New To Me Zeiss Dialyt 7x42 B T*p* (1 Viewer)

[Aaron Rust]

I scored a very nice Zeiss Dialyt 7x42B *T*P Serial 2334780 - *T=coatings? *P=phaze coatings? correct? The lenses are near perfect. They come with nothing other than the bins themselves. The eyecups are going to be replaced as their is some wear on these. Other than that they are very very nice. I have maybe $350 in them as I traded stuff for them. They join my NVA DF 7x40, NVA EDF 7x40, and Minox 8.5x42 aspherical asian made binos. I expect them to be better than any of these except in very low light the military binos may be better... What advancements other than HD glass have been since these were made? I love them already.
Aaron

 

[Jack Speer]

Congratulations Aaron! I have never seen one in person but that is a legendary birding binocular, no doubt. Do you have them in hand yet? I would love to hear more about them.

 

[Pinewood]

?..What advancements other than HD glass have been since these were made? I love them already.
Aaron

Hello Aaron,

More modern binoculars have closer and faster focusing, as well as true waterproofing. Unlike other roof glasses your Dialyt uses Abbe-König prisms which provide a brighter image and some stereopsis. It should match and probably exceed the brightness of your other binoculars.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood

 

[Aaron Rust]

Congratulations Aaron! I have never seen one in person but that is a legendary birding binocular, no doubt. Do you have them in hand yet? I would love to hear more about them.

yeah, I got them today... I added some links, hopefully you can open them. Let me know if you can open them. What are they worth and what can you tell me about them?

Aaron

 

[berryns]

Great score Aaron! I miss my 7x42 T*P sorely.

 

[Aaron Rust]

do these work?
https://i.imgur.com/YjLeU3s.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/dpGmxjS.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ZzXtL2X.jpg

 

[Dorian Gray]

Yes, the pictures are visible.

The binocular is probably worth at least double the $350 you estimate you put into it. Nice job!

Does your EDF have a very yellow image? The later Docter 7x40 has a yellow cast even though I’ve heard it is less yellow than the EDF. Made me wonder about the EDF.

 

[Aaron Rust]

Yes, the pictures are visible.

The binocular is probably worth at least double the $350 you estimate you put into it. Nice job!

Does your EDF have a very yellow image? The later Docter 7x40 has a yellow cast even though I’ve heard it is less yellow than the EDF. Made me wonder about the EDF.

yes the EDF has very yellow tint. - mine are commercial ones.
Marked: ausJENA 7X40 B GA

 

[Troubador]

I saw two of these in use on the ferry between Scotland and the Outer Hebrides recently, still going strong. They were the inspiration for Swaro's EL and their fov of about 148m at 1,000 was not beaten by the Design Selection/Night Owl 7x or FL 7x that followed it. The close focus is not upto modern standards and it is not regarded as fully waterproof but I have seen it being used in pouring rain without any problems.

Lee

 

[Aaron Rust]

I set with these a few moments outside today... AMAZING. Truly amazing. I have looked through quality alpha binos before... in Africa a friends Swarovski ELs. The closest thing I have owned was a Docter Navidoc turquoise colored binos. They were indeed brilliant. But these are incredible. I am so happy.

 

[jring]

Hi,

yes, I got to try an NVA EDF once and I have to say the yellow tint on those was quite severe. And I know of few eastern bloc bins.

Congratiolations to the o.p. to a the Dialyt.

Joachim

 

[Patudo]

The 7x42 T*P* is, of the Dialyts I've tried, the one that is most competitive with current top glass, and its price reflects that. There is no shortage of praise for this model on this forum and elsewhere, and when I finally got to try one I could see why. The only quibble I had with the unit I looked through was that the focuser assembly (accurately identified by other users as the weakest point of the binocular) was not as rock solid as it should have been - a firm push would result in a slight change of focus with the result that it needed more focus adjustment than a 7x42 should. I wonder why Zeiss never redesigned the focus assembly along the same lines as the 8x30 and 10x40 Dialyts. The focus tension was also too light for my taste, but I do prefer this to be pretty firm. But the quality of the image is excellent - sharp, with a wonderful combination of brightness and wide field of view. Back in the 1990s it must have been spectacular. It definitely deserves its reputation as one of the great classics.

 

[Aaron Rust]

I called zeiss. Mine are from 2004! Which I believe is the last year.

 

[John Frink]

I called zeiss. Mine are from 2004! Which I believe is the last year.

2334xxx, eh? I have 2395xxx and 2529xxx; I wonder when they were built?

 

[Gijs van Ginkel]

Aaron Rust,
I have recently tested the Leica Ultravid HD-plus and I took some other binoculars along with this test and one of them is the 7x42 Dialyt. You can find the test on the WEB-site of House of Outdoor, go to "verrekijkers"and "verrekijkers testen en vergelijken". Number 16 in the long list of test reports is from the 7x42 test. It is in Dutch, but table, numbers and graphs are fairy international, so you will be able to understand.
Gijs van Ginkel

 

[Loud Green Man]

The 7x42 T*P* is, of the Dialyts I've tried, the one that is most competitive with current top glass, and its price reflects that. There is no shortage of praise for this model on this forum and elsewhere, and when I finally got to try one I could see why. The only quibble I had with the unit I looked through was that the focuser assembly (accurately identified by other users as the weakest point of the binocular) was not as rock solid as it should have been - a firm push would result in a slight change of focus with the result that it needed more focus adjustment than a 7x42 should. I wonder why Zeiss never redesigned the focus assembly along the same lines as the 8x30 and 10x40 Dialyts. The focus tension was also too light for my taste, but I do prefer this to be pretty firm. But the quality of the image is excellent - sharp, with a wonderful combination of brightness and wide field of view. Back in the 1990s it must have been spectacular. It definitely deserves its reputation as one of the great classics.

Spot on.

If I ever see a pair at a good price I will grab them.

LGM

 

[Dorian Gray]

I tried to buy one of these recently – I don’t have a low-light binocular with centre focus – but I was unable to find an attractive specimen at an attractive price. You can have one or other, of course. But it seems that the really good ones have a steep premium, presumably because they’re hunted down by people in the know.

Production has long since stopped, so the good specimens are only ever going to decrease in number.

 

[Aaron Rust]

Aaron Rust,
I have recently tested the Leica Ultravid HD-plus and I took some other binoculars along with this test and one of them is the 7x42 Dialyt. You can find the test on the WEB-site of House of Outdoor, go to "verrekijkers"and "verrekijkers testen en vergelijken". Number 16 in the long list of test reports is from the 7x42 test. It is in Dutch, but table, numbers and graphs are fairy international, so you will be able to understand.
Gijs van Ginkel

Gijs, thanks I can speak a bit of afrikaans and can some times understand some Dutch. I live in a Dutch settlement here in Kansas USA.

 

[Troubador]

2334xxx, eh? I have 2395xxx and 2529xxx; I wonder when they were built?

Unfortunately Zeiss serial numbers, in recent decades, were not always used in datal order so in themselves are not reliable indicators of the date of manufacture. You would need to ask Zeiss to find this out.

Lee

 

[Rathaus]

All other things being equal, I’ve noticed from my own Dialyt hunting that the slightly later German made (ie: non West German) but otherwise identical models of the T*P* are more sought after and sell for significantly more money on eBay. They’re going for big (new alpha) bucks if in rare true minty condition. Quite a few tattered but functioning ones about. The fact there are quite a few cosmetically tattered but functioning 7x42s shows that these were and still are highly prized binoculars in the field. Specs aside, I believe these bins offer an incredibly desirable aesthetic view which wasn’t replicated in the later Zeiss bins of the same specification. There are long threads on BF dedicated to viewers absolute favourite all time binoculars and more often than not this model of Zeiss trumps everything in existence, past or present.