Zeiss Jena Nobilem Series
Mfr: Carl Zeiss, Jena, Germany (DDR, East Germany)
The Nobilem series was Zeiss Jena's high end line of porro prism binoculars during the 1980's. The line included 7x50, 8x50, 10x50, 12x50, 8x56, and 15x60 models. The Nobilem 8x50 "Super" and 12x50 "Spezial" were early short lived models that I will cover separately. When Docter took over Zeiss Jena's binocular production in 1991 they continued the Nobilem line, but I am not sure if they made any design changes. Note that in the United States, Zeiss Jena binoculars were marketed for a time under the "Aus Jena" name due to a litigation settlement with the West German firm Carl Zeiss Oberkochen.
Some of the features of the Nobilem binoculars are:
One piece body
Extensive baffling (see photo below), minimal light leakage
Rubber eyecups and longer eye relief for eyeglass wearers ("B" designation)
Multicoated optics
The one piece body was a departure for Zeiss Jena from the traditional two piece "Zeiss style" body. I consider the body style to be very elegant. However, I find the low profile focus wheel located in the center of the hinge difficult to reach. Most Nobilem models came in a standard "B" as well as a fully rubber armored "B/GA" model. The standard model included a fine leather case while the rubber armored model came with a plastic eyepiece guard but no case.
Photo of inside of a Nobilem from objective end:
Note
the baffling and how the prisms are completely shielded.
Octarem 8x50B
Date: circa late 1980's
AFOV: ~59 degrees
TFOV: 130m at 1000m (~7.4 degrees)
Eye Relief: ~19mm
Prisms: high index porro
Serial Number: 6565992
This Octarem is not marked as a Nobilem but is has all the characteristics of the line and would later become the Nobilem 8x50 (see below). The Octarem is an excellent all around binocular with a reasonable balance of magnification, moderate field of view and good eye relief. The field stop is crisp and easy to see. With the eyecups folded down I found it very usable with eyeglasses. The image has very low distortion and is sharp nearly to the edge where it is just slightly soft. There is a slight yellowish tint that is barely noticeable, which seems to be present in all the Nobilem models I examined.
Nobilem 8x50B/GA
Date: circa 1990
AFOV: ~59 degrees
TFOV: 130m at 1000m (~7.4 degrees) (specified as 122m/1000m, or ~7 degrees)
Eye Relief: ~19mm
Prisms: high index porro
Serial Number: 7372777
This Nobilem 8x50BG/A appears to have the same optics as the Octarem above, with the addition of rubber armoring. In a careful comparison, its field of view is the same as the Octarem and slightly more than specified in Zeiss literature. All the comments on the excellent optical performance of the Octarem apply to this model.
Nobilem 10x50B/GA
Date: circa 1990
AFOV: ~73 degrees
TFOV: 128m at 1000m (~7.3 degrees)
Eye Relief: ~14-15mm
Prisms: high index porro
Serial Number: 7372178
This Nobilem is one of the best wide angle 10x50 binoculars I have examined. There are a few 10x50's with better edge performance but they do not have have as wide a field. For a binocular with over 70 degrees of apparent field, the image quality is excellent. There is some field curvature, astigmatism, and distortion towards the edge but they are lower than on other comparable 10x50's in my collection. The amount of lateral color is also very low, much better than in the Zeiss Oberkochen 10x50 porro design. The Nobilem 10x50 is usable with eyeglasses but in that case the eye relief is not enough to see all of the wide field.
Dodecarem 12x50B/GA
Date: circa late 1980's
AFOV: ~60 degrees
TFOV: 90m at 1000m (~5 degrees)
Eye Relief: ~13mm
Prisms: high index porro
Serial Number: 6636365
The Dodecarem is a high powered model in the Nobilem family with better performance than usual in a 12x50. The eye relief is reasonable for a 12 power binocular, though it is not enough for comfortable use with glasses. The image is nearly sharp to the edge, with some pincushion distortion noticeable. This is a good binocular to use when picking out more difficult to see objects.