Own a piece of Cold War History

For sale Carl Zeiss Jena 7x40 DF,

old version (1960's - 1970's)

with:

Rubber Armor

Hard-rubber eyecup with filters

Range finder reticle

Infrared light detector

Hard rubber objective lens caps

Original strap (officers and soldiers that were issued these binoculars were ordered to have them strapped on at all times)

The optics are still very clear and range finder is fun to play with.

Attention: The only identifying markings on these binoculars are: NVA 7x40

NVA was the East German Army, but you won't find "made in communist East Germany" printed on the side!

The origin of these glasses is very easily established with a little research on your google machine, but I'll save you some time.

From his excellent history of military binoculars:

Review: Military 7x40 binoculars

by Holger Merlitz

The 7x40 DF (Doppel-Fernrohr) of the NVA (Nationale Volksarmee) was introduced in the 1960s and was the first binocular built by Carl Zeiss Jena from scratch since the days of WWII. It replaced the 7x50 Binoctar, 10x50 Dekaris and 8x30 Deltrentis, individual focus versions of Jena's earlier classical line of binoculars. The 7x40 DF was given a short ('stubby') body shape, thereby keeping it rather compact, despite of its large prisms and considerably high weight. With its thick rubber armor, its large oculars with long eye-relief (suitable for use with gas-mask) and the eye catching window of its infrared detector re-charger, the DF had become the classical example of a full fledged military binocular, the blueprint of later 7x40 clones which adopted the same design philosophy. In 1980, it was replaced with the 7x40 EDF, a roof-prism construction which was more compact, but with smaller field of view.