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IOR Valdada Binoculars.

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koshkin View Drop Down
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    Posted: June/24/2004 at 11:12

To SWFA staff,

 

Are there any plans to carry IOR Valdada binoculars?  I recently had a chance to look through a couple of them and I am extremely impressed.  I am impressed to the point where I am actually going to buy one.

 

Ilya

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ranburr View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ranburr Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June/24/2004 at 13:46

Koshkin, I know from your past post that you are a guy who has some pretty strong beliefs.  Thus, I think I better tell you that IOR uses German glass in their products.  I am positive about this where their riflescopes are concerned and 99.9% sure on their binos.  If you do wind up with something with German components in it, I would not be too hard on yourself.  They make good glass, the world is not what it once was, and I used to see a lot of different brands of German and Japanese optics when we used to have joint training with the IDF.

 

ranburr 

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koshkin View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote koshkin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June/24/2004 at 14:45

I know that they use Schott glass.  Almost every premier optics manufacturer in the world uses either Schott (German) or Ohara (Japanese) glass.  Actually, some Japanese manufacturers also use Schott glass.  I do not know what Nikon's Eco glass is, but I am not sure that they make it themselves.  Quality wise, I do not believe there is any difference between Schott and Ohara glass.  There are some slight differences in composition though for competing glasses.  Melt to melt both Schott and Ohara are about equally consistent.  I had a chance to test a lot of different glasses by both companies for wavefront distortion, index, consistency, etc.  I am an optical physicist by training (Caltech, 1998).  I have worked in telecom for a few years with microoptics components: glass, birefringent crystals, fiber, waveguides, etc.  I currently work in optoelectronics on various missile guidance and detection systems (Raytheon).  I am reasonably new to the world of sporting optics though, but I am beginning to look at designs and trying to model some suitable lens systems.  It is pretty interesting, actually. 

As for German optics: I would rather not buy a product made by a German company (I realize fully well that the world is different and it is an unfair bias).  I am not very extreme in that though.  If I try to track down every German component, I'll go nuts.  I know that IDF has used 1.5-6x42 Zeiss Diavari ZA.  I actually own one that I bought used from the IDF as well as a Nimrod 6x.  When I purchased them I was convinced that optically Zeiss would be better.  To my surprise I was wrong.  In my very unscientific comparison (eyeballing). They are equally bright, and Nimrod seems to have slightly better resolution.  Both are great scopes though.

I had a chance to look through IOR 8x30 side by side with Steiner 8x30 Nighthunter and IOR seemed to have a much better view (to my eyes).  IOR has a shorter eye relief though.  The weight was about the same. Another binocular there was a Wind River Pinnacle 8x42 and IOR was sharper IMO.  It was not the best day to look at binoculars though since it was fairly bright. 

Ilya

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Chris Farris Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June/30/2004 at 10:02

No plans as of now.  We just don't get enough request at this time to stock them.  We can order anything you want from them however.

 

First let me preface this with; IOR scopes and binoculars are fine optics and the next paragraph is not referring to them specifically.  Its just a general statement on my beliefs.

 

 

Many companies do use Schott glass (so does my coffee maker BTW).  Glass is a commodity like gold.  You can buy 10K or 24K, but more important than that is what you do with it after you buy it.  Leave it as a gold bar or hand craft it into a spectacular ring surrounded by other high end commodities like diamonds and emeralds.  In other words...the pointing I am trying to make with my bad analogy is, just because it has German glass does not mean that it was ground and coated properly or that the rest of the scope will hold up.  High end coatings are the secret recipe highly guarded by Zeiss, Swarovski and Leica.  Schott makes over 100 different kinds of just optical glass.  You can get molded pressing, cut blanks or custom fine annealed optical glass.

 

It's like a Dodge truck with a Cummings diesel.  Big selling point for them, but what do you have after ten years?  A truck that has fallen apart with a good motor.

 

Schott Optical Glass Catalog

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koshkin View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote koshkin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: June/30/2004 at 11:07

Chris, I agree with you that the glass itself is less important than what you do with it (I elaborated on my background on this in a previous post in this thread).  Having said that, I've been very impressed with quality and durability of IOR products.  I am looking very hard at a smallish porro binocular right now, along the lines of Steiner 8x30 or IOR 8x30.  I am quite dissappointed with the optics on Steiners that I looked through.  IOR 8x30 seems to give me the optics pretty close to Nikon Superior E 8x30 at 2/3 the price and it has a reticle to boot.

 

I can find them for about $300, and I was just trying to do some comparison shopping.

 

Ilya 

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Rusty Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July/01/2004 at 09:10

Koshkin:

I read a review on the IOR 7 X 40 binoculars that stated they were fairly good, but heavy (32 oz.).  I have never compared the IOR binoculars to other top and near top of the line optics.  I tend to agree with Chris, the IOR binoculars may have Schott glass, but the rest of the optic "package" may possibly be lacking.  However at 17 oz, the IOR's are waterproof and very portable (and relatively lower cost too).  I would guess that optically the Bushnell Legends are more compact, just as bright and have approximately the same resolution, with possibly more color fringing and more edge distortion (and they weigh more too, 23 oz.).  The Nikon LX 's are heavier (25 oz.), more compact, more expensive, but probably better optically in every catagory. 

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Chris Farris Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July/01/2004 at 09:56

I can sell you the 8x30 IOR for $299. with the rangefinder delivered.  Give me a call if you are interested.

 

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