The German military 8 x 60 binocular.
Excerpts from section 4 of:  Hans Seeger. Militaerische 
Fernglaeser und Fernrohre in Heer, Luftwaffe, und Marine. Hamburg: 
Seeger, 1996.

...A Goerz 8 x 60 for the German Air Force is mentioned in a 1921 
publication by G. Gehlhoff, 'Die Ursachen der Verbesserung des 
Nachtsehens durch Fernglaeser', Zeitschrift fuer technische 
Physik, No. 9, p245-250.  Seeger has no further references for 
this WWI glass, no photos, and it is unknown what prism it used
...[p290] Leitz produced Porro II binoculars since 1910, and an 8 
x 60 Porro II [fig. 200] from about 1944-45 for the Navy, 
designated for use on motor torpedo boats and patrol vessels, with 
a reticle with a sighting line, crossed by a short horizontal 
line, for aiming or torpedo sighting mechanisms, which was 
partially coated, & inferior to the 8 x 60 Zeiss.  The optics of 
these Leitz models are prone to hazing, caused by the porous cast 
housing, which can be waterproofed in repair, and was probably due 
to inferior materials available for manufacture during wartime.
...[p295] The 8 x 60 was one of the first Zeiss military Porro II 
glasses, [fig. 203], circa 1919-20.  The early design had an 
ocular with a smaller eye lens and a negative meniscus, & was 
probably used for anti aircraft purposes, but most of the 
surviving examples have naval markings.  This glass is seen in 
military papers from the thirties [fig. 137] and in photos showing 
hand held use, from the second World War [fig. 204].
...[p298]  Seeger transcribes an undated paper, circa 1930, on the 
Zeiss 8 x 60 in fig. 203 (right): 'The binocular 8 x 60 is 
definitely a night glass, mainly designed for searching and 
tracking airplanes.....The model in the following picture is a 
special edition of the 8 x 60 binocular, delivered upon request, 
which is specially designed for the Navy and contains the 
following changes:
...Interocular distance: is adjustable by a device in a special 
partition under the right ocular.
...Tinted glasses: For protection against blinding and for 
increasing the contrast of light, several colored glasses are 
built in, which can be positioned in front of the right ocular 
with a lever.
...Head rest: Made of soft rubber, facilitates lengthy observing.
...Sight: A ring sight is mounted over the field glass.
...Special devices: detachable sunshades with covers are mounted 
in front of the objectives.'
...This text describes the first Zeiss Navy 8 x 60.  In fig. 203, 
the ring sight is missing & a gunsight is fastened on top of the 
bridge, this model is older than that described in the brochure.  
This design was at first only available by request, but became the 
standard construction from the mid 30s, and is described in the 
‘Spezialprospekt’ of 1939 (with the same picture): 'Special: the 8 
x 60 binocular, which is mostly used by the Navy, is decidedly a 
night glass and mainly has the purpose of searching for and 
pursuing objects and airplanes in the night.'
...During the thirties, the Zeiss 8 x 60 added a rubber head rest, 
and glass filters, the filter levers are coupled by a horizontal 
lever in earlier models, and in later models they are 
independently moveable.  The interocular can be adjusted by a 
screw in some examples.  Some models have a mounted ring sight 
(cross and concentric rings), [fig. 204, 205a].  A later standard 
accessory was the removable sunshades with covers, see fig. 205b.  
These were sometimes mounted on torpedo sights.  Fig. 205b was 
exported to Scandinavia & is different from the models used by the 
German Navy.
...[p299] These deck mounted 8 x 60s were made with the ‘blue-
coating’ or 'T-coating' from an early date, & most of the 
surviving specimens are coated, those built before coating was 
introduced in 1936-37 were coated during WWII.
...Zeiss H models: [p311]  The construction of Porro II prism 
glasses with a field lens cemented onto the prism began in Great 
Britain and was then adopted by Zeiss for a 7 x 50 and the 8 x 60 
H.  Both were probably also used in the Army, but the only photos 
that Seeger has seen of wartime use show them on board warships.  
The D.F. 8 x 60 H [fig. 215] probably shows the first design, with 
a first series of 20 made of Elektron alloy built after September 
1935, with objective tubes that have a conical form from the prism 
housing to the objective, distinct from later models [fig. 216] 
that have a cylindrical housing for the objective.  The ‘H’ in 8 x 
60 H stands for Helligkeit [image brightness], since cementing the 
ocular field lens permits each side to have only three optical 
groups.  [p312]  Field of view is 154m/1000m, 8.8 degrees real 
field, and 70.6 degrees apparent field.  Some of these 8 x 60s had 
rubber eye shields with ventilation holes, permanently attached 
with a metal ring that allows them to rotate.
...From a Zeiss brochure for military models including the 8 x 60 
H, in the section ‘focus’: 'The binoculars can also be delivered 
with a center drive for the simultaneous focusing of both 
oculars.....Only deliverable upon request.'  Seeger thinks it 
unlikely that a center focus 8 x 60 H was actually produced, or 
that this expensive model was actually retailed before the second 
World War.  The 7 x 50 Septar and Septarem were very short lived.
...[p314]  Some 8 x 60 H models had illuminated reticles.  Since 
the reticle is cemented to the prism, between prism and the field 
lens, the illumination device is mounted to the prism housing at 
that point [fig. 216].
...[p316]  In about 1939, the 8 x 60 H was retired, and replaced 
with a D.F. 8 x 60 of similar appearance but different optical 
design.  The field lens was not cemented to the prism, but was 
placed back in the ocular, which allowed the reticle to be placed 
in the ocular tube, closer to the illuminator mounted outside the 
tube [fig. 217].  However, few of these 8 x 60 models actually 
have illuminated reticles.
...These models are a little heavier than the 'H', about 2200 
grams and 1875 grams in the brochures, but when actually weighed, 
the weight for the H model is 2500 grams [left fig. 215], 2100 
grams [right fig. 215], and 2100, 2250, 2300 and 2450 grams for 
their successors.  The differences are the result of the use of 
different combinations of materials (Hydronalium, Elektron, 
Brass).  Zeiss brochures for military binoculars circa 1937-40 
list two weights: 'normal' and 'light'.
...From a 1939 notice: 'Binocular 8 x 60 (with special ocular for 
use with gas masks, with night illumination)....can either be used 
hand held, on a tripod or also as a direction finder telescope for 
night time air defense, for example in co-operation with sound 
locators as a direction finder for searchlights, for command 
instruments, etc.  The use of a gas mask is possible after 
removing the soft rubber eye shields.'
...These later 8 x 60s have remarkable image brightness and 
resolution; and also something special, which is very hard to 
describe and is seldom found apart from marine binoculars: a 
pleasing, wide and steady image which makes the observation a 
pleasure and an event.  Such a glass gives impressions and images 
which remain in the inner eye of the observer for many years, like 
a photograph.
...There are several versions of these 8 x 60s [fig. 217].  Some 
eyeshields are of ventilated soft rubber; hard rubber or bakelite 
eye shields have an accessory bakelite cover, held by a rubber 
band.  Most of these covers have an area of roughened surface, 
with the inscription 'Benutzer' [user], the name of the user & his 
individual focus settings could be written in this area [fig. 
257].
...Rare models have an illuminated reticle in the right ocular.  
More common is a reticle with a perpendicular sighting line, used 
in air defense, torpedo shooting, or Kommando devices.  Many 
wartime photos show them used on submarines, torpedo boats and 
larger warships.
...It is sometimes heard that the 8 x 60 models which have 
'M.S.S.' markings have a different ocular with a larger eye lens, 
but this is not correct.  All 8 x 60 Porro II models (of the type 
known as 'Slim One') have identical oculars, similar to fig. 162
...In the Museum of Optics in Jena, from the postwar production of 
VEB Zeiss Jena, are parts from a Porro II prism system that 
resemble the 8 x 60 in fig. 217 as it was built until the end of 
the war.  It seems that after the war, similar binoculars were 
produced in Jena for the Navies of the GDR or the Warsaw pact, 
since civilian models with these prisms were not produced either 
in Jena or Eisfeld.
...[p317] Comparing the image delivered by the 8 x 60 H with the 
later 8 x 60 Porro II models, where the field lens is not cemented 
onto the prism, reveals two differences.  The H model has more 
pincushion distortion, which gives the image in the H model a 
steady quality, while the same image seems to ‘roll off a 
spherical surface’ in the other glass.  This effect is called 
'Bildverbiegung' [‘image bending’ or distortion], not to be 
confused with 'Bildfeldwoelbung' [field curvature].
...In the third edition of Koenig & Koehler, Die Fernrohre und 
Entfernungsmesser, 1959, p121, Koehler writes: 'Image bending 
[distortion] is by far the most disturbing fault with subjects 
which are suitable objects for observation with hand held 
binoculars' (because objects in the center of the image appear to 
be closer, but become smaller as they move towards the rim when 
moving the glass, whereby the whole image loses steadiness).  This 
was almost certainly known to the designers of these two models, 
though no indications to that effect have been found in the 
literature.  It can be assumed that for marine glasses a 
diminished pincushion distortion was chosen, while accepting a 
small amount of bending of the image.  For marine use, it seems to 
make sense to use glasses with little or no distortion, because 
here the bending of the horizon line, caused by a swaying stance, 
is quite unnatural.
...Figures: Seeger  137 p221, 162, 200, 203, 204, 205a & b, 215, 
216, 217 a,b,c.

...A follow-up to the 8 x 60 H can be found on page 321, a 
monocular 8 x 60 H.  
...Deck mounted 8 x 60: footnote in chapter 2.7 and the 
annotations to the successor models, the 8 x 60 H in part 4.2.2 
and the 8 x 60 in chapter 4.5.

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