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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

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  1. John A Roberts

    Meopta's 2024 Offerings

    Meopta has long been a family owned company. However last year it was sold to the Carlyle investment firm, see: Statement of the Rausnitz Family on the Sale of Meopta | Meopta :: Better view of the world And understandably there's been speculation as to what that means in terms of current and...
  2. John A Roberts

    If the price of an EL SV seems too good to be true?

    On the left is an a 10x32 EL SV (pre-FieldPro), from a 2015 ebay listing by wunderle08. And on the right is a '10x32 Waterproof Powerful Long Range Binoculars Telescope with Bak4 Lens', from a current listing by a company out of Hong Kong, with a buy now price of $55 US. Although the latter...
  3. John A Roberts

    Fungus as Art?

    Fotohaus Basel has just listed online a Swarovski 8x20 Pocket model from 1990 that’s seen better days. What's of most interest are the striking images of the internal fungus! John p.s. The Swarovski 8x20B Pocket model was introduced in 1989, with the 10x25B following in 1992. They were...
  4. John A Roberts

    New AX Visio 10x32 binocular

    Swarovski has just announced a new binocular with integrated electronics (thanks to Ome Arie who first noticed this, and Wasabrot for linking to the details, see posts #76 and 87 at: New Swarovski product announcement in January 2024...? ) It incorporates various electronic technologies...
  5. John A Roberts

    Allbinos Canon 12x36 IS III Review

    Arek is continuing his exploration of 12x optics, with his latest review being the Canon 12x36 IS III, at: Canon 12x36 IS III - binoculars review - AllBinos.com Canon 12x36 IS III, along with an internal view of the 10x30 IS II sibling: Over the last year and a half Arek’s reviewed 13 (!)...
  6. John A Roberts

    Roger Vine’s review of an original Leitz Trivovid 7x35

    In a 'blast from the past', Roger has added a review of an original Leitz Trinovid 7x35B, dating from the late 1960’s, see at: Leitz 7x35B Trinovid Review Original Leitz 7x35B verses current Leica 8x40: Roger has previously reviewed both the current Leica 'Retrovid' 7x35 and 8x40 models...
  7. John A Roberts

    Meopta B2 Possibilities?

    This morning I had a look at Google Patents, and there are 3 recent Meopta patents that may give an idea as to what a new B2 could include . . . a) USD904480S Shows a new external design for a binocular: (there are more images in the patent) b) US11474338B2 Features a focus mechanism where...
  8. John A Roberts

    Cleaning NL binoculars the Swarovski way

    Swarovski has just posted a short video, showing how to clean an NL binocular, using the provided brush and bar of soap. See at: ✔️ How do I clean my rifle scope correctly? 🧼🧽 ✔️ Where can I find more information about my product? 📚 ✔️How can I send my binoculars for repair? 🧰🔧 In our latest...
  9. John A Roberts

    Roger Vine’s review of the Zeiss Conquest 8x56 HD

    Here on BF there’s been recent discussion about the large 8x models. And coincidentally, Roger has recently added a review of the Zeiss Conquest 8x56 HD to his body of work, see at: Zeiss 8x56 Conquest HD As he notes, he’s reviewed the higher magnification Swarovski x56’s but not yet the 8x...
  10. John A Roberts

    New 8x42, 10x42 and 8x56 Geovid Pro models

    Perhaps of interest to some . . . Just over a year ago Leica introduced two new Perger prism rangefinder binoculars, the Geovid Pro 8x32 and 10x32. See the thread: 6 January 2022 - New Leica announcement (Prior to this Leica had only offered various x42 and x56 RF binoculars.) Without much...
  11. John A Roberts

    Roger Vine’s review of the Canon 12x32 IS

    Roger has added to his reviews of the Canon IS lineup, with the addition of the 12x32 model. See at: Canon 12x32 IS Review It includes a detailed comparison to the 12x36 III version In regards to Roger's comments on the optical construction, Canon only provides minimal details: an objective...
  12. John A Roberts

    Roger Vine's review of the Canon 10x42 L IS

    Roger has just posted a review of Canon's top of the range IS model the 10x42 L, at: Canon 10x42IS Review (thanks to William Lewis for the heads-up) It complements his reviews of other Canon IS models: the 10x30; 12x36 II and III; 14x32; 15x50, and; 18x50. See at: Binocular Reviews In...
  13. John A Roberts

    Holger’s Binocular Book - in English in 2023!

    Many will be aware of Holger Merlitz’s book 'Handferngläser: Funktion, Leistung, Auswahl' (Handheld Binoculars: Function, Performance, Selection). It was first published in 2013 and then updated in 2019. The original edition was 200 pages with more than 130 images. The English portion of...
  14. John A Roberts

    A tripod bracket for the x25 CL?

    Perhaps of interest to some, I noticed this today in an eBay listing from a US seller leoann2133xx . . . What seems to be a relatively easy way to make a solid tripod mount for a 10x25 pocket binocular: The seller also listed a Leica 10x25 Ultravid BR with a similar bracket: John
  15. John A Roberts

    Zeiss 10x40 SFL - Roger Vine's Review

    Roger has just added a review on his Scope Views site: Zeiss 10x40 SFL Review
  16. John A Roberts

    Steiner 1980's Brochure - Makrolon Body Porro Models

    After looking for some information in relation to another thread, I found a Steiner brochure from the 1980’s (it was tucked away inside of something else). It and the prices marked in it date from a 1985 trip to the US. It shows 6x30, 8x30, 7x50, 10x50 and 15x80 models (the last does not have...
  17. John A Roberts

    New ATC/ STC 17-40x56 Telescope

    Swarovski has just loaded details of a new compact telescope on its website. See: ATC/STC The technical specifications (attached below) and the instruction manual can be found at: ATC 17-40x56 - Swarovski Optik And obviously there'll be a lot more to come. John
  18. John A Roberts

    Upgraded Leica Geovid R Rangefinder Binoculars

    Of interest to some . . . On the 8th August, Leica announced an upgrade to their older series of rangefinder binoculars (see the press release). This is the series that uses Uppendahl roof prisms, as opposed to the more recent one using Perger prisms. As can be seen they have a much more...
  19. John A Roberts

    Swarobright Coating and P-coating

    Swarobright Swarobright is Swarovski's brand name for dielectric prism coating. It's a multiple layer coating that's used on the non-total internal reflection surface found on most roof prisms i.e. it acts as a mirror. So it's needed on both Schmidt-Pechan and Uppendahl prisms, but not on...
  20. John A Roberts

    Cost vs Durability - Plastic Body

    One way to reduce cost and save weight in binoculars is by the use of various plastics for structural components. But there may be tradeoffs . . . A current eBay listing by bavarian-motor-works shows a Leupold BX-2 Alpine HD 8x42 that’s become a contender in the optical world’s Darwin Awards...
  21. John A Roberts

    Arek's new 12x50 Reviews

    Although not mentioned elsewhere (?), Arek at Allbinos has recently been posting reviews of 12x50 binoculars. They cover a wide price/ performance range. See at: AllBinos.com - binocular review, binoculars reviews, binoculars specification - AllBinos.com John
  22. John A Roberts

    Zeiss Nature Catalogue for 2022/ 23

    The new 35 page 26 MB catalogue has recently become available, and and can be downloaded at: https://www.zeiss.com/content/dam/consumer-products/downloads/nature-observation/brochures/en/brochure-zeiss-nature-observation-catalogue-en.pdf It includes cutaway views of six different binoculars...
  23. John A Roberts

    Expected Delays to Repairs by Swarovski Absam later this year

    On the Spotting Scopes forum there is a recent thread: Swarovski sales delays And in post #21, Eranou provides a link to a notification from Swarovski that I’ve attached below. The main takeaways are . . . As part of its digitisation process, Swarovski is introducing a new ERP (enterprise...
  24. John A Roberts

    Swarovski’s That Never Were!

    In most industries there are ongoing processes of product development. Ideas may be developed to various degrees; from initial pen and paper concepts, to non-functional mock ups, to functional prototypes. However, for a variety of reasons many ideas then don’t make it to commercial production...
  25. John A Roberts

    Roger Vine's thoughts on the 7x21 Curio?

    Roger has just posted a detailed review. And at the end he compares the Curio's performance to that of the Zeiss 8x25 Victory. See at: Swarovski 7x21 Curio Review John
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