Docter used to be called Carl Zeiss. This particular factory of Zeiss' (of which there were several at the time) ended on the eastern side of the Berlin wall at the begining ofd the Cold War. Consequently they had to start using a different name than Carl Zeiss. So they began to market thier optics under the CArl ZeissJena or just Jena name. Sometimes, when exported to the west, they were called Aus Jena (which I think means east jena). Jena was probably the leading optics manufacturer in the Communist world. Coatings, R&D, and tchnological advances seem to be a few years behind the western European Giants like Carl Zeiss, Swarovsky, and Leica/Leitz. Jena manufactured some of the all time great millitary and sporting binocs of the last half of the 20th century. In particular they were known for theDF 7x40 and the EDF 7x40 millitary binocs. Also they developed, what remains today, some of the finest porro prsm binocsthe world has ever seen. These are the Nobilem, and Nobilem Supers. Exquisite sporting binos but these were too expensive to make and as suchwere not made for too long
When the wall came down, Jena became Docter Optik. Now they sell their optics around the world. Quality is very high for the money involved. If I had my choice and money was no object, I would go with one of the big 3 (Leica, Zeiss, and Swarovsky.....and maybeNikon). But for around 500 bucks, you can get a pair of docter roof prism binocsin 8x42. These are tough, modern, waterproof and have excellent optics. And they are made in Germany. I use 2 docter rifle scopes. The optics are (in my opinion) superior to the optics of Leupold VX3 and Zeiss Conquest, which are the major scopes in the same price range.
You need to check out this website for some reviews on Docter binocs by a German optics guy. www.holgermerlitz.de/. I hope the have bought a pair of the docter optik 10x42 binocs beforew next deer season
marco