Nikon 10x70 WF
Mfr: Nikon (no J- marks apparent)
Date: circa late 1970's
AFOV: ~65 degrees
TFOV: 6.5 degrees
Eye Relief: ~19mm
Prisms: high index
Serial Number: 481270
This Nikon 10x70 Wide Field can be viewed as a descendant of the Nikko 10x70 from WWII. Like the older model, it has individual focus eyepieces with winged rubber eyecups (removable). However, it differs in having a one piece B&L style body. Although the field of view is slightly reduced, it does have the advantage of antireflection coatings. The 10x70 WF was produced around the late 1970's before being replaced by a model with a much narrower field (around 50 degrees). Apparently the 10x70 WF was too expensive to generate much sales. Very few of these appear on the marketplace today, but when they do, they are often in surprisingly good condition (mine came from a camera shop in the Netherlands - probably unsold inventory).
Another difference in this model from the previous version is that it does not have any baffles in the objective tube. The coatings have a dark amber tint. There are some ghost images visible from bright light sources but I do not find them too objectionable. There is also a slight amount of prism leakage visible. Despite the lack of baffles, the flat black internal finish seems to do a fair job of suppressing internal reflections.
The 10x70 WF has a well corrected image with a fairly flat field. There is a minor amount of astigmatism and distortion visible at the edge of field. I find the view very comfortable and pleasing. The measured eye relief is very good. However, the eye lenses are deeply recessed (about 10mm) behind a hard rim, so that eyeglasses can not really be used. That is the major fault with these otherwise fine binoculars.