NVA DF 7x40 clone made in Sarajevo

by Holger Merlitz

(Thanks to Dejan Popov, Serbia, for information and photos)

Below are a couple of photos of a Zeiss Jena 7x40 DF clone which is actually still in production! It was once licensed by CZJ to the former Yugoslavian ZRAK factory in Sarajevo, which made these RD 7x40 for the Yugoslav Peoples Army. Amazingly, this 7x40 has got an internal Tritium illumination for the reticle, just like the NVA 7x40 EDF. I have no information about the optical performance of this binocular in relation to the original DF, but it might well be superior because of improvements of coating technology since the last NVA DF were made during the 1970s. This may be an excellent opportunity to purchase a current production NVA DF clone. You may feel free to ask Dejan Popov (radiobunker@gmail.com) for further details about this interesting binocular.

Here a link to the ZRAK factory web-page.

Update (April 2010): There exists a distributor now - these binoculars can be purchased! ZrakUS.com

If I get any chance to see one of them, I will carry out a detailed comparison with the original NVA DF model.

Update (Feb. 2011): Pictures of the Yugoslav and the Iraqi military versions of the 7x40

(Thanks to Hans Weigum for these pictures)

The upper row shows a sample of the former Yugoslav military version of the 7x40, the lower row was the Iraqi military version of the Saddam Hussein era. Both were equipped with a radioactive Tritium illumination of the reticle and made at the ZRAK factory.

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Last updated: Feb. 2011