Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Leitz Trinovid 10x40B repair

I recently sent a pair of Leitz Trinovid 10x40B in to have the alignment corrected after it was damaged.

The estimate by Leica was $700 and included
replace prism (s)
replace eyecups (s)
clean optics as well as possible
repair and adjust focus
adjust collilation
purge with nitrogen
clean, lubricate,adjust all functions

and was itemized exactly as I have set it out above. These binos have been used hard for some years, but I had no idea there was so much wrong with them.

The price seems exactly at the level where it's not smart to repair (versus a new purchase) but can't afford not to fix them.
Does anyone know of an alternative repair facility that might be more negotiable. There was no reference to warranty, although they were old enough I thought they would be covered.

On a related note, is there a real difference between the 10x40 Ultravid and the Ultravid HD, other than money?

toltec: Man, that's a tough one.....$700 to repair,and like you said, a guy should start shopping for "new".

I own the 10x40 Ultravid HD and can tell you they are fabulous;but I seriously doubt anyone is gonna be upset with the standard Ultravid.

The current pricing on the HD is IMHO starting to get to the point where it's ridiculous....

$700 is heavy duty moolah.
I think Doug might enlighten us about Leica's warranty, specifically related to your repair job. But, I sure wouldn't be very interested in having someone other that Leica work on my binox. Leica would have the correct parts, tools and fixtures, and trained personnel to fix Leica binox, none of which would be guaranteed by an independeant repair house. I worked for two years for an optics house and have good feel for what's involved with assembly of new optics, and its repair.
Given your binox are old, as you say, and the $700 bill to refurb them, I'd be looking at writing them off, and going for new binox. With the refurb of your old binox, you'll have old binox in good working condition for the price of $700. Glass and coatings are hugely better today than your binox refurb'd. I would buy new.

try Deutshe optic at www.deutscheoptik.com for repairs

I was in exactly your position fifteen years ago when my beloved 7x35 Leizt Trinovids bit the dust. Back then it was $416.00 for the same repairs you listed, but counting inflation thats about the same amount. I opted out and bought a pait of 8x42 pentax DCF's which didn't live up to my expectations, but things are different today. Now you could almost buy two pair of Zen ray ED's for the cost of that repair, you could look for a new Trinovid BN for around $1,000.00 or look for a mint Leitz Trinovid on ebay but the price would be pretty close to the cost of bring you own pair up to like new.

Lots of options, newer phase coated designs are going to be much better than your old Trins but there is something about that old package that feels perfect in the hand. I have to admit regretting that I didn't repair my old trinovids. Comparing the Ultravid BRs to the newer HDs I see no difference with my eye, but I think the hydrophobic coating would be worthwhile.

Sorry if I just confused you more.

John

No confusion and I appreciate all the responses. It seems the price is right at damned if you do and damned if you don't, a position I'm familiar with.

But I've seen some wonderful things through those binos as well as their predecessor which was stolen out of my luggage in Russia some years back and they do seem "handier" than the new ones, somehow.

Ideas and comments continue to be welcome.

If it were me, I'd buy new at this point. The updated optics will make a difference, and for a few hundred more (or less possibly) you could be into an updated NIB or Demo pair of bins.

Again, were it me, I'd figure out a way to find a new pair of bins that will give you the same milage as these have. Looking at Doug's website you could spend $950 and get into a 10x40 Zeiss Conquest Demo, $580 for a Demo Minox HG10x43. Lot os options out there.

Good luck in whatever path you take.

Mike.

Repairing you classis binos is like repairing or restoring a classic car... The parts are hard to find and expensive, it takes time, there is always more wrong than you think there is and you still have old, old technology when your done.

Your Trinovids are a classic... but they don't have the features a new pair of bino's will have... If it were me, I'd upgrade. Ovis_Chaser

Sobering but yes, it's not like the things I've seen are still in there. Still....

And it'll be tough to get me out of Leica, but maybe not impossible.

Be careful. About 5 years ago did the same with a pair of old Leitz trinovids that started to fog. Price was around $350. The came back with new everything, but still fogged. I called them and their reply was that the original seals were no longer available and that they couldn't do anything about it. We had some heated discussions until I finally became tired of the runaround and walked away from the aggrevation.

I recommend you contact Mountain Optics and see if they can repair your binocular. They can be reached at the following contact info:

203 Rimini Road, Lakeside, Montana 59922
Phone: (406) 857-2354 Toll Free: 1-877-756-2466

Their web link is mountainoptics.com

The owner did wonders on a Docter Optic 15X60 Nobelium I sent him last year.

Good Luck,
Jim

Dang, sounds like yer on the cusp of the "darned if ya do , darned if ya don't".

Good luck in yer decision.

I love nostalgia in hunting and would research till I was blue in the face to come up with another option for repair.

But if I could not find , I'd go new.

I bought the same exact Trinovids in about 1985. They came with a "lifetime warranty". About 6 years ago, I sent them in for refurbishment. They did most of the same things you have on your list (except prism replacement I believe) and I paid very little for it; I think I had to pay for the eyecups but that was about it. I wish I had the paperwork with me but I'm in Afghanistan. If my memory is correct it only cost me about $50. I know there's bettter glass today, but I love the feel of those Trinovids.

Interesting you mention that point. I'm the same way with the older Zeiss Classics I have in 8x30. They are just soooo cool; I love handling them. And, I know they are not in the same league optically as the Swaro SLC's I have in 7x42, but I usually reach for the 20 ounce Zeiss Classics when I go hunting. Now, if they got damaged in any way and the estimated repair cost was in the $700 region, I would shed a tear and go straight to newly made 20 ounce binox by Leica, or Swaro. The glass and coatings today are awesome, as compared to the fine old Classics I have.

I don't know how you feel about buying stuff from ebay, but there are four very nice Leitz Trinovid 10x40's there now up for auction. You may be able to get one of these for less than the quoted repair. Two are at around $400 and one at $150 with several days left. One is pretty high, but a rare green rubber armored and brand new. The downside to buying there I have found is a 50/50 chance of having to have what I buy repaired. Maybe an option, maybe not.

I've been away from the computer for a few days. Thanks for the additional input. When I get home I'll do some more research and if I find anything interesting I'll report back.

I've been talking with the Leica people (as they came back from vacation).The customer service rep referred me to a technician to answer a couple of questions I had. In the course of the conversation I mentioned spending a good bit of money to get back old binoculars made obsolete by the new models. He said he thought I would not be able to discern a difference for all the additional money I would have to spend. I don't know if that's true or not but he sounded sincere and he was being helpful with other matters.

Well, I've always thought it couldn't get much better than what I had. I mean, I've picked up a lot of stuff that others with newer high dollar optics have missed. Technique does count for something, of course.

Short version, they will knock off $100 and I reckon I'll proceed. I need to get the warranty straight first, but I can't leave my old pard behind.

As for customer service, I'd say they were polite and helpful...but pretty firm.

Hi,
I was looking thru the internet to find a place to have my Leitz Trinovid 10x40BA Bins repaired and saw the listing. The last posting that you made said that you sent yours for repair back in August. How did it go? Did yu send them to Leica Camera, 1 pearl court in NJ? Don't know what to do. Glad I accidentally ran across this site.
Thanks,
Dan in Arizona

$700?!!! to repair a binoculars? You can get some better binoculars with today's technology for far less than that.

I irrated me whenever I looked at the ever falling electronic price vs ever rising optics price. Something is wrong there.

I've been using a pair of Leica Trinovid's for the past 11 years or so, but that's what pisses me off about Leica's customer service. I can assure you Swarovski wouldn't handle it like that, and likely Zeiss wouldn't either. For instance my neighbor sent his 10x42 SLC's in for technically a good cleaning, adjusting, lens maintenance, etc (they are 12 years old). Charge for services.....$0. At the same time he sent his Zeiss spotter, a 85 T FL in because the fine focus wheel quit working altogether. They fixed, cleaned, and sent back in like new condition, except for the minor scratches on the body, and charged him $0. Leica likes charging premium prices for half-assed service.