February 19, 2025

Binoculars

First some quick comments on binoculars for birding. As serious photographers like to say, there is no substitute for "good glass". If you are using a "cheap" pair of binoculars and run into a birder with a good pair, ask them if they will let you take a look through theirs. Once I did this, I was ruined forever.

I now own a pair of Zeiss Dialyt 7x42B T*P. When I bought them over 20 years ago, they were the top choice alongside Leica. These days Swarovski seems popular, and if I was serious about getting a really good pair of binoculars for birding, I would need to do my homework all over again.

I spent a lot of time debating whether to get 7x or 10x. The 7x choice I made went for a bigger richer field and ease of use -- it is still an open question whether a 10x pair would be "better".

Repair

The general advice is to leave repair work to Zeiss. In theory at least they offer to take care of them forever.

I am not the average user, so I am willing to contemplate doing my own repair. The only thing my binocular need is some attention to the grease on the focusing mechanism. After 20+ years that grease has thickened (all but "petrified"). I would like to clean it all off and replace it with something modern -- however it is not obvious how to disassemble the mechanism. My impression is that the cap (which has the T*P printed on it) is cemented in place.

The above video is clearly not a pair of Zeiss, but note that he pries off a cap, which is cemented in place, and under that is a screw that is also held with thread-locker.
Feedback? Questions? Drop me a line!

Tom's Bird Info / tom@mmto.org