Very interested in Gary1366's comments - but especially disappointed in your appraisal of the ability of the new Vario 20 - 75 x eyepiece to deliver a really sharp image above 50 x magnification!
I previously owned the first generation Diascope 85 T*FL with a 20-60 x zoom, which despite a few reservations, I was generally very happy with. This instrument I unfortunately managed to trash in an accident when I fell while birding in the pennines last month, but am now in the fortunate position of being offered a replacement by my insurance company. Their offer based on like for like, is to obtain the new Victory Diascope 85 with the new 20 - 60 X Vario eyepiece, (I could of course upgrade to the 20 -75), and certainly many features of this new scope look very appealing: -
The improved stray-light handling, improved field of view, full rubber amouring and even the Lotutec lens coating (not available on my 2004 model) all stack up in its favour. I note your reservations about the new dual speed focus, but would imagine that this is something that one would adapt to and hopefully in time come to prefer. However, clearly the principal concern of any birder is that of the primary function of a scope i.e. the quality, sharpness and brightness of the image, hence my concern at the comments made here.
The problem is that apart from your evaluation and a review in an american hunting magazine (that seemed to focus more on build quality) no other reviews are so far available. Nor are any of the new Vario eyepieces available to test with the new Diascope. I also agree that it is most unlikely that Zeiss would have brought along a duff scope or eyepiece to Birdfare but I do wonder or even hope that all the delays in the final launch of this product may, and I stress may be due to their trying to remedy this problem. At least they are not going to succeed with such a premium positioned scope if there really is a significant issue with image sharpness above 50 x magnification. I
probably wont get a straight answer but I will attempt to ask someone at Zeiss about this.
Meanwhile I have a dilemma - Do I go ahead and try to get my insurance company to obtain the Kowa TSN 883 with the 20 - 60 x zoom - a scope that is very well proven, or do I struggle through the migration period scopeless and either (i) hope for the best and put the new Zeiss on order, or (ii) wait until it is fully available, assess the reviews and test it for myself side by side with the Kowa etc? Given - the fact that I would hope that my next scope will last me many years - I should probably take the latter option and be patient.
But otherwise did anyone else out there get to try out the new Diascope at Birdfare with one of the new Vario lenses? It would be great to hear from you if you did!