I'm afraid that they will still be expensive. Swarovski's 7 x 42 B SLC's are selling for about $1500.00 at Cameraland and their current price of the 7 x 42 Victory is close to $1900.00.
And the bad news is that the choice of alpha 7 x 42's will be restricted to Leica and Nikon.
Bob
Perhaps Meopta too. But the absence of a 7x42 might open up for a 7x32.And the bad news is that the choice of alpha 7 x 42's will be restricted to Leica and Nikon.
Bob
SP,
Yes, I believe they were but who knows nowadays considering the year to year releases of different configurations of a new model.
I haven't been interested in optics long enough to remember the launch of the Victory FL models. Was the 7x42 FL available at the beginning with the 8x and 10x42 models?
Yes it was, and at the time it commanded a lot of attention from optics enthusiasts because it was very much the test case for whether Zeiss' new model line would restore the brand's glory on the birding scene. Zeiss made its mark on the birding scene with the 10x40 and (later) especially the 7x42 BGATP models. The subsequent 7x45 Night Owl was awesome optically but also heavy, so it never displaced or replaced the 7x42. The original Victory was a flop overall for a variety of reasons, so Zeiss continued to offer the 7x42 Classic. Only when the 7x42 FL came out did the company have a worthy replacement and a model line that birders were enthusiastic about. If there is to be no 7x42 HT, it seems this story trajectory has lost its relevance in the current market. That said, I guess I'd be very surprised if there were no 7x42 since many consider Zeiss the leader in that configuration.
--AP
What's wrong with these people? All that effort and hoopla and they come up with a marginal 16 mm eye relief in both models, and possibly greater transmission in the eye-damaging blue region. Oh, well. |=(|
Ed
To be fair, Zeiss' 16mm eye relief is like others' 18mm. ...
I do agree with Kammerdeiner, at least as far as the eye reliefs of the 8x42 FL and the 8.5x42 Swarovision go. With reading glasses on and eyecups fully down, I can see a wider true field with the Zeiss. Of course it has a little bit lower magnification, but taking that roughly into account, I am sure that the FL's 16mm and the SV's 20mm cannot be measured in the same way. They have essentially the same effective eye relief.
Ron
Here are the new Victorys that will be available from may 2012:
Zeiss Victory HT
2 Models for the start:
Zeiss Victory HT 8x42
Zeiss Victory HT 10x42
The new Zeiss HT looks 'quite neiss' on the lines of the Nikon EDG, both of which will no doubt prove to be similarly superb, but I think I'll stick with my Zeiss BGAT and Nikon HG, whose unique shapes from now on will appear even more distinctive and whose optics will continue to be more than adequate for my tired old eyes...
And just think of the money I'll save!