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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Clear as mud (1 Viewer)

Egrets Ivadafew

Egrets Ivadafew

Well-known member
I'm looking at buying a Zeiss Conquest 8x32 HD having been swayed by a good field of view / bright for a 32 / light weighing / spec and the fact it doesn't sell for the mad money of the big guns. However, a salesman from a well known optics outlet has informed me this model is made in China.
I'm not a snob when it comes to Chinese products, but I have been stung before (treated my wife to a brand new £4000 hot tub imported from Canada. Turns out the tub was exported to Canada from China. Two years later and it is leaking like a sieve, I'm informed the electrics are sub-standard, and the thing isn't worth jack.
Can anyone tell me whether Zeiss make the Conquest 8x32, or whether it's construction is sub-contracted. Thanks.
 
I think my Conquest HD 8x32 is made in Japan, but some finishing in Germany.
The Terra is I think made in China.
Not sure if this has changed.
 
No worries about build or reliability - this has been my go-to field bin for several years, enduring a lot of knocking about etc. and is a good as new. I reckon I've put several thousand field hours on her by now.
 
Egrets Ivadafew said:
I'm looking at buying a Zeiss Conquest 8x32 HD having been swayed by a good field of view / bright for a 32 / light weighing / spec and the fact it doesn't sell for the mad money of the big guns. However, a salesman from a well known optics outlet has informed me this model is made in China.
I'm not a snob when it comes to Chinese products, but I have been stung before (treated my wife to a brand new £4000 hot tub imported from Canada. Turns out the tub was exported to Canada from China. Two years later and it is leaking like a sieve, I'm informed the electrics are sub-standard, and the thing isn't worth jack.
Can anyone tell me whether Zeiss make the Conquest 8x32, or whether it's construction is sub-contracted. Thanks.
Click to expand...

Egrets
There is a good deal of evidence to show that Conquest is assembled in Germany from made in Japan parts and that it was designed by Zeiss Germany. It is a fine instrument and I have worked mine hard for three years so far.

Conquest HD 8x32 has been my go-to instrument for nature observation in the south of France for some years and we have just come back from a month in France where the Conquest again was my main bino.
I have more expensive Zeisses but the reason Conquest was my instrument of choice in France was that it has a quick focus so can get me on insects, reptiles and flowers nearby while being fast enough to get onto a bird in the distance and back again without losing sight of any of them. Plus it has been 100% reliable.

|I have no hesitation in recommending this model to anyone: it is a reliable workhorse.

Lee
 
This video is always worth a watch. One of my mates has the 10x42 that he bought new when first released. Optically they are in a good condition, but the rubber melted a bit when he was in Oman, and I think it affected the focusing wheel quite badly.
 
Sounds like these guys have your question answered... but I'll add that I've had an 8x32 conquest hd since they first came out and it works fine today. It gets light duty use year round and heavy duty use one week a year during hunting season. Only complaint I have is the operation of the eyecups, which isn't too smooth, and that is why I keep them extended all the time. Hopefully they (zeiss) have this refined by now. Early models had some complaints of blackouts due to the eyecup being too short. Zeiss then offered to owners for free a replacement eyecup that was a hair longer. I took them up on it and found the second set of eyecups to offer better eye relief but nothing changed with the operation...

My .02,

CG
 
Awesome-thanks chaps.
Sounds like the salesman has got his Conquests mixed up with his Terras. Subject to me nosing round for any new products at this year's Birdfair, I shall be trading in my Kowa 8.5x44s for the Zeiss. Sharp pair of glasses the Kowas, but the tunnelled view and the tombstone weight get on my nerves (trying to find birds in heavy woodland is like trying to swat flies with a cricket bat).
Thanks again.
 
cycleguy said:
Early models had some complaints of blackouts due to the eyecup being too short. Zeiss then offered to owners for free a replacement eyecup that was a hair longer. I took them up on it and found the second set of eyecups to offer better eye relief but nothing changed with the operation...

CG
Click to expand...

CG please let me be a smart alec pain in the b_tt for a moment and point out that the new eyecups don't change the eye relief which is an optical consequence of the optical design. The longer eyecups do however place some folks's eyes/spectacles in a better position in relation to the eye relief and thus function better. Most folks/spectacles combinations don't need this.

Lee
 
Last edited:
Egrets I would go slow on trading in your Kowas. The Conquests are very nice bins I don't think they are as good as the Kowas. Just before the SF's came out I tried the HT's, the FL's and the Conquests. If your going Zeiss go with the HT's. They were the only ones that seemed slightly better than my 8.5X44's.
Steve
 
Yeah, quite agree Stephen, I've looked through the HTs, and they are stunning. The problem is (and this is just a personal, and amateur opinion) I feel optical glass is so good now that mid range binoculars are nudging against the top tier. I.E. £500-700 will get you a return of 9 out of 10 in optical quality. I just can't justify handing over another £1000 for was is going to be (to my 58 year old eyes) a 0.5 increase in that quality.
 
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