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This guide is in response to the number of fake or non-genuine Carl Zeiss binoculars being sold on E-bay. It applies mainly to the Zeiss Jenoptem 8x30 or 10x50 binoculars and on rare occasions to the 7x50. These were sold mainly from mail order catalogues in Britain in the late 70s to early 80s. Wether they were contracted out by Zeiss to Japanese makers or just fakes is difficult to ascertain today. Main point is they are very inferior to the German made article and do not survive constant use.
If the bino is a Jenoptem in the above sizes and has a six figure serial number it is not German made. Equally if it has any letters in the serial number it is a fake. Genuine binos always have a seven figure serial number. The focusing wheel will be black plastic and has a ring impressed into the front. Genuine article is metal, smaller and usually has minor paint loss. Smooth paint and a rubbery feel are on the fakes. German article has dappled paint and a slightly slippery feel.
Fakes are always marked as multicoated. On the real thing the screw on the top plate is right beside the 'D' of Multicoated, on the fake it is about three-quarters of an inch away. All will have 'DDR' or 'Made in DDR' somewhere on the genuine binos. That means they were made in the old East Germany.
If there is the legend 8.2 Degrees or similar on the plates of the objective end (lower) and an initial, often 'K' they are fakes. Focusing on my Genuine Zeiss binos bought from the late Vic Odden in 1978 for £58 is a dream. On fakes which I owned by accident until I got to know better focusing was sticky, tightish and certainly never smooth. What is worse, I have seen two examples where the spiral on which the focusing wheel turns actually snapped and the bino was useless There are other differences but there is enough information here for you to identify the fakes. Have they any good points?
Optically they are not bad and they will take a few knocks without going out of alignment. They are just another Jap bino and they are certainly not worth the money some people are paying for them. Most have impressed lettering but on a very few it is stencilled. If you are buying Jenoptems in the above sizes make sure you know the serial number and if it has 'DDR' somewhere on it. Be wary of vague or blatently dishonest sellers.
Most know exactly what they have. Persevere and get the the genuine article. They are the best value binos on E-bay today.
Cowlkosticpan3, in his Ebay Guide, alleges that Carl Zeiss Jena binoculars having a 6 digit serial number are 'fakes' whilst he also admits that he has no knowledge of whether they were made for Carl Zeiss Jena under contract by another firm, which I understand was indeed the case. Since the supply of binoculars from the factory in Jena was insufficient in the 1980s, despite reaching six figures each year, to meet a heavy demand, a licence was issued to a Japanese firm who met the specification; yes they had been producing copies already. In this case they can hardly be described as fakes being made under licence to Carl Zeiss Jena. He also describes the optics as inferior, who says? Carl Zeiss Jena were sufficiently content to call them their own, put their own name on them. There are small mechanical differences however and they do not carry the DDR imprint. I have both a pair of Carl Zeiss Jena 8x30 binoculars with a 6 digit serial number bought in the late 1980s and another with a 7 digit serial number bought in the late 1970s, both purchased new from the same reputable dealer in Oxford.
I have never detected any difference in the relative quality of the optics of these two pairs, even now specifically looking for a difference, I can find none. I had never, in over thirty years of using both, noticed the small mechanical differences. General motors gm laam keygen.
Serial Number Carl Zeiss Binoculars
In my opinion anyone who has bought Carl Zeiss binoculars from Ebay having a 6 digit serial number are likely to have had a good deal whether or not they were manufactured in the DDR.
Carl Zeiss Binoculars Serial Number Date
You likely have a set built between 1919 and 1930. If you go to this site ( ) and scroll down (or search) to areas with Zeiss Binoculars, there are a number of files that have the information on runs. In my case, I looked at the Spreadsheet attached to the Zeiss Binocular Models entry, which, between lines 150 and 168, notes that binocs with the Lena logo were made from 1904 to 1945, and that serial numbers above 1 million began in 1919 and above 1,550,000 began in 1930, putting your pair in there more or less in the middle. Nov 06, 2015. O p gauba political theory pdf files. Unfortunately if they are out of alignment you need to take them to a service center. It can't really be fixed at home without a device known as a collimator.
Binoculars can fall out of collimation if they have been knocked or dropped. Jenoptems were made by the defunct East German Carl Zeiss Jena.
Zeiss was split in two after WW2 with Jena being on the east. The current Zeiss firm is the West German company.
Zeiss Jena ceased to be after the fall of the Berlin Wall. It is unlikely that the current firm would fix these for you. If they did the price would be greater than several pairs of Jenoptems. Before you do take them check to see if they have a seven digit serial number.
If it is six digits they are fake Jenoptems. There were many fake Jenoptems sold in the eighties by UK dealers. There is even a myth that they were made under licence in Japan. A myth is all that information is.
There is no documentation to substantiate this and was probably spread by sellers trying to legitimise an inferior product. Jul 05, 2009.