We aim to determine accurate distances and ages of eight open clusters in order to: (1) assess their possible binarity (2) provide probes to trace the structure of the Third Galactic Quadrant. Cluster reddenings, distances, ages and metallicities are derived from ZAMS and isochrone fits in UBVRI photometric diagrams. Field contamination is reduced by restricting analysis to stars within the cluster limits derived from star counts. Further membership control is done by requiring that stars have consistent positions in several diagrams and by using published spectral types.