Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics New Zeiss Victory Bino

The scopes fall way short in not offering a higher power 40-44mm obj version IMO. Not everyone likes big bells.

Yes, and, thank you for the response.
I assumed you did research, that's sort of why I asked. What hunters and journalists SAY they like when polled, and, what they'll actually pay 1k for are two very different things. I hope the line does well for you but this hunter thinks a simple copper color turret cap or ocular would have sufficed for differentiation.

JG, the only thing I can gather there is that they were likely selling the Victory 50mm's by a count of 10 to 1 over the 40mm or they'd not have discontinued it.

Seems to me the trend when guys are "going big" on scopes - be it price or tube size, they really have a tendency to "go big"...

I'm not a fan of large objectives either but folks laying down the cheddar only need to satisfy themselves.

You're probably right on target with the SKane. I'm sure there's a reason behind it and I bet that's it.

Sounds like more nice glass, thinking I'll stay with my paid for 7x42 SLC's....grin

Cheep bugger I know!

Dober

The FL has a turn ratio of just under 1, start to stop. The HT has a turn ratio of 1.25 revolutions, start to stop, so we did slow it down. However, in addition, the HT focus wheel is 30% larger in diameter than the FL, making the feel of the turn ratio feel slower, and very confortable.

For sure, people are not wanting bigger than the 42s hanging from their neck. That's why I myself got rid of my 10x50 Swarovisions... And honestly I prefer the 32s over the 42 because they r even less weight and smaller. Not much fun breaking a sweat before you get in your hunting spot due to access weight.

Mike, thanks for stepping out and sharing with us. Most of your competitors would not step into the fire.

Good luck with your new products.

Randy

You're welcome. Clearly I will be bias with my input,:) but I enjoy engaging the real users of all the different products, mine and others. This is the best way for me to stay grounded with what's really going on. I'll jump in from time to time, as I can.

I think that'll be very helpful and is clearly a move in the right direction.

Thanks for the input.

Jeez, for that kind of money, I'd opt for a used, but still excellent 20X60S...... What's another grand or so among us high rollers.....
I'm with Dober. somehow I'm going to make do with what I have for while longer. E

I'm sorry, but that's way more money for a gunsight than I'll ever need or use. And I thought the S&B, PMII, 10X42 was a little high. They look pretty good compared to those. E

thanks Mike....

I was disappointed that riflescopes were the same old power ranges. Same 4x erector, and no 2.5-10x42 or similar scope. You mentioned this was to save production costs and transfer the savings to customers but these are not that much cheaper than their euro counterparts?

I was interested to see what scopes you launched. There is nothing really there that competes with a 1.7-10x42 Z6 (which is what i like)...75' FOV ON THE LOW END AND 10X POWER ALL IN A 42MM PACKAGE. Not many people here want or need a 50 or 56mm scope...I have no doubt that the HT series might score a few percentage points higher in "brightness" than a swaro Z6 but im not hearing many reports of swaro's being poor in low light...

I have no doubt they are brilliant optically.

I also noticed the HT series is only offered with a lit reticle?

On the bino's, i would like to see a 7x32 or 8x32. WIll someone ever make a super wide angle bino? like 500' FOV @ 1000 yards? I think some people here would give a few points in brightess to have a wide FOV and sharpness edge to edge. I know zeiss likes to be the brightest but im not sure being brighter by a couple points combined with good centerfield resolution but astigmatism and poor edges is what everyone wants. The market will tell....I hope they have a huge sweet spot

actually the conquest hd with lotutec intrigues me! any chance that will come out in 8x30/8x32?


Thanks for coming by

The money saving strategy I spoke about above was for the Conquest Duralyt, a 30mm German scope mostly under $1000. Sorry for the confusion. The new Victory FL scopes are not price point scopes. Yes they are expensive but mostly because they are all Victory HT illuminated, to replace the existing Diavari illuminated and the Zeiss Varipoint illuminated. Basically we are discontinuing our 2 existing victory illuminated lines (Diavari and Varripoint) with one scope (Victory HT) still with 4x zoom, and upgrading brightnes and the illumination system.

Regarding us launching the Conquest HD in a 32mm, all I can say is... .

thanks mike! Really value your input here

While improving the transmission of the bins by 3% might be difficult, it does not really change the fact that 3% extra transmission is irrelevant to practically every aspect of the viewing, even low light viewing. It's like having a 43mm objective instead of a 42mm one.

On the other hard, resolution and sweet spot is crucial and so is the size of the bins. Unless you've improved on those, the HT will still not do much since the FL already has the best resolution in the center of the field, the best transmission and the worst sweet spot of the top three. So unless the HT has a better sweet spot, the only thing the HT will do is to replace/cannibalize your FL sales (which you will therefore discontinue).

Leica comes in the smallest package. Zeiss has the best center field resolution and transmission. Swaro has the best sweet spot. 3% transmission increase does not really matter (I'll take it but I don't want to pay for it).

Does the HT has a different feature fix compared to the FL? It seems you are stretching in the FLs direction but not really changing the mix to invade others' space(size, sweet spot). Tell me where I'm wrong here so we don't have to wait till summer to find out?

Aic

ps: top 3 is not by default the Zeiss, Swaro and Leicas anymore, you can drop any of the OLD top three for the EDG with a strong argument...

My eyes disagree with your assessment... I find Leica at the top of the heap, albeit marginally.

But it's all a matter of grading diamonds among the top tier...

Aic, all very valid points. Competing in the top 3 is a challenging endeavor, it's like building a better Indy car, all that's left are small improvements but in the end, it's the driver (our consumers) who wins the race .

We had 3 objectives when we started this project.

The Brightness
The best center resolution
The best ergonomics

#1. Brightness. Over the last 10 years, although we slightly led the pack, the top 3 all had between 89% and 92% light transmission. Nobody was really willing to make the claim "the brightest". With our new glass, existing prisms and enhanced coatings, we are the first to get to 95% on a premium roof prism product. With that, we are comfortable to make the clain "The Brightest".

#2. Center resolution. As a core hunting product for the most extreme users, center resolution was a top priority. Judging mass or G3 tine length at 600+ yards is critical for those guys. I'm not an optical engineer, so I can't explain what they did or how they did it, but center resolution has been enhanced. Enhancing the center resolution should theoretically widen the "sweet spot" since resolution is a diminishing calculation from center to edge. Since there is no sweet spot measurement standard, we'll have to wait for guys like you to get your hands on it, test it and tell your peers your findings. I am comfortable to say that you'll like what you see.

3. Ergonomics. No longer will Zeiss build great optics and drop the product into a "brick" and say "buy it". Ergonomics matter, period. As the picture of the product reveals, this HT is a departure from our old ways. We built and tested models of the human hand in a resting state when held in front of the face. With this as a guideline, we added ribs to fit the crease of the hand, moved the focus wheel forward so you don't have to split your fingers to reach it, made it larger and slower for control, changed housing texture for comfort, used magnisium for weight and pinned the focus wheel on both sides for durability. Consumer surveys so far says it looks cool and feels incredible in your hand. Ergonomics are in many cases personal preference, but my opinion (albeit bias:) is that we nailed this one.

Hope this feedback helps.

MJensen,

Good to see you posting here -- it can a bit like sticking your head into the lion's mouth at times though!

To me, flatness of field matters little so I would glad trade better centre resolution for that. Unfortunately, eye relief (I wear glasses) matters a lot to me, so I will by paying lots of attention to that.

In any case, I look forward to checking out the new binoculars -- more options are always better for consumers!

John

Gotta say this thread has been very informative. I'm looking forward to getting my hands on my "new-to-me" Victory FL T 10x42's later this week. First trial with high powered binoculars so we'll see how I like them...

Also to give props to Rick Bin and the Campfire. Where else would the President of a sporting optics company just log on and talk to hunters and consumers!