AllBinos.com

Lately I've experienced some health issues and, because of that, my ability to test new lenses and to work personally in our editorial office has been very limited. I'm afraid this situation isn't going to change soon. Still, idleness is contrary to my nature so in the downtime I decided to catch up when it comes to binoculars and the backlog has been significant for last 2-3 years.

I managed to finish an article about the Polish PZO LP6x30 pair of binoculars. Another even more extensive article from the 'Legendary binoculars' series, is practically ready to be published and is going online most probably next week.

Also the state of our binoculars database is simply one big prick of conscience. It is my ambition to publish a complete set of information available and good quality product photos when it comes to the most renowned producers. An order in such a database helps me greatly when I write historical articles and Readers of both Optyczne.pl and Allbinos.com can easily check the parameters of a chosen model and add their own score to our base.

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Unfortunately, such an order has been out of our reach because, during last 20 years, there have been almost ten editors employed and each of them was responsible for adding novelties on our page. Each of them have been given clear directives but, being human, every one of them had their own customs or preferences.

As if it wasn't enough, the fault lies also with the producers. We've seen many situations that at the moment of launch of a model or even a whole series of models, we didn't get a complete set of parameters and/or photos. Such products remained in our database but with significant gaps; sometimes we haven't added them at all and then forgotten about them.

I decided to put things right. At the beginning I started with the most renowned producers – an obvious choice and for several reasons. Firstly, my collection features the highest number of physical versions and archive scans of their catalogues. Secondly, they are a collective hero of our long forum thread 'Classic binoculars from years ago', where forum users can share their photos and parameters of different rare instruments they happen to own. Thirdly, the availability of data online is the greatest for the most renowned producers exactly.

As you can find technical parameters without a problem in the catalogue, good quality photos are another story. Even if a catalogue was of good quality, sometimes I can't access its paper version and scans online often left a lot to be desired. Here I have to get help from the newest technical achievements such as advanced graphics programs and AI which needs some play-by-play but the results are surprisingly good. Below I show some examples of the original scans of old catalogues and then their improved versions. What's more, this article also features different photographs from old catalogues which have been graphically processed in the same way with impressing results.

At once I have to add that I use AI without any scruples providing that it is properly handled and all details are kept in place. Lately all product photos, sent by different producers and added to our database, don't present real products and are nothing more than computer-generated imagery. The digital reconstruction of old catalogues doesn't differ much from that and allows us to add to our base nice, clear photos, faithfully reproducing the originals, and pleasing to the eye.

Now let's progress to show what I managed to achieve and am working on. Producers I put in alphabetic order.

Leica

Leica binoculars have been launched since 1990 and our database of these models can be found here. This link will allow you to see the list of instruments from the newest to the oldest. I trust it is a complete list but without many colour variants, as lately Leica has been very fond of colourful casings. Often information about colours available can be found in the remarks to the basic model.

Leitz

The first Leitz pair of binoculars was shown already in 1907. As for now our database can't reach that deep into the past because it's very difficult to find good quality photos of models that were produced about one hundred years ago. That's why, initially, my task consisted of including in the base all Leitz binoculars available on the market after WW II. I hope I managed to do what I planned and I suppose we get a full set.

Nikon

Also when it comes to the history of binoculars produced by Japanese Nikon it encompases over one hundred years. The older models were sold as Nippon Kogaku – I'm planning to include these in our base but I have been working on gathering photos and parameters of these oldest instruments.

Still, even if you limit yourself to Nikon logo binoculars that have been released since the end of 50s of the twentieth century, the number of these models is really huge. At the beginning I decided to focus on a bit simpler task, that of entering into the database all instruments available in this company's line-up in 21st century. Currently their number is close to 200 and still I miss more than a dozen. I have a problem with finding catalogues that were published at the turn of the millennium. At that time Nikon released very quickly, one after another, the Porro Action V and Action VI series. I admit it is really hard to find good, detailed photos of all these models. Still other products should be practically complete, and it required a lot of effort because Nikon loved to launch a whole horde of 20-25 mm midgets that, after several years, were replaced by a newer generation of models.

As if it wasn't enough, we managed somehow to miss some instruments that have been released even in contemporary times. Sad but true – European subsidiaries not always send press releases concerning models launched in Japan. That's how we missed a launch connected to refreshing 50 and 70 mmm Porro classics. Now, after a period of hard work, we've patched such gaps,

Swarovski Optik

The Austrian Swarovski Optik has been present on the market a bit shorter than Leitz/Leica and Nikon because its first pairs of binoculars for the civilian market appeared in 1946. That's why, even if I try very hard to include in my database all binoculars of this producer, it is hardly easy. Swarovski simply loved to change parameters, variants, casing shapes, and inscriptions without any notice. Our database is not complete but we have been enlarging it successfully and I hope we will be able to reach other photos and catalogues.

Zeiss Jena

First Zeiss binoculars appeared already in 19th century and the number of their models have increased very quickly, In those times a Jena-based plant was responsible for their production; after the WW II it was included into the German Democratic Republic. In this case our database  includes only models available after the war. Of course we plan to enlage it and make it complete.

Zeiss

West German Zeiss started to produce their new models in 1954 – they designed brand new instruments and started new production lines in a plant based in Oberkochen. Our database therefore covers almost all models produced after the WW II. It is literally missing just a few binoculars for which I couldn't find high-quality photos.

I also still have access to high-quality catalogs from companies like Docter, Kowa, Pentax, and Steiner—so I have a really substantial amount of work ahead of me in the future to tackle those as well. Not to mention gradually filling in the gaps described earlier.

However, I didn't want to delay publishing this article because I have two huge favors to ask of you. First of all, I have recently added about two hundred new binoculars to the database, and for the remaining several hundred, I've updated the photos, parameters, and descriptions. With such a large number of instruments, there's no way I managed to avoid all mistakes. So, if you catch any such slip-up, don't hesitate to write to me at a.olech(at)optyczne.pl.

The second request concerns old catalogs and photos of binoculars. If you have access to any, I would be very grateful if you could send them to me in digital format (ideally high-quality scans). This will make my work much easier and help keep our database in even better shape. Thank you in advance!

And since I've already started thanking people, let me expand on that. Our binoculars database wouldn't be so complete if it weren't for the hard work of many optics enthusiasts who share their knowledge on our forum and forums like Birdforum and CloudyNights. I would like to express my special gratitude to individuals such as Adam 3mnich, John A. Roberts, Holger Merlitz, and Marcin Górko. Without you, Optyczne.pl and Allbinos.com would be much poorer.