Last week at the 2014 Paris Photo show, Zeiss finally brought a couple of binoculars to the public and to my surprise the new SF was there, along the Conquest HD and the Terra models.
I was suprised as they could not be bothered the previous years to bring any sports optics at all while all the others (Swarovski, Leica and Nikon) had their premium binoculars there for everyone to try.
No queue, just one guy looking through the SF and then it was my turn. The conditions to test a binocular were bad, a lot of people walking around, only indoors, upward viewing to avoid having faces crossing the FOV, lack of remote targets, etc...After looking through the Conquest HD 8x42, I noticed that the SF equivalent are pretty big but very well balanced and the view is much more straightforward, just right there without any effort to make. Viewing comfort is just outstanding, ER works fine (I wear spectacles). The most striking thing about the SF is the extra "punch" and "bite" that the view provides compared to that of the Conquest HD, it's brighter and more "direct".
I think that the correct words to summerize what I saw are "easy" and "sparkling" as far as the SF in concerned.
I was suprised as they could not be bothered the previous years to bring any sports optics at all while all the others (Swarovski, Leica and Nikon) had their premium binoculars there for everyone to try.
No queue, just one guy looking through the SF and then it was my turn. The conditions to test a binocular were bad, a lot of people walking around, only indoors, upward viewing to avoid having faces crossing the FOV, lack of remote targets, etc...After looking through the Conquest HD 8x42, I noticed that the SF equivalent are pretty big but very well balanced and the view is much more straightforward, just right there without any effort to make. Viewing comfort is just outstanding, ER works fine (I wear spectacles). The most striking thing about the SF is the extra "punch" and "bite" that the view provides compared to that of the Conquest HD, it's brighter and more "direct".
I think that the correct words to summerize what I saw are "easy" and "sparkling" as far as the SF in concerned.