BOB Optik ? (1 Viewer)

[Musoman]

Anyone heard of BOB Optik binos ?

Picked up these Hunter 8x40's with field of 157m. Just tried them today, and the view is nice and clear, sharp, no CA that i can see, and little in the way of ' seagull wings - kidney beans ' or whatever the correct term is. Its not a binocular i've heard of, but i'm no specialist or collector.

Field of 157m seems a bit wider than normal for an 8x40 ? I suspect that they are no more than mid range quality, or less, but for what i paid, these are fabulous and give me way less trouble than my previous Opticron Roof Adventurer 10x50's which suffered badly from ( for me anyways ) the nasty seagull - kidney bean effect, no matter how I tried the available adjustment, and sold them on

 

[Musoman]

pictures

 

[Musoman]

more

 

[Steve C]

I have to conclude these are used. The first thing I noticed is what appears to be the remnants of an inspection sticker from the Japan Telescopes Inspection Institute days on the center shaft. That is confirmed (assuming it has not been replaced at some point) by the J-B 133 code on the end cap indicating the binocular was made by Kamakura. Kamakura was a respected JTTI maker, and remains well regarded as a maker of fine optics today.

With the above in mind, while I have never heard of, nor suspected the existence of BOB Optik, I think that your binocular was one they had Kamakura make for them. I have no idea if the serial number can somehow be used to identify the year of manufacture.

The JTTI operated from December of 1959 into the 1980's. The focus wheel style might indicate production in the earlier half of the period, but that is a guess. I suspect this is a pretty decent binocular. Wider fov, with accompanying short eye relief, was rather typical of some of the Japanese porro prism binoculars of the JTTI era.

 

[Musoman]

Cheers Steve - excellent info. Yes, they are second hand alright, and I paid £10 for the privelege of ownership.

Short eye relief as you say, and not a problem for me as I dont wear glasses for everyday use ( just reading ) and dont wear glasses for Bino work.

I had another stint with them this afternoon, and i have to say, for a non guru like me, these are damn fine. The clarity and light is well on par with the £90 Opticron Adventurer roofs i sold due to the horrible kidney bean effect

 

[Bencw]

Looks a very good buy for £10. I have seen BOB OPTIK binoculars sell used for around £25 to £30 before, but have never seen this model, I like the look of it from the photo's. They also sell scopes and monocular s , I don't know much about them, but their products have been sold by LIDL stores so I expect nearer budget level. Seems it could possibly be a German registered company selling optics made for them in Japan.

 

[Binastro]

I have a Bob monocular converter that attaches to the rear of lenses.
It is made in Japan and similar to the Vivitar TLA-1.
They are also available with many other names and were made to fit many different lens mounts.
They are 10 mm focus and fairly wide-angle three element eyepieces I think.

They are actually optically better than the modern equivalent which is narrow angle but has much better eye relief. Also the modern ones that I have inspected have dust inside them from poor manufacturing conditions. The modern ones though have a tripod foot and can take fairly wide lenses.

I much prefer the old ones although many of them now have fungus in them, so you must check them carefully.

looks like a very good binoculars for £10.

 

[Musoman]

Thanks people - no mount on the bottom and no blemishes on the optics are any dust inside. Clear as a bell, as they say.

They have the feel of quality about them. They're quite small in the hand, but weighty enough. The damping in the central focusing and right diopter feel just about on the button. Smooth but not loose, but stiff enough not to be jogged easy, and the spread adjustment is exactly the same, smooth but not looose, and they stay where they're set for the eye width

The original case came with them too.

 

[coal tit]

Hi Pete

pictures

View attachment 490643

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The Middle pair of rubber armoured binoculars here I had a similar pair I think they were by tasco and they
had green lense,s 8x40s they had a similar carrying case to the green one
on here Everything was either plastic or rubber I think I could of Appreciated
them better now more than i did in the 1980,s when i first had them i
Remember the label on the central focusing wheel post they had turn
Over eye cups They were ok in the field optically but I found them heavy
to carry, Were tasco a popular binocular then as i don,t see many
tasco bino,s about now days.

 

[OPTIC_NUT]

The condition is awesome...looks to be very clean inside.

The focuser does look like an earlier design revisited (a good thing: slow ratio)
and overall they look like the higher grade "fully coated" Tascos.
The smoothness of the grease indicates either cool even storage or more recent
(ie, 1970s-80s) construction. Pretty nice.

If the weight seems like a problem, try this:
--focus well, with the grip that suits your working the knob
--then move your hands forward (to the front end) for a longer look
...this tensions your tendons and increases the 'moment of inertia' of the
binoculars, and can drastically reduce the shake, combined with a little
'eyebrow bracing'. It's more comfortable holding the weight that way too.

 

[Musoman]

O-N, yes the focusing is ' long throw ' if that's a phrase i can use. Very smooth as i say

Weight shouldn't be a problem, but i havent used them in anger yet, so will certainly take your advice when the better weather arrives

 

[coal tit]

Tasco

The condition is awesome...looks to be very clean inside.

The focuser does look like an earlier design revisited (a good thing: slow ratio)
and overall they look like the higher grade "fully coated" Tascos.
The smoothness of the grease indicates either cool even storage or more recent
(ie, 1970s-80s) construction. Pretty nice.

If the weight seems like a problem, try this:
--focus well, with the grip that suits your working the knob
--then move your hands forward (to the front end) for a longer look
...this tensions your tendons and increases the 'moment of inertia' of the
binoculars, and can drastically reduce the shake, combined with a little
'eyebrow bracing'. It's more comfortable holding the weight that way too.

Hi optic

Well thanks for the Info Unfortuneately I don,t have the tasco,s now But use A pair of frank nipoles, charles frank 8x30s metal caseing I can,t be sure what happened to the tasco,s but thanks again.

 

[richard866945]

BOB Optic s/ Bresser

Anyone heard of BOB Optik binos ?

Picked up these Hunter 8x40's with field of 157m. Just tried them today, and the view is nice and clear, sharp, no CA that i can see, and little in the way of ' seagull wings - kidney beans ' or whatever the correct term is. Its not a binocular i've heard of, but i'm no specialist or collector.

Field of 157m seems a bit wider than normal for an 8x40 ? I suspect that they are no more than mid range quality, or less, but for what i paid, these are fabulous and give me way less trouble than my previous Opticron Roof Adventurer 10x50's which suffered badly from ( for me anyways ) the nasty seagull - kidney bean effect, no matter how I tried the available adjustment, and sold them on

In Europe, BOB optics were distributed by the same firm who distributed Bresser when Herr Bresser ran the company and sold mostly Japanese products. I always thought BOB was the budget end of the Bresser range but I happily sold many over the years.

 

[Musoman]

Thanks Richard - budget maybe, but the view isnt budget, thats for sure.

 

[Eric_D]

I have a pair of JB133 8x40 9 degree green rubber armoured (GA) binoculars, branded 'Greenkat'. Very nice, pictured. A very popular UK 70s & 80s re-brand in the UK. Their more ambitious offerings are good, some 8x30 wides are disappointing.

By contrast, I just dismantled a GA pair 'Paragon UV Coated 7x50 Field 9.5'. No JB numbers found yet, but "OOC" in overlapping letters on the inner metal bottom hinge axle cap. Omiya? Otsuka? Otake? Oriental? Optical Company?
A 7x50 that is wider than 7.1 degrees is always interesting. I am not sure I believe 9.5 degrees, though.
These took quite a bit of cleaning, swapping parts and nudging prisms to get them optically OK.
Worst construction I have seen labelled 'Japan' with the 'JTII Passed' sticker.
e.g. No screw-holes in the prism plates, even though the body is drilled and tapped for them! Glued prisms and eyepiece turners.
The rubber is more to hide (or physically compensate for) poor construction than to make them rugged.