Telescope Reviews: New “Russian” “25x60” binoculars!

Hello, everyone!

I have in front of me my latest toy – a pair of “Russia”-brand “25x60” binoculars.

The recent thread about true aperture holds a lot of data that shows that many binoculars have a true aperture somewhat less than specified, but generally I would expect the actual objective lens size to be at least close to the advertised size. Not in these. The objectives measure to 48 mm, and the flashlight test gives an aperture of perhaps 42:ish mm.

The true magnification? Around 7x, I’d say, based on comparing image size to some of the other binoculars in the house.

The aroma? Such a bad chemical smell that my eyes are literally watering a bit from it, and I soon will have to place them in their bag and put them away somewhere where they can do no harm.

The objective lenses are ruby coated, and they have “Made in Russia” written on the insides of the actual lenses around the circumference. You can actually see parts of the text in the exit pupil. That is when you strain enough to actually see the exit pupil, as also the eyepiece outer lenses are ruby coated so they mostly reflect all light rigth back at you…

BK7 or other low index glass in the prisms, of couse…

Collimation? Nope… Severe vertical miscollimation comes standard.

There is a reticle of some kind in the right EP, but it rotates with the eyepiece.

Body construction appears to be all plastic – so atleast they are lightweight…

Nice touches are the model number “2010” on the prism housings (must be next years model), the buit in compass (works relative well when the needle does not snag on its point) and the very Swarovskiesque eagle/osprey shown on the tethered objective covers!

Obviously they are not Russian, but rather Chinese. Still, shows that Russian optics even today have a good reputation in some parts of the world, as someone decided to mislable them “Made in Russia.

Why on earth anyone would go through the trouble of producing such a horrible piece of trash escapes me, but I guess someone somewhere must make atleast some money out of it…

I googled “25x60 binoculars” and found this link to some pictures of a similar pair: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jarno_suni/sets/72157622642127506/detail/

And why on earth did I end up with a pair?

Here is what happened:

Yesterday I spent some time with my youngest child at the playground by the beach close to our house. Naturally I had a pair of binoculars with me. Coming home, pushing my son in his stroller, I had my (“embarrassingly expensive”, as Ron Harper recently called them in the “100 Her at 8x” -thread) 7x42’s around my neck. My neighbour was out in his yard doing some late autumn gardening, and spotted my binoculars. We chatted for a while, and he said he had a present for me. For a millisecond or two I had an overly optimistic inner vision that he might donate a pristine pair of 40 year old Leitz or similar to me, but he came with the “25x60’s”… He had bought them as a charity gesture from some guy in the street for 10 Euros (some poor souls from the somewhere in the south-east corner of the EU apparently have no other way of making a living than coming here to peddle various cheap goods).

Now the question is what to do with them… They were a present (even if clearly given as a joke), so I can’t really “do the right thing” and just put them out of their misery… And they smell so toxic that I would never risk having children handle them even as a sandbox toy…

Perhaps they could be useful as a discouraging example of what really bad “optics” can be like?

Any other suggestions?

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Best regards,
Patrik Iver
60°N, 22°E