Vintage optics--'70s and earlier. Microscopes, Telescopes, Binos, etc--If it has lenses and is fifty years old or older, post it!
- Thread starter Beerhippie
- Start date
genog
Well-known member
A very dear friend of mine gave me this pair of US Navy binoculars
Bausch & Lomb dated 1941
7x50
I have read, that during WWII, the Imperial Japanese Navy had superior optics to our Navy's
If so....wow!
I'd love to find a pair of those IJN binoculars... as these US Navy binocs are surprisingly sharp and clear
They happen to be my favorite toy right now
Walter Mitty Geno daydreams....
Maybe these binoculars were on one of our ships during the Soloman Islands campaign?
Sweeping The Slot and Ironbottom Sound hoping to spot Tanaka and his Tokyo Express before that darn Tenacious Tanaka launches his Long Lance's...
Torpedoes!
Hard to port!
Bausch & Lomb dated 1941
7x50
I have read, that during WWII, the Imperial Japanese Navy had superior optics to our Navy's
If so....wow!
I'd love to find a pair of those IJN binoculars... as these US Navy binocs are surprisingly sharp and clear
They happen to be my favorite toy right now
Walter Mitty Geno daydreams....
Maybe these binoculars were on one of our ships during the Soloman Islands campaign?
Sweeping The Slot and Ironbottom Sound hoping to spot Tanaka and his Tokyo Express before that darn Tenacious Tanaka launches his Long Lance's...
Torpedoes!
Hard to port!
I understand that 7x50 binoculars were chosen for the Navy because the eyes of a typical 17- to 20-year-old lookout have pupils that are 7mm in diameter when fully dark-adapted. (This figure shrinks as you get older.) The laws of optics decree that a binocular with 7 power eyepieces and 50mm diameter lenses yields an exit pupil (i.e., useful image) of 50 / 7 = 7.1mm. That is, 7x50 binoculars have a perfect combination for use in low light levels — nighttime — by young lookouts' eyes.
That same optical law makes 7x50s the perfect binocular for scanning the skies on any clear night, preferably far away from city lights. And 7 power is good for holding and aiming by hand.
I don't know what the IJN issued to its lookouts. That service did have much bigger and more powerful binocs — 30x150? — which were large and not handheld but mounted on a pedestal. The IJN also had powerful optical rangefinders mounted in the pagoda masts of their warships.
Sidlelight: Nikon (Nippon Kogaku Kogyo; Japan Optical Company) was born as a military contractor back in the WW 1 era. As I understand it, in 1913 the Japanese army and navy had each issued contracts for military optics — binoculars, gun sights, spotting scopes, rangefinders, etc. — but the three separate companies chosen for the contracts were having problems getting the goods made in time. So the government stepped in, forced a merger, and Nikon was the result.
That same optical law makes 7x50s the perfect binocular for scanning the skies on any clear night, preferably far away from city lights. And 7 power is good for holding and aiming by hand.
I don't know what the IJN issued to its lookouts. That service did have much bigger and more powerful binocs — 30x150? — which were large and not handheld but mounted on a pedestal. The IJN also had powerful optical rangefinders mounted in the pagoda masts of their warships.
Sidlelight: Nikon (Nippon Kogaku Kogyo; Japan Optical Company) was born as a military contractor back in the WW 1 era. As I understand it, in 1913 the Japanese army and navy had each issued contracts for military optics — binoculars, gun sights, spotting scopes, rangefinders, etc. — but the three separate companies chosen for the contracts were having problems getting the goods made in time. So the government stepped in, forced a merger, and Nikon was the result.
Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
He (or she) must have been very dear indeed. It's a Mark 1, Model 1. The overwhelming majority of Navy binoculars produced during WWII were 7x50, and the overwhelming majority of those were based on the original B&L Porro type, that was itself with very little changes based on the design they patented (D83934) in January 1931. As you probably suspect just from tool scrounging at estate sales and flea markets, etc, US Navy 7x50 binoculars are fairly common, especially Mark XXVIII, which was the sweet spot. There are some special or scarce much later Mark/Model combinations that the most rabid collectors look for, but having a version of the "original" is pretty dang cool.
That's true. But we had far superior radar, in terms of technology and deployment, and that was ultimately devastating.
It's possible, although yours is very early, as discussed above. Note that in September 1943 all Binocular Marks from I to XII were considered obsolete, such was the rate of improvement (optics coatings, sealing/waterproofing, eyecup, type of reticule, etc) and production. The order, from the Bureau of Ordnance to all Navy Yard optical officers, was to dispose and replace, not recondition.
All true. And the large exit pupil still makes them very easy to line up and find things even for older eyes. Decent (~7.x*) FOV, too. It wasn't the only mass-produced hand held binocular the Navy issued, though. Others were 6x30, 7x35, 7x50, 8x56, 10x50, and 10x70. And Captains and Gunnery Officers had 9x63's.
The closest the USN had were "Big Eyes", I believe, which were 20x120 pedestal-mounted binoculars.
Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
What the Navy Bureau of Aeronautics was offering in late 1945,
OP
Beerhippie
Well-known member
I've spent a lot of time staring through USN surplus 7 X 50s! Great for astronomy and they're almost night-vision for young eyes! Spent a lot of time on watch while open-water sailing scanning the horizon, too.
A detail that matters in some fields — these Navy binoculars nearly always had individual focusing eyepieces instead of the usual bridge that carries the two eyepieces, with the right-hand one allowing individual adjustment. (Many people's eyes have slightly different focus on the same object, and this adjusts for that.)
The individual focusing permits tighter seals on the two optical tubes, but makes the binoculars all but useless for fast focusing in activities such as birding, where you need to adjust the focus of both eyepieces in sync pretty much constantly. This is unimportant for astronomical viewing, and at sea or in many military situations where keeping out dust and water is paramount and the subject being viewed is not at close range.
The individual focusing permits tighter seals on the two optical tubes, but makes the binoculars all but useless for fast focusing in activities such as birding, where you need to adjust the focus of both eyepieces in sync pretty much constantly. This is unimportant for astronomical viewing, and at sea or in many military situations where keeping out dust and water is paramount and the subject being viewed is not at close range.
OP
Beerhippie
Well-known member
True, that. I've tried using them for birding and they ****. But when you're using them focused at a set distance, like watchkeeping or astronomy, they're the bee's knees!
As long, of course, as both tubes are colimated--pointing in the same direction. Used to be a place in Portland, OR that would colimate a pair for pretty cheap--Captain's Nautical Supply--but I kinda doubt they're still around fifty years later.
As I thought, they're gone....
Suddarth Optical (goog it) is pretty much the go-to guy. He's turned the business over to his son, who's good too. Not cheap, but they do a fine job on your binox.
OP
Beerhippie
Well-known member
The device Cap's used to colimate binos was a WWII surplus US Navy colimator. It was huge and looked like something from a mad scientist's lab in a '30s sci-fi film. The device for evacuating and nitrogen-filling the binos was just scary looking--to a fifteen-year-old hippie, anyway!
snorvet
Well-known member
Me surveying in 1981 with a TM20C theodolite ca early 1970's and beetle top mount distance meter 1975? Now retired, but I wish I still had this equipment and the older early 1900's transits I used a couple times.
Hi I’m new here . I hope I’m posting this in the right place. I am seeking advice for a mirror stereoscope that I recently acquired on eBay. It has a metal bridge and a permanently fixed binocular fitting on it. The binocular doesn’t have eyepieces. These slot into its empty tubes. The maker of the stereoscope was Cartographic Engineering Ltd ( no longer there) and the model is the HS 1 Heightening Stereoscope. It seems to have originated from an MoD sale after being used by the RAF to examine reconnaissance photos during the Cold War. I would be grateful for any ideas or suggestions .
OP
Beerhippie
Well-known member
You need the Internal Diameter of the eyepiece tube. Most likely, 1", but maybe 25mm. Some go as large as 2" or 50 mm. That will tell you what eyepieces will work with it. The it should just be a matter of buying two matching eyepieces (oculars, in optics speak). Ocular magnification is rated in Focal Length in mm. Longer FLs are wider angle, lower FLs are higher magnivication.
Best of luck--binocular optics offer a lot of advantages.