Looking for a checklist to run through when buying 2nd hand binos or scope (1 Viewer)

[Choc59]

Hi everyone,

I own a cheap scope I have bought a while ago , that I would like to upgrade to one of the well known brands on the market. I am also looking for a bino upgrade.

I’d like to upgrade them by purchasing 2nd hand optics , and I found some ads in my local website that looks like quite a bargain for some of them.
Some ads turn out to be scam, but some seem real.

All ads always say “no damage, optics in perfect condition”. Sounds pretty promising and convincing, but always worth a double-check

This is why I was looking for a list of what to check on an instrument when buying 2nd hand, and suprisingly enough I have not found anything of this sort neither for binos, nor for scopes.

Once I have the instrument in front of me, what would you recommend to check first ans foremost, and how to check it ? I am hoping maybe we can build a checklist that could also be usefull to anyone looking to buy 2nd hand.

Thank you in advance for all the advices, tips, “how to” that you can share

 

[Binastro]

Hi Choc59 and welcome.

Firstly, cosmetic.

Look in the front with a torch if necessary.
Is there haze or water moisture on the lenses or prisms?
Is there fungus?

Is there paint missing or grease volatilising?

Finger prints inside?

Is the focus smooth?

With a binocular is the hinge too loose or too tight?

Now the difficult part.

Unless you have an almost perfect optic to compare. what is optical quality?
You really need an astronomer from the local astro society or someone experienced at testing.

There is star testing that can be done in the day using a fairly distant ball bearing or mirrored sphere to give a point source of the sun.

Never look at the sun with an optical instrument or even naked eyes.

Then there is resolution testing with a chart or double stars.

Even an honest seller has no idea if the instrument is good or not unless an expert or astronomer.

With binoculars the main problem is that they are often out of collimation or alignment.

So, maybe a 14 day trial period is needed or you must become expert at testing or bring an expert with you.

Buying remotely is a gamble.

A good local shop or distant shop with warranty and really expert staff is best.
Often the staff don't have a clue.

The same rules apply to new optics also.

Good luck,

Regards,
B.

 

[Mike Crawley]

1. Price - do they fit your budget
2. Feel - do they fit comfortably in your hands
3. Fit - do they easily adjust to your eyes and the distance between them

If the binoculars fail these ergonomic tests, the more technical test aren’t really that important because they will be uncomfortable to use.

4. Try before you buy - I understand that this can be difficult in America, Australia, Canada and South Africa. Substitute this suggestion with “find somewhere that has a fantastic returns policy” and good luck

 

[Binastro]

For a beginner buying secondhand binoculars may be false economy.
One bad deal and it ends up costing more than new.

With spotting scopes it makes more sense buying used.
There are certain Nikon ED Fieldscopes that are said to be good reliable scopes.
Perhaps someone here can list the ones to look for.

There are certain optical specialists perhaps like Cley Spey in the U.K. who put used optics into honest categories.
Perhaps someone can list these specialists.

There are annual Birdfairs where special deals are available with perhaps used and demonstration optics sold.

There are bird sanctuaries that hold several events where optics are sold by makers.

Sherwood Optics sell makers discounted optics sometimes.

I forgot to mention that one has to look for scratches particularly on the rear surface of the eyepieces.
These can affect performance badly.
Scratches on the front are less bad.

One also has to check that the dioptre control of a binocular works properly.

Also has the binocular or scope been dropped?

Regards,
B.

 

[Binastro]

There is annual several day outside camera and antique fair in a town in France.
I cannot remember the town's name.
There will be binoculars and scopes also.

Several British collectors go there every year.

There are markets in Britain where cameras and optics are sold.

B.

 

[Scott98]

I've always been wary of used binoculars because these optics are used outdoors, in the field, and some people abuse them a lot more than others. Alignment is my greatest fear - have they been knocked out of collimation? The best way to find out is head out at night under the stars. Point 'em at the moon or the brighest star you can see and focus. It's a torture test for optics. If anything's out of round, or you see asymmetric flaring or other artifacts they're probably out of alignment. Depending on what brand they are and how old, it could be difficult to get them serviced back into alignment.

Also as a long time buyer and try-er of astronomy gear I do NOT like using ebay. I don't even look there. Astromart or this website is so much safer. Ebay is more of a seller's market than buyer's market for me. I've also found B&H and Euro-optic to be very reliable for used and demo optics, and very accommodating if you want to try them and send them back. This is here in the US but there are similar options in Europe.

 

[Richard D]

For a beginner buying secondhand binoculars may be false economy.
One bad deal and it ends up costing more than new.

With spotting scopes it makes more sense buying used.
There are certain Nikon ED Fieldscopes that are said to be good reliable scopes.
Perhaps someone here can list the ones to look for.

There are certain optical specialists perhaps like Cley Spey in the U.K. who put used optics into honest categories.
Perhaps someone can list these specialists.

There are annual Birdfairs where special deals are available with perhaps used and demonstration optics sold.

There are bird sanctuaries that hold several events where optics are sold by makers.

Sherwood Optics sell makers discounted optics sometimes.

I forgot to mention that one has to look for scratches particularly on the rear surface of the eyepieces.
These can affect performance badly.
Scratches on the front are less bad.

One also has to check that the dioptre control of a binocular works properly.

Also has the binocular or scope been dropped?

Regards,
B.

Nikon Fieldscope wise the 82/78/60 ED scope are generally a safe purchase (probably best to avoid one with heavy cosmetic damage though...). Look for the red ring near the objective for the ED version. The original 60mm isn't bad, but can't use newer eyepieces, so I'd go for the much better EDII or EDIII - main difference with the EDIII is that it's waterproof so possibly worth the extra over the EDII, although optically the difference is fairly minor. The ED50 is generally okay, but it's plastic bodied and there have been some reports of it separating after a fairly minor knock (I've not had any problems with mine).

Buying secondhand binoculars from a reputable shop with some form of warranty is probably safer than buying from a private ebay seller, and there's not generally much in it price wise. Where specialist optics dealers have a ebay shop it's worth checking to see if they have the same item listed slightly cheaper on their own site... I have bought an excellent pair of binoculars from a fellow member on here - possibly safer than ebay - I was very happy with my purchase, but check their history...

 

[tenex]

Buying second-hand, you're watching for two sorts of problems: outright lemons, and damage from use. Reputable higher-end brands make the first unlikely, the second repairable (often at no cost beyond postage). Try out some new models in a store to get an idea what you want to find used; there's a lot of junk out there, so don't be in too much of a hurry, or buy anything you've never seen or heard of.

The most important thing is to spend a day (night?) in the field with an instrument, literally hours of the sort of use you intend to put it to, and make sure it works well: sharp, no aberrations that bother you, focusing well, diopter staying put and so on. And comfortable, no effort or fatigue in viewing. Subtle problems can show up that way.

 

[ghht492]

Hi everyone,

I own a cheap scope I have bought a while ago , that I would like to upgrade to one of the well known brands on the market. I am also looking for a bino upgrade.

I’d like to upgrade them by purchasing 2nd hand optics , and I found some ads in my local website that looks like quite a bargain for some of them.
Some ads turn out to be scam, but some seem real.

All ads always say “no damage, optics in perfect condition”. Sounds pretty promising and convincing, but always worth a double-check

This is why I was looking for a list of what to check on an instrument when buying 2nd hand, and suprisingly enough I have not found anything of this sort neither for binos, nor for scopes.

Once I have the instrument in front of me, what would you recommend to check first ans foremost, and how to check it ? I am hoping maybe we can build a checklist that could also be usefull to anyone looking to buy 2nd hand.

Thank you in advance for all the advices, tips, “how to” that you can share

To save yourself from stress and worries, buy from a reliable and trustworthy seller. If you don't know of one, ask your buddies if they know of one they could recommend...

I've always done that and it works for me...

 

[Binastro]

Thank you, Richard, Tenex and G for your help.

Much appreciated.

Regards,
B

 

[Binocollector]

A rule of thumb from someone who has bought a ton of binos on ebay: half of them will have alignment issues. And of course all of them are advertised as "working great, no double images, no fungus", etc.
But, if you learn some basic skills and get some basic tools (lense spanner wrench, some small screwdrivers, etc) you can fix most of them -- if it's porros. Roof prism binos are harder to fix, unless it is a simple loose barrel or something like that. So some basic tools and some cheapo binos to practice are a good start. Doing that I so far was able to fix almost all of them with one or two exceptions. In one case the screws were too tight to open. In another case a barrel was probably slightly bent from a drop and alignment was impossible without being able to fix the bent barrel.
But apart from that -- I like ebay for getting binos (we don't have "astromart" but of course there are astronomy forums). Especially German ebay, where there is an abundance of pretty nice vintage Japanese and Russian optics (if you like that kind of thing).
That being said, I rarely spend above 100€ for a used bino (my most expensive was a 30 year old Komz 7x30 "Sekonda", the one with the internal focusing and twist-up eyecups as opposed to the newer version with external focusing and rubber fold-down eyecups which I also own but bought new). The most "bang for the buck" was a 17€ 10x50 Sotem (aka Tento) with razor sharp and flawless optics -- only the rubber eyecups were missing which can be replaced.
The latest addition to the collection, a Japanese made "Scope" super wide angle 7x50 Vistar with double focuser in great condition with all the goodies including the original manual.

So for me -- buying used binos on ebay was great fun so far. There rarely was a real "lemon" that was unfixable or just plain garbage. But so far I mostly stayed away from the "big names" except for some used Zeiss Jena 7x50. Those are often overpriced because people know the names, "Zeiss", "Leica" and "Swarowski" so even the most beat-up vintage roof with no phase-coatings and in bad condition will be put up for sale for fantasy-prices if it has the name "Zeiss" or "Leica" on it. I even saw some people trying to sell stuff for more than what it costs new.
Of course not everyone wants to collect or hoard binos so my method might not work for everybody.

 

[Foss]

Add to the checklist: Give them a shake. Nothing should rattle inside.

 

[Binocollector]

Add to the checklist: Give them a shake. Nothing should rattle inside.

Good point. But make sure where the rattle actually comes from . Just the other day I noticed a slight rattle while using my brand new Fujinon FMTR. I thought, oh no, but turned out you can unscrew the eyecups and one was slightly loose.

 

[Scott98]

>we don't have "astromart"

FWIW, I've shipped items I've sold on Astromart to Europe many times, also Australia, etc. Most sellers will ship internationally, especially for smaller items like binoculars.

 

[Binocollector]

FWIW, I've shipped items I've sold on Astromart to Europe many times, also Australia, etc. Most sellers will ship internationally, especially for smaller items like binoculars.

There might be sellers that ship internationally but then the shipping costs are added plus 19% taxes (doesn't matter if it's used items), which, considering the weak € makes it way too expensive in most cases. I am just fine with buying on ebay, like I wrote. It's basically a paradise for collectors in Germany.
I used to buy a lot of stuff overseas actually since I collect wristwatches and have bought them from all over the world but shipping prices exploded due to Covid. Besides -- that was a time when the € was 1.40 $ so even with taxes added many things were cheaper to buy in the US than in Europe. Those were the days.

 

[Binastro]

Internal floating elements may rattle slightly, so rattles are not always bad.

The objectives of refractors should rattle slightly to avoid pinched optics.

I had a bad pinched front optic with a 500mm f/5.6 (actually f/4.8) Pentacon Six Zeiss Jena lens. Possibly a Tele Tessar?
The star images were triangular.

The £ used to be $4, perhaps even $5.
Heading for parity again.

Regards,
B.

 

[Scott98]

>There might be sellers that ship internationally but then the shipping costs are added plus 19% taxes

I forgot about that, it does take the fun out of international purchases for sure.

 

[kimmik]

Until I owned many examples of “perfect” and “poor” and “broken”, it was difficult to know all the subtle things to look for. Looong learning curve if you want “best”. “Good” is easier.

 

[Rg548]

I would ONLY buy 2nd hand binos from a reputable dealer, who will have checked them over.
Ace Optics, Focal Point Optics, WEX etc.
You will probably pay a bit more than ebay, but you will get a warranted decent pair.

 

[Maljunulo]

The £ used to be $4, perhaps even $5.

I remember when the £ was much more than $5, but it was a very long time ago, and my failing memory cannot furnish a number.

My handy phone assures me that £1 in 1950 is £38.09 today.

The US Dollar is similarly worthless, in spite of its perceived “strength”.

Let us not forget that historically the £ was literally one pound of silver pennies. (240 of them)