- catalogue number: 4.2019518;
- name of artifact: “REL (Research Enterprises Limited) 7x50 Porro prism binocular”;
- date of production: 1945;
- materials of manufacture: optical glass, black-enamelled metal, pebble leather covering;
- maker: Research Enterprises Limited (REL), Leaside ON;
- provenance: purchased on eBay by the museum Director, from a vendor in England;
- condition: optics good, collimation fine, and the vendor had had the binoculars serviced before sale. The metal body has normal abrasion marks; the case is worn;
- notes: REL was a war-time crown corporation. Machines for producing the REL binoculars were purchased from Bausch & Lomb in Rochester, NY, and expertise in the form of personnel and training was obtained from the same firm. The optical glass was from a melt produced in Leaside. The oculars are focused individually. The Bausch & Lomb case is probably original;
- literature:
- W.E.K. Middelton, Physics at the National Research Council of Canada, 1929–1952 (Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1979), pp. 110-113;
- Hans T. Seeger, Militärische Ferngläser und Fernrohre in Heer, Luftwaffe und Marine/ Military Binoculars and Telescopes for Land, Air and Sea Service (Hamburg: Dr. Hans T. Seeger, 1996), p. 61;
- Robin Leech, “Canadian-Made Binoculars, Part 1: Research Enterprises Ltd, 1939-1945”, Canadian Historical Arms Society, 2015 February 18;
- Robin Leech, “Canadian-Made Binoculars, Part 2: BOP & CAL Retrofits of RELs in the Early 1950s”, Canadian Historical Arms Society, 2015 February 18;
- Peter Abrahams, “Canadian Binoculars” (http://home.europa.com/~telscope/canada.txt).
Type:
Binocular
Description:
REL 7x50 Porro prism binocular
Exhibit Number:
0004.2019518
Exhibit Name:
REL 7x50 Porro prism binocular
Production Circa:
Production Year:
1945
Exhibit Thumbnail:
