HighNorth
Well-known member
Hi All!
I have been loath to share this, but since there is currently a discussion going on about the robustness of the new Zeiss Victory SF, I thought you should know...
A few days ago, I had just come in from a birding session in the cold (about -4° C) , when I was a bit too quick to remove the woolen hood I wore, and my brand new SF 8x42 was sent hurtling to the floor with it!
As you can see from the pictures, the front bridge broke clean off at the hinge.
The binoculars were otherwise fine though: I could not discern any damage to the optics or focusing mechanism, and the bins weren't even out of collimation as far as I could see. I guess the armouring worked as it was supposed to! :t:
I have sent the bins back to the dealer, and the dealer will send them to Zeiss in Germany for an assessment. As the damage is "self inflicted", I know I can't expect to have them repaired under warranty, but in that case, I hope they can be fixed at a reasonable price and within a reasonable time frame...
The dealer (which was very helpful by the way) was quite surprised at this mishap actually, as Zeiss has touted the triple bridge as more robust than the double bridge on the Swarovski EL series.
I also told the dealer to ask Zeiss to have a look at the focuser, since it has now become clear that the uneven movement could be due to a manufacturing flaw.
I just pray that the SF comes back to me as good as (or better than) new, and that it won't cost me an arm and a leg!
I have been loath to share this, but since there is currently a discussion going on about the robustness of the new Zeiss Victory SF, I thought you should know...
A few days ago, I had just come in from a birding session in the cold (about -4° C) , when I was a bit too quick to remove the woolen hood I wore, and my brand new SF 8x42 was sent hurtling to the floor with it!
As you can see from the pictures, the front bridge broke clean off at the hinge.
The binoculars were otherwise fine though: I could not discern any damage to the optics or focusing mechanism, and the bins weren't even out of collimation as far as I could see. I guess the armouring worked as it was supposed to! :t:
I have sent the bins back to the dealer, and the dealer will send them to Zeiss in Germany for an assessment. As the damage is "self inflicted", I know I can't expect to have them repaired under warranty, but in that case, I hope they can be fixed at a reasonable price and within a reasonable time frame...
The dealer (which was very helpful by the way) was quite surprised at this mishap actually, as Zeiss has touted the triple bridge as more robust than the double bridge on the Swarovski EL series.
I also told the dealer to ask Zeiss to have a look at the focuser, since it has now become clear that the uneven movement could be due to a manufacturing flaw.
I just pray that the SF comes back to me as good as (or better than) new, and that it won't cost me an arm and a leg!