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Mercury 8x35

Mfr: Unknown, probably Japanese

Date: circa 1950's

AFOV: ~74 degrees

TFOV: 9.3 degrees

Eye Relief: ~16mm

Prisms: low index

mer8x35s.jpg (31313 bytes)mer8x35f.jpg (29770 bytes)

This somewhat unusual wide angle binocular appears to be Japanese made, though no J- markings are visible.  There is a crown logo on the left prism cover.  It is notable for its excellent eyepiece design.  The eyepieces are large, with an eye lens nearly 25mm in diameter.  The eye relief is good for a wide angle design, allowing me to see nearly the full field with glasses on (though the deep eyecups need to be removed).  The wide field is nicely corrected for astigmatism, with just a bit of field curvature.   Some lateral color and distortion are detectable towards the edge of field.  The objectives have good quality purplish coatings, but the other surfaces do not appear to be as well coated, if at all.  Two other disappointing features in this binocular are the low index prisms and a prominent light leak which may be due to the unshielded prisms.  With just a few improvements, this could have been a super wide field binocular.