Zeiss Oberkochen 10x50

Mfr: Carl Zeiss, Oberkochen, Germany

Date: circa 1960's (made from 1957-1969*)

AFOV: ~74 degrees

TFOV: 130m at 1000m (~7.4 degrees)

Eye Relief: ~9-10mm

Prisms: high index porro

Serial Number: 552601

This Zeiss Oberkochen binocular has a very compact body for a 10x50.  According to Zeiss, it employs a semi-apochromatic objective.  It is mechanically similar to the 8x50, with the focus wheel on the objective end.  The baffling is similarly excellent, with only a small amount of prism leakage visible.

The 10x50 has a nice wide field of view, though it is difficult to see the edge of field with the short eye relief.  The image is sharp at the center but becomes a bit soft at the edge with astigmatism.  Spurious reflections are well suppressed.  Like other Zeiss models from the same vintage, some lateral color and pincushion distortion is noticeable, though not what I would consider objectionable.  In comparison to the (later) Zeiss Jena Nobilem 10x50, the Oberkochen model is not as good optically, though it has the advantage of being more compact.