Text Box: VINTAGE MINIATURE BINOCULARS

One of the aspects that is appealing about these binoculars is the seemingly endless variety of fanciful brand names. It is a fun exercise (and insight into marketing strategy) to group some according to their themes.

     Most Imperial Majesty

              (UK Market)

 King, Queen, Regent, Prinz,

 Imperial, Empire, Colonial,

 Windsor, Royal, Royal Mini, Crown, Royal Crystal, Viscount, Regency, Le Gran

       Down to the Sea...

 Admiral, Ensign, Korvette,      Mayflower, Schooner, Sailor,      Commodore, Captain, Ocean,

Sea Mar

        Behold the Cosmos & Heavens

Aurora, Galaxy, Comet, Constellation, Orion, Cosmica, Jupiter, Luna, Polaris, Silver Star, Starlit, Star–lite, Stellar, Celestron, Cosmos, Venus, Galaxie, Star, Universe, Antares, Zenith, Pollux, Omega, Pallas, Astron, Pollux

         Beasts & Birds

 Eagle, Falcon, Swan, Wolf, 

 Vixen, Tiger, Swallow, Hippos,

 Heron, Kestrel, Condor, Robin,  

 Sparrow

       Just So Swanky

  Elite, Glory Super, Prestige,

 Aristo, Deluxe, Ideal, Super, 

 Fortuna, Silver World’s Finest, Champion, Patrician

    Flowers, Fruits, Plants

 Lupinus, Plum, Clover, Iris

   German Sounding Carl Wetzler, Carl Henrich, Jana, Jana Deluxe, Berlin, Frankfort,  Karl Weiz,      Karl Siez, Carl Seitz,     Hans Weiss, Carl Dietz, Edelstahl, Esde Optik, Wetzler, Karl Stein,        Karl Luzen,

                         Optical Phenomena

 Fata Morgana, Mirage, Rainbow, Aurora, Skybolt

      Size Counts

 Pigmy, Petite, Midget, Mini, Jr, Bantam, Micro, Micro Executive

           Greece & Egypt

 Delta, Omega, Olympic, Luxor, Olympia, Alpha

MARK OHNO

                 Lure of Gold

 Gold Crest, Gold Cup, Gold Star, Golden Lichter, Golden Bantam, Golden Gate

Most photos public domain

Some photos Mark Ohno

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTTEqCd7sTeTi4lTcM4HTTYHMplSeldkgyu_GhcbBtU9XEZbmP7eg

               Sun & Moon

 Sun Scope, Halina, Luna, Sunny,    Rising Sun, Sunrise, Solus, Dawn. Solar Deluxe, Sunco

Why A Coat On My Binoculars ? Überzug (coat) auf Meinen Fernglas? Pourquoi mes Jumelles ont-elles Besoin d’un Couche (coat)?  Почему бинокль помечены как " coated " ? ¿Por qué un Recubrimiento por Mis Prismáticos. Perché un Cappotto sul mio Binocolo?

One encounters some binoculars marked “ coated ”; “ coated lens ”;  “ coated optics ”; or “ fully coated ”. Or Verg ϋ tete (German for “coated”), Mehrfach Verg ϋ tete (German for “multi coated”),  Voll Verg ϋ tete (German for “Fully Coated”), or Verg ϋ tete Optik (German for “coated optics”) . Or Optique Traitée (French for “coated optics” or Traitement Multicouche (French for”multicoated”). Or I.F.C . (“Independent Focus Coated”)or M.L.C (“Multi Layer Coated” . Inside a binocular when light encounters any air to glass interface, around 5% of the light is reflected. Binoculars may have up to 16 such interfaces, so this can result in up to half of the light (image) not being transmitted to your eye (hazy washed out image). Big objective lenses do compensate for light loss. Hence the use of huge military binoculars like my Flakfernrohr anti aircraft binoculars, and the giant “big eye” binoculars often used on ships. The principles of anti-reflective coatings were discovered by John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh, in 1886. Naval warfare confers great advantage to whichever party that has the first sighting and identification. So commencing during wartime in the 1940’s, magnesium fluoride (MGF2)and other anti reflective lens coatings like Lithium Flouride were used to reduce light loss. Magnesium Fluoride is relatively hard wearing, has a decent refractive index, and is fairly easily applied by physical vapor deposition, so it is often used. Coated lenses were a deluxe feature during the time that both coated and uncoated lenses were first being sold. And so it was more likely that binoculars were marked as such and that binoculars advertisement touted that “deluxe” advancement. MGF2 applied to crown glass gives a reflectance of about 1%, compared to bare crown glass at 4% and that is just one surface. The thickness of the coating is directly related to the light wavelength it will pass. Coatings are usually configured in a compromise to pass light near the center of the visible spectrum (550 nanometers) which means more reflection at say 475 or 650. The very best binoculars these days use multiple different coatings, often 2 to 3 and potentially as many as 7, and may pass up to around 95% of the light. “Fully coated” means every optical surface is claimed to be coated, “coated optics” or “coated lens” means some are. The terms “AR”, “Anti Reflection”, “Anti Reflex” and “Antireflective” are sometimes terms encountered and they mean the same thing as “coated” but may have more modern consumer connotations.

Expoaded photo of miniature binoculars Mark Ohno with large flak antiaircraft binoculars
Mark Ohno mit fernglas
Mark Ohno con binoculares
Mark Ohno avec jumelles

Big lenses, like those on my WWII military Flakfernrohr anti aircraft spotting binoculars on the left or my WWII Japanese naval military optics on the right pass more light, even though they may not be anti-reflective coated. That is why binoculars on WWII and earlier combat ships and those used for aircraft spotting tended to be large prior to the advent of coated lenses, to give the brightest most defined image, and to allow the earliest spotting and identification of potential enemies. So the tiny lenses in miniature binoculars can benefit from being coated.

Promotional Miniature Binoculars. Fördernde Miniaturferngläser. Jumelles Miniatures Promotionnelles. Информационно-пропагандистских миниатюрные бинокль. 販売促進 のミニチュアの双眼鏡 . Los Prismáticos en Miniatura Promocional. Binocolo Miniature Promozionale.

Corporate promotional items (called advertising specialties) have long been a popular form of marketing (think key chains and pens). You can walk away from a trade show with a whole bag overflowing with the stuff. In the past they included pen knives, box cutters, cigarette lighters, ashtrays, coasters, pocket calculators, pen pockets, pencils, toys, clocks, & beer can and bottle keys. (These days corporate lawyers do get nervous about anything related to smoking or drinking or that you can cut yourself with). There was normally a hierarchy of goodies: better stuff for good customers (distributors and dealers) who actually bought lots of your product and made you money, and the junky cheap stuff for consumers (think key chains and pens). Miniature binoculars were in the highest tier of better give away goodies. They may also have figured as corporate Xmas gifts, as prizes in sales competitions, or as corporate souvenirs for important visitors. So in addition to any brand name and manufacturer name, promotional binoculars will also have the name of the entity handing the binoculars out, which makes them fun to acquire. Today most advertising specialty companies offer a choice of hundreds of binoculars available for corporate purchase and custom markings.

Two different promotional binoculars made for the company Oinments du St-Laurent , or St Laurence Cement . The one on the left carries the binocular brand “Carl Wetzler”, the one on the right is unbranded. Neither carries JB markings. Holcim Canada, formerly St Laurence Cement, currently has 35 plants in Ontario and 15 in Quebec in Canada. Collection of Mark Ohno

Promotional binoculars made for the Union Electric Steel  Corporation , with the binocular brand “Steller”. Union Electric Steel has 3 plants in Pennsylvania, one in Indiana, in the USA, and one in Gateshead, England.  Collection of Mark Ohno

Promotional binoculars made for the Sahara Casino and the

Mint Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, both properties owned by Del Webb. Collection of Mark Ohno

Mint and Sahara Casino Souvenir Binoculars

What do Those Logo Graphics Represent? Arten von Linsen und Markendesigns auf Ferngläsern ? Qu’est-ce ces Conceptions Graphiques  Représentent ? Логотип бинокли конструкции на основе оптических линз.  これらのロゴグラ フィックスは何を表しますか? ¿Qué representan estos logotipos gráficos? Coso Rappresentano Quelle Grafiche di Logo?

“I drew a nice little lens, a cutaway of an achromat, and put ‘triple tested’ on it.”

-David Bushnell

Achromatic lens

configuration

Bioconvex lens

Bioconvex lens

Bioconcave lens

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Bioconcave lens