Old Zeiss Versus Bresser Corvette

[Etoille]

Will an old pair of Carl Zeiss 7x50 Jenoptem outperform a modern Bresser Corvette 7x50?

Presumably the Zeiss would not have BAK4 glass but they are Zeiss!

[AndyH]

Jenoptem? Is that the East German ' Zeiss Jena ', rather than the West German ' Carl Zeiss ' ?

My dad had/has a couple of (vintage-at least 40yrs old)different sized Zeiss Jena's, which are superb, but he has a pair(possibly older) of 10x50 Carl Zeiss, the views through which, are astounding !!

[Marki]

I have a pair of old DDR made Zeiss Jenoptem 10x50; absolutely clear, pin sharp wonderful views. I think the views are better than the 10x42 Visionary (Chinese?) bins I bought last year (and not just because of the greater diameter), crisper to my eye.

[estwing]

zeiss..i think they used to make fantastic telescopes also!

[BinocularSky]

In reply to the OP, almost certainly. BaK-4 is overrated, IMO (see here for reasons why -- and the penultimate paragraph directly addresses the OP's initial question).

@AndyH: Same experience with my late father's Zeiss Dekarem 10x50 -- the first binocular I ever used for astronomy, sometime in the 1960s. My sister has a '70s vintage Zeiss 8x30, which is superior for astronomy than a lot of today's budget 10x50s. The lesson: quality wins every time!

[AndyH]

Hence Zeiss's secondhand prices !!

My dad has what looks like these.....

Pics below taken from http://www.holgermer.../ross10x50.html

Fig.1: The Zeiss (Oberkochen) 10x50 (about 1970)

Note the brilliant front focus wheel. So compact for 10x50's and a pleasure to use, mechanically.

His have soft eyeguards, which are starting to crack and are as hard as rock. He got a quote for replacements and nearly died of shock.

[Etoille]

Meant Carl Zeiss Jena. A pair of 7x50 can be picked up for between £45-£85 on eBay whereas the Bresser Corvette 7x50 can be stil had for £59.99 at this time. Curiously, Everyone seems to have come back talking about 10x50's. Is that better than 7x50 for astronomy?

Admitedly, my eyes would probably not make use of the full 7mm exit pupil that a 7x50 binocular would give, but they would presumably give a wider field than 10x50's? I currently own a pair of 8x42 Minox - bought primarily for daytime use but I thought that a 7x50 would be a better choice for astronomy. I already have a pair of Opticron 11x70's so I wasn't really looking for 10x50's.

PS, interesting article on BAK4. My question came about partly because I recently viewed an old (not Zeiss) pair of 7x50 bins in a secondhand shop and found the exit pupil was pretty much square rather than round which as I understand indicated undersized prisms and probably explains why the view was not particularly bright.