My only binoculars is a pair of Pentax 8x40, I bought in a military BX in Izmir, Turkey back in 1972. Probably not the greatest then, and from what I hear about the new ones now, definitely not, but the were all I could afford at the time, and they have and still serve me well.
The top binocular is my first one. It was lost for about 50 years. A year or so ago the father of a friend of mine died, and they were cleaning out accumulated stuff from his house. My buddy came across this bino and recognized it as mine from a time long ago. He brought it to me with apologies for having it for so long. I used to live at his house on the weekends, and just left it there at some point.
The binos to the right are Fuji Meibo binoculars. The top one is 7 x 50, good for night use, and its little brother on the bottom is 7 x 35, a good general purpose bino. I liked these so well I have several pair of each. They have excellent optics. I have had the 7 x 50 for over 50 years.
The binocular to the left is a Leica, 8 x 32, excellent optics for daytime use. The depth of view is good for bird watching within 20 or 30 feet. This is not a vintage binocular.
My only classic binocs are Hensoldt and Wetzlar, captured by my father from a Luftwaffe pilot who actually landed at a captured airfield to use the restroom!
I also have Steiner, Doctor, and Leica. The best have got to be the Leicas which have a built in rangefinder but they are also big and heavy. If I was going to be wearing them all day I go for the Doctors first and then probably the H&W (which have been restored), they are long but not heavy, great glasses even after 80 years.
I have a pair of Eschenbach Farlux 10x28 binoculars. I bought them new about 8 or so years ago for travelling. While compact, they have amazing optics, are waterproof, and armoured, and the coatings on the lenses are superb. They were not cheap, but they are amazing field glasses and I love them. I’d like a vintage pair, but they would really only be for display and My house is already full of stuff so I’ll probably never get around to it. For actual use, the high end modern field glasses are light years ahead of the vintage ones. The old ones are still cool though!
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