Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Zeiss ClassiC 10x40 binoculars

Anyone have a set of these? How do they compare with the Leica 10x42s? I'm looking to buy a pair of binoculars for my brown bear hunt.

Have them. Love them. Could not get me to sell them. Have not compared them.

Alan

Have had the 10x40 Classics and presently the Leica's.

The Classics are wonderful bins IMO.Hunted a pair of 10x40's for 20 years,and would do so again.

But IMHO they are outclassed by todays glass.May be my aging eyes but they just cannot stay with today's Leica 10x42 HD.

I bought one of the last NEW pair of Zeiss 10x40 Classics ever sold. Cabelas had the very last lot. I compared them extensively to the Leica Ultravids during the time that I owned them.

My opinion is that they are very close in optical quality, the edge going to the Leicas. The Leicas had slightly better color rendition, less flare(light pollution),but resolution and brightness was a wash.

The Zeiss Classic was superior to the Ultravid in ergonomics, compactness, focus mechanism, and are just plain cooler. Ultravids have a dreadful, ratchedy focus mechanism.

I wish I would never have sold the Zeiss but was I cash strapped at the time.

I highly recommend them.

I noticed the same thing on a brand new pair of Ultravid HD's and thought maybe it was just one sample. That would bug the crap outta me, especially considering their price tag.

The Zeiss 10x40's are pretty tough to beat- but they don't hold up optically in low-light conditions to the Leica glass.
I own the Geovid 10x42's, and after I got them, I compared them side by side to my Zeiss.
In bright light, the two are pretty comparable. It is only in very dim light that the differences become apparent.

That said, the Zeiss can be had for far less coin than the Leicas. If just the bear hunt is your objective, then spring for the Zeiss. If you want a lifetime binocular that you will use for everything, especially in low light conditions, then go with Leica. You won't be sorry.

Funny how we all notice different things.....I've had the exact same bins and thought the optics were just plane better on the HD's.

Never noticed the superior ergo's,nor the ratchety focus either......

I must be getting old.. either that or I don't give a shidt anymore..about nuanced stuff

You have your eyes on a pair? I know they haven't been made in a few years, maybe you found a hidden stash?

Thanks!

Saw a pair in the classified here today for something like $375..

Yep, I bought those. I can't wait to get them. They are some nice glass and I wont have to worry about banging them up.

The classics do fine for me. Knowing where and when to look is much more important than having the latest and greatest glass.

You do realize that pair is not even phase corrected, right? Just about as old school as you can get in a roof prism bino.

The pair I ran for 19-20 years were not phase coated,and for years worked fine...but toward the end I compared them with a phase coated model and the differences were apparent.

Eyes change over time as we age,and before I picked up the Leica's, I had one of the Cabela's Zeiss Classics 10x40, so had them both to compare.

For me, and my eyes, they were still simply not in the same class with the Leica's. Were they good? Sure they were...just not as good as the Leica's...for me that is.

Exactly - couldn't agree more.

I did have a set of these however and I'm thinking that these continue to sell well in the used market based on name alone. A Pentax SP is better optically and honestly I think they are middle of the road at best. Start talking some of the new makers, ProMaster/Zen's, etc. they'll eat up a pair of "classics" in the optics department.

Everyone's different however.

Alot of their popularity here was due to them being on Big Stick's preferred equipment list.

The reality doesn't match the hype... most overrated bin I've ever used.

That's what I mean. Guys jump at this "as new in box" for 500 when there are new 200 bins that are better, not to mention newer Zeiss, Leica and Swaro.

Amen to that, I totally concur.

Dober

The reality is that Classics have found a lot of guys a lot of good animals. No hype about that.