor light)
The Nikon focus although fast is always quick and easy to get optimum resolution, the Zeiss needed much "rocking" to find it, depth of field seemed much the same in either glass.
Birds looked better, sharper and "cleaner" at middle to far distance but at close range, particularly in bushes,, the Zeiss image was perfectly acceptable. So in a way the old gent was right, you won't really miss identifying birds with a reasonable older binocular, but I concluded that you do miss out on the pure viewing pleasure that a good quality modern glass offers. The old Zeiss is still a great "garden bin" though, and can be obtained for very little cash, a much better prospect than the typical plastic chainstore offering, and I bet it will still be in service in another 30 years!
Petroc.
Petroc - If it were well made, it is still servicable. IMO the older one becomes, the less perfection is sought, if you will pardon that generalization. I find myself more and more comfortable with older, quality optics, even though I can afford the best. Simply more conservative, which I believe is mostly a function of age. At the risk of stepping on some toes, some of the optical "obsesstionists" who frequent this website, will never be satisfied, regardless of what is served up to them. But that is OK. I'm all for them because it keeps the ideas and experiences circulating. John
Next a dogmatic statement. I have never found the Zeiss Jenoptem 8x30 to be as good as the post war Zeiss West German 8x30. Almost as good but not quite. Yet it is a very good binocular. In my collection is a Zeiss 1930s 7x50, uncoated of course.
But it has excellent resolution, enough to satisfy the viewer 90% of the time. John
I collect old binoculars and love restoring and using them. I walk our dog three times a day which gives me ample time to sample and enjoy their various qualities. I do the same in the summer on the porch at the cottage. I regard them much as I do good older shotguns and ales and scotch - some are better than others but the real pleasure is in the complexities of their variety. True, when I really want to get a good view of something I'll turn to the Nikon 8X32 SE or 10X35 EII but there are many others I really enjoy using just as much.
The 8X30 (1978 or later) Jenoptem is optically a pretty darn good binocular, but I recently got a West German Zeiss 8X30 and yesterday tested it against the Jenoptem, and the West German although made 20 years earlier and not multi-coated is definitely optically better to say nothing of build quality which is the Jenoptem's weakness.
I also recently got a 1926 Zeiss Delactis 8X40 with optics in great condition and the view through this one is superb-widefield and crisp and sharp. With coated optics it would be breathtaking.