I picked up a pair of accurate Colmont binoculars off e-bay for $5. It's in great shape mechanically, it just needed a lot of cleaning, and all the leather needs to be replaced. Without further delay here are the pictures.
Nice find, but imho it's a shame that you removed the leather and polished them. I thought they had a lovely patina, but to each his own. I might have to see if I can find a pair. Thanks for posting the pics.
ShanghaiJack wrote:Nice find, but imho it's a shame that you removed the leather and polished them. I thought they had a lovely patina, but to each his own. I might have to see if I can find a pair. Thanks for posting the pics.
I would have left them alone if the leather was in better shape, but one side was badly ripped and both were ready to fall off. Since I plan to replace the leather I though it would be prudent to clean them. I don't have a problem with patinaed brass in general, but personally, I think letting brass turn bright green is letting it go too far. The leather I removed is nearly solid green on the inside and I don't want the new leather to end up in a simmilar situation. I do however, understand where you are coming from. I've got a couple of brass P.O. boxes that I left patina on, but they had not progressed to the green stage yet.
You bet they work. They look to be about 4X to me. Since they don't have the capability to change width to match different eye spacing it takes a little getting used to, but once you get the hang of it they work great.
They could be, looks pretty close to me, it's hard to tell the size of Lightnings Binoculars.
I captured two more stills and tried to lighten them some in PhotoShop.
VP: I think the size difference in the 3rd picture is a combination of the fact that mine is a close up shot and the original is taken from a distance, and that I have narrower fingers than Harrison Ford so that I can never cover as much space on the body as him.
Hmm, I have had a pair of these sitting behind my dad's bar for as long as I can remember, they belonged to my great grandfather. I'll have to see if they are the same brand/model when I get home.
A bit of an old thread but I thought it was better not to start another one and continue from here.
What do you think of this one? It was on ebay (auction ended already), dated 1914 and described as "1914 WAR FIELD GLASSES IN CASE CROWS FOOT - GREAT WAR GOVERNMENT ISSUE CROWS FOOT / BROAD ARROW FIELD GLASSES 6 INCH ONE EXTENDING SHIELD MISSING"
How do you think it compares with the binoculars from LC?
No I was only following the auction. I decided not to bid because it had a broken lens and in my opinion it's best not to buy binoculars unless the lens are still intact. So, sorry no more pictures than that. It ended for around £20 by the way
Very nice. I am attracted to old technology, it has a utilitarian beauty to it and it is usually sturdy and functional.
I have resisted buying old 'Bin's because the spherical aberation in old lenses can be bad. How good are the lenses in this pair?
Indiana Citroen wrote:They do work but ....well they are almost 100 years old so you guess how good they are, no night vision.
here's an 'old technology' tip for night vision. wear yellow tinted glasses at dusk, it won't work in absolute darkness but favours your eyes' preference for reacting to sunlight. It also filters out bright white light that ruins your natural night vision.
If the objective lense of your bins (the one furthest from your eyes) is above 1" in. [25mm] in diameter it may gather enough light that a yellow filter will improve your differentiation of detail.
It may give you a head start spotting those pesky Nazis or supernatural beings that threaten all Indyesque activities!
Enigmata
diameter of the lens housings is 2.5 inches. lenses themselves look to be 2 inches. the length of the binoculars fully closed is 6 3/16 inches. never have figured out how to recover these things with leather.
I've had this pair, which look pretty much the same, ever since the pre-release photos came out for CS. After taking this quick shot just a few minutes ago, I see that my tape measure is not so accurate.
