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Just a musing post, really, not aimed specifically at anybody, just thought that some of you, like me, have found you forever binoculars a long time ago.
Back in 1978, we lived in Rheindahlen, in Nord-Rhein Westphalia, and had a usual British NAAFI and, since our location was JHQ NORTHAG, a Dutch 'PX'. They had some incredible stuff that you'd never see anywhere else, including Japan home-market-only Seiko watches, and on this occasion, some Pentax wide-angle prismatic binoculars. My pal Dick and our wives were down in Ahrweiler one weekend, looking at the European Condors, me with a pair of Tasco 16x50 and him with a pair of these Pentax glasses. Well, I was picking up the birds alright, but with my high mag glasses I was mostly getting eyeballs or individual feathers, and missing the whole bird - way too much magnification. So Dick lent me his pair of these Pentax glasses. TBH, they didn't look anything special, just like any other binos of similar design. And then, I put them up to my eyeballs and almost freaked out - they were, without any exaggeration, exactly like looking at the world with the lighting turned on - I have never seen anything like that before in my life, and I was astounded.
That was on the Sunday, and on my coffee break the next morning, I was down at the Dutch PX, buying two sets of 7x35 and 8x40 - one for me and Mrs tac, the other for my BIL and his wife.
We still have them, and I take them with me everywhere I go, and that included the three years I spent in BRIXMIS, the British Military Mission to the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany - a unit where money was used wisely to buy the very best of everything optical, from cameras to binoculars - Nikon F5s and a trunkful of lenses for everybody, and Leitz binoculars too. My Leitz set stayed in the office - by comparison with my Pentax's they were like looking into a mouse's ear. The secret, I was told, was in the eyepiece coatings, and maybe the good folks here who know all about lens coatings can tell me what it actually is. I've heard all kinds of opinions over the last 43 years, none of which make much sense to me, from isotopic gold to ultra-rare earths.
I hope that this image gives some idea of what I mean - I'd like to add that these optics GLOW when looked at at certain angles - my image can't do them justice
About ten years ago, I sent both pairs to a friend of mine who is the Chief Engineer of Servicing for a well-known optical company here in UK, who, before I retired from the Army in 2000, was our visiting maintenance engineer for our $1/2M optical light tables. He looked them over, and sent them back within the week, saying that a. they needed nothing more than a good cleaning cloth, and b. what the heck was that coating?
They continue to delight and amaze everybody who looks through them - not even the mighty Leica's or Swarovski's owned by some of our more pecunious club members can compete.
They cost DM48 per pair - at that time, just around $50.
Back in 1978, we lived in Rheindahlen, in Nord-Rhein Westphalia, and had a usual British NAAFI and, since our location was JHQ NORTHAG, a Dutch 'PX'. They had some incredible stuff that you'd never see anywhere else, including Japan home-market-only Seiko watches, and on this occasion, some Pentax wide-angle prismatic binoculars. My pal Dick and our wives were down in Ahrweiler one weekend, looking at the European Condors, me with a pair of Tasco 16x50 and him with a pair of these Pentax glasses. Well, I was picking up the birds alright, but with my high mag glasses I was mostly getting eyeballs or individual feathers, and missing the whole bird - way too much magnification. So Dick lent me his pair of these Pentax glasses. TBH, they didn't look anything special, just like any other binos of similar design. And then, I put them up to my eyeballs and almost freaked out - they were, without any exaggeration, exactly like looking at the world with the lighting turned on - I have never seen anything like that before in my life, and I was astounded.
That was on the Sunday, and on my coffee break the next morning, I was down at the Dutch PX, buying two sets of 7x35 and 8x40 - one for me and Mrs tac, the other for my BIL and his wife.
We still have them, and I take them with me everywhere I go, and that included the three years I spent in BRIXMIS, the British Military Mission to the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany - a unit where money was used wisely to buy the very best of everything optical, from cameras to binoculars - Nikon F5s and a trunkful of lenses for everybody, and Leitz binoculars too. My Leitz set stayed in the office - by comparison with my Pentax's they were like looking into a mouse's ear. The secret, I was told, was in the eyepiece coatings, and maybe the good folks here who know all about lens coatings can tell me what it actually is. I've heard all kinds of opinions over the last 43 years, none of which make much sense to me, from isotopic gold to ultra-rare earths.
I hope that this image gives some idea of what I mean - I'd like to add that these optics GLOW when looked at at certain angles - my image can't do them justice
About ten years ago, I sent both pairs to a friend of mine who is the Chief Engineer of Servicing for a well-known optical company here in UK, who, before I retired from the Army in 2000, was our visiting maintenance engineer for our $1/2M optical light tables. He looked them over, and sent them back within the week, saying that a. they needed nothing more than a good cleaning cloth, and b. what the heck was that coating?
They continue to delight and amaze everybody who looks through them - not even the mighty Leica's or Swarovski's owned by some of our more pecunious club members can compete.
They cost DM48 per pair - at that time, just around $50.
