Manufacturer/Model: Kershaw Olympic 8X30 Field of View: 8.75 deg = 154 yds/1,000 yds; APFOV 70 deg Weight: 545 gr. Exit Pupil: 3.75 mm Serial #/Year of Manufacture: 74629 = 1950’s – early 1960’s Notes: This is one of Kershaw’s most enduring and popular models first offered as the “Sangli” in 1926 with a name change in 1930 to “Olympic”. After WW II the model was redesigned with coated optics and a relocation of the focus wheel at the front. There are quite a few 8X30 Porro I wide angle binoculars in this collection, most if not all of which are based on the famous 1920 Zeiss Deltrintem (CF)/Deltrentis (IF) model, commercially one of the greatest and best-selling binoculars ever made. Of all the post-war ones with coated optics I’ve seen, I don’t think any is better than this Kershaw Olympic. None have higher build quality and none with single layer anti-reflective coatings are brighter or have better color rendition. Its sharpness to the edge is almost as good as the Nippon Kogaku A Series JB-7’s and it may have the best center of field sharpness of them all. I recently tested the Olympic against a new Swarovski SLC 8X30WB, and although the Swarovski had an expectedly much brighter view with more vivid color, the Olympic’s view was wider and, most unexpectedly, under normal daylight conditions had better center of the field sharpness showing more detail. This is a fine binocular often available at on-line auction sites at a low price.

Manufacturer/Model: Kershaw Reliant 9X36 Field of View: 7.2 deg = 125 yds/1,000 yds; APFOV 64.8 deg Weight: 630 gr Exit Pupil: 4 mm Serial #/Year of Manufacture: 52074 = Probably late 1940’s - 1950’s Notes: Coated lenses. See descriptions of Kershaw Renown 7X30 Views 1 and 2 and Kershaw Vanguard 10X50 View 1 for more information about Kershaw’s line of internal focus binoculars. As with these other binoculars, this one also uses an internal focus mechanism and its build quality is, likewise, very high. Optically, it compares very well to the famous Ross Stepruva 9X35. Although the Ross has a wider FOV, the Kershaw's image is brighter with a more neutral, less warm color rendition. Interestingly I find that the anti-reflective coatings Kershaw applied to their post-war binoculars give more neutral and apparently brighter images than those used by many other manufacturers making Kershaws, in my opinion, the best of all the post-war British binoculars. The only Kershaw binoculars having an internal focus mechanism of which I am aware are the Renown, the Vanguard series and this one. There is very little information available about them, and any new information readers could contribute would be most welcome. Revised January 1/11 - FOV data