Fuji Bushnell Rangmaster and Custom binos

[danno in va]

Some years ago a good friend educated me about some wonderful old school Bushnell binos from the late 1950's - mid 1960's. This was a time when Bushnell went to center focus and used optics from Fuji Photo Optics (FPO logo between the objectives) on the 7x35mm (classic power/objective combo) Custom and Rangemaster models. With some patience these can be found on ebay from 1-2 bills. To do significantly better, one would have to plunk down some serious coin. Small wonder the birders of the day flocked to these models, and folks today always seem to be amazed with the quality.

The Customs are a handy size for a Porro prism model with a 7* field of view and adjustable eye cups. While i have other binos these are a gold standard and i keep coming back to them for longer treks.

The top of the line Rangemaster also uses Porro prisms and was designed with sports in mind and had a FOV of 10*, which is useful for scanning wide open spaces. While significantly larger, these are are just great if you're not walking far.

Both are well shielded, are well coated, have little pin cushion or color distortion, and the image isn't soft at the edges. A feature is that i've gotten used to is the generous depth of field and they stay in focus to a very close distance at the bottom of the image. The latter is the main reason why i prefer them over the high end numbers like Zeiss Victory, even though the ZV has superior optics and roof prisms.

 

[danno in va]

The Fuji Custom binos turn up frequently on eBay. Before the economy tanked a nice pair would go for 2 bills. There's at least one now for under 1 bill. The red dot between the objectives where a tripod can attach has a little logo of a lens refracting light with the letters FPO. It would naturally behoove one to ask about lens coating condition, mechanics, and if one sees what looks like dirt when looking backwards thru the objectives at clear sky or a bright white surface (mold).