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

Conquest HD disappointment (1 Viewer)

A

amelia1730

Well-known member
Was looking to buy a good pair of bins recently, so spent time at the Bird Fair at Rutland trying out my shortlist. Settled on the Conquest HD 8 x 32 as they simply felt right as soon as I picked them up. Kept going back to make sure. They didn't have any left so I placed an order online (at a better price on Uttings website as a first time customer). Super service. Ordered Monday, arrived Tuesday, being sent back Wednesday!

I am so disappointed, I could cry! When I took them out of the box to try yesterday they didn't seem like the same binoculars. I couldn't put my finger on why. They just didn't seem right. I was less than excited when hubby came home. Underwhelmed I would say. Today I have been trying them again for a slightly longer spell and I just feel so disappointed. They have given me a dull headache after a short period of use. Image seems bright and clear once focussed but I keep getting what seems like the shadows from my eyelashes around the edges. Doesn't seem like a clean circular view, if that makes sense. Weird.

I really don't know what to do. I imagine they will take them back under Distance Selling Regs but do I ask for an exchange?? Is this a collimation issue? Have I got a dud? Should I be jumping for joy at my new purchase? Am I expecting too much?

This is only my second pair of bins and I bought these to replace some old Vikings.

All opinions welcome!
 
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There could be issues with them, you for sure need to send them back if they aren't right. You liked the first pair, stands to reason the other pair would be liked as well, if not, something is probably wrong.
 
amelia1730 said:
Was looking to buy a good pair of bins recently, so spent time at the Bird Fair at Rutland trying out my shortlist. Settled on the Conquest HD 8 x 32 as they simply felt right as soon as I picked them up. Kept going back to make sure. They didn't have any left so I placed an order online (at a better price on Uttings website as a first time customer). Super service. Ordered Monday, arrived Tuesday, being sent back Wednesday!

I am so disappointed, I could cry! When I took them out of the box to try yesterday they didn't seem like the same binoculars. I couldn't put my finger on why. They just didn't seem right. I was less than excited when hubby came home. Underwhelmed I would say. Today I have been trying them again for a slightly longer spell and I just feel so disappointed. They have given me a dull headache after a short period of use. Image seems bright and clear once focussed but I keep getting what seems like the shadows from my eyelashes around the edges. Doesn't seem like a clean circular view, if that makes sense. Weird.

I really don't know what to do. I imagine they will take them back under Distance Selling Regs but do I ask for an exchange?? Is this a collimation issue? Have I got a dud? Should I be jumping for joy at my new purchase? Am I expecting too much?

This is only my second pair of bins and I bought these to replace some old Vikings.

All opinions welcome!
Click to expand...

Amelia,

Sounds (due to transportation) like a collimation issue.
The safest way is to buy in a shop and take it home so you know what you get. Otherwise ask for another sample (Murphy's Law......;)) which hopefully is gonna have a sweeter treatment.

Jan
 
I had an issue with a scope bought from Uttings last year. I notified them and their response was first rate. New scope received within 7 days of raising the issue.

Rich
 
Amelia do forgive me if you know all about this, but if you don't wear spectacles have you got the eyecups screwed out fully? And if you wear specs have you got them fully screwed down?

Lee
 
amelia1730 said:
Was looking to buy a good pair of bins recently, so spent time at the Bird Fair at Rutland trying out my shortlist. Settled on the Conquest HD 8 x 32 as they simply felt right as soon as I picked them up. Kept going back to make sure. They didn't have any left so I placed an order online (at a better price on Uttings website as a first time customer). Super service. Ordered Monday, arrived Tuesday, being sent back Wednesday!

I am so disappointed, I could cry! When I took them out of the box to try yesterday they didn't seem like the same binoculars. I couldn't put my finger on why. They just didn't seem right. I was less than excited when hubby came home. Underwhelmed I would say. Today I have been trying them again for a slightly longer spell and I just feel so disappointed. They have given me a dull headache after a short period of use. Image seems bright and clear once focussed but I keep getting what seems like the shadows from my eyelashes around the edges. Doesn't seem like a clean circular view, if that makes sense. Weird.

I really don't know what to do. I imagine they will take them back under Distance Selling Regs but do I ask for an exchange?? Is this a collimation issue? Have I got a dud? Should I be jumping for joy at my new purchase? Am I expecting too much?

This is only my second pair of bins and I bought these to replace some old Vikings.

All opinions welcome!
Click to expand...


Hi Amelia,

I am sorry to hear you are having problems with a pair of our Conquest HD Binoculars. Have you already sent the product back? We have a great team of engineers based in the UK who can, if you still have them, can look into why you are having issues with them. Please see your personal messages for more help with this.

C James
Official ZEISS Representative
 
Hello Amelia,

I had the same thoughts as Lee when reading your post. It sounds like the eye cups are not adjusted properly. If you view without eyeglasses, it sounds as if the eye cups are not extended far enough from the eye pieces.

Assuming you are viewing without eye glasses and you do have the eye cups fully extended and it still is not enough, then be aware Zeiss offers a free replacement eye cup (for some/all?) Conquest HD models that is longer than the standard.

As an experiment only, slightly pull the binocular away from your face and see if things improve.

Sounds like there is either a usage issue or a problem with your particular unit. The reviews have overall be great. I have looked through the 8X32 and thought they were excellent. You should be able to get that same great view you saw at Birdfair. If none of the suggestions in this post work, then please follow up with C. James from Zeiss to see if he can get it resolved. I hope you can get this figured out.
 
normally they should be great to look through,
after adjustment of diopter, IPD and eye cups,
otherwise, send them back, and get a new pair,
 
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BruceH said:
HI had the same thoughts as Lee when reading your post. It sounds like the eye cups are not adjusted properly. If you view without eyeglasses, it sounds as if the eye cups are not extended far enough from the eye pieces. Assuming you are viewing without eye glasses and you do have the eye cups fully extended and it still is not enough, then be aware Zeiss offers a free replacement eye cup (for some/all?) Conquest HD models that is longer than the standard.
Click to expand...

+1

Clearly is sounds like the eyecups were not fully extended or at least one of them wasn't. If she does wear glasses then it's possible the eye relief isn't long enough. The 8x42 model might be a better fit.

PS. Since the eye relief on the 8x32 model is 16mm, I wouldn't think the longer eyecup would be necessary.
 
Allbinos just posted a review of the Zeiss Conquest HD 8x32

http://www.allbinos.com/298-binoculars_review-Carl_Zeiss_Conquest_HD_8x32.html

Ranked 8th of those tested, major slip up > small prisms > truncated pupils.

Sounds like you need the extended relief eyecups.

I was really disappointed with the 10x32 model I owned > they were unusable without the extended relief eyecups (black outs), the depth of field was poor (constant refocus) and the eye placement was way too critical for my liking (small exit pupil hampered by the truncated pupils) will never purchase a 10x32 model again!

Really liked my Zeiss Victory 8x42 T*FL (no black outs), (excellent depth of field), (no eye placement issues)
 
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Thanks all for your comments. Much appreciated.

I don't wear specs and interestingly one of the eyecups doesn't extend fully sometimes. I have to give it an extra twist to fully extend. I actually get the feeling that I need longer eyecups. Doesn't explain how/why I was happy with the pair I tried at Bird Fair though.

I haven't heard from the online store yet but I have requested a return. Not sure whether to risk a replacement. Great to get a response from Zeiss.
Over £500 for bins is a lot of money for me - I must be 100% happy with them.

Amelia
 
amelia1730 said:
Thanks all for your comments. Much appreciated.

I don't wear specs and interestingly one of the eyecups doesn't extend fully sometimes. I have to give it an extra twist to fully extend. I actually get the feeling that I need longer eyecups. Doesn't explain how/why I was happy with the pair I tried at Bird Fair though.

I haven't heard from the online store yet but I have requested a return. Not sure whether to risk a replacement. Great to get a response from Zeiss.
Over £500 for bins is a lot of money for me - I must be 100% happy with them.

Amelia
Click to expand...


I would follow thru with Zeiss, they will make sure you are happy.
 
amelia1730 said:
Thanks all for your comments. Much appreciated.

I don't wear specs and interestingly one of the eyecups doesn't extend fully sometimes. I have to give it an extra twist to fully extend. I actually get the feeling that I need longer eyecups. Doesn't explain how/why I was happy with the pair I tried at Bird Fair though.

I haven't heard from the online store yet but I have requested a return. Not sure whether to risk a replacement. Great to get a response from Zeiss.
Over £500 for bins is a lot of money for me - I must be 100% happy with them.

Amelia
Click to expand...

Amelia,

I've seen some discussions on the forum about Zeiss being able to supply eye cups with longer eye relief for their Conquest line of binoculars.

Why don't you contact Zeiss about it?

Bob
 
ceasar said:
Why don't you contact Zeiss about it?
Click to expand...

Seems Zeiss has already contacted her - see post by user C James above...
Lets hope it's just the eyepieces!

@Amelia: You can quickly check collimation of your binos at night with a point-like lightsource at infinity or close to (some far away streetlight or a bright star will do).
Just mess up the diopter setting maximally (it needs to be very unsharp for that eye) and then close the eye with the diopter setting and adjust sharpness correctly for the light source and keep it in the middle of the FOV. If you then open the other eye, you will see a semi bright round circle and a bright dot - the dot should be in the middle of the circle if your glass is in optimal collimation.
You have to have one side out of focus to fool your brain which normally tries to make both pictures match - which causes the headache.

Joachim
 
zzzzzz said:
Allbinos just posted a review of the Zeiss Conquest HD 8x32
Click to expand...

Wow, in retrospect, I guess she may need the longer eyecup. From the Allbinos picture they do look VERY short indeed. Strange that Zeiss didn't just replace all of them going forward with the longer eyecup.
 
Amelia,

As I recall, some non-eyeglass wearers had image blackout problems with the 8x42 model when it was first introduced and Zeiss made longer eyecups for it, which they would send you for free. I remember inquiring about them to Mike Jensen, but they weren't available yet at that time.

However, I'm not sure if this was also an issue with the 8x32 model. If you're seeing your eyelashes reflected, you're too close to the EPs. If you can't get far enough away from the EPs with both eyecups fully extended, then you might need the redesigned longer eyecups (if they are available for the 32 model). Either that, or as others have mentioned, the eyecups are not fully extended.

Sounds like C. James will fix the problem for you, whatever it is. Good Luck!

Brock
 
I am still undecided what to do - return to online store or to Zeiss.
Both parties are happy. If Zeiss can take a look while I wait next week, as I live close to Cambridge, then I may well opt for that

To add insult to injury I received a cheap pair of Barr & Stroud 8 x 32s by post this morning, to take on holiday with me, (I had no intention of taking my new Conquests) and they are a revelation! For less than one fifth of the price of the Zeiss at £74 they really are very, very good! And yes, the eye cups are longer than the Conquests.

Now it has finally stopped raining I have taken them into the garden this morning to have a play and I think it is probably the short eyecup issue that is causing me problems. If I press them firmly against my browbone and tilt the bottom away from my face things improve.

What I still don't understand is why the pair I picked up on the Zeiss demo stand to try were perfectly OK.

Thanks once again to all who replied to my post and Joachim, I will check the collimation tonight, thank you!
 
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Don't take my word for it but my understanding of the legal position is that goods should be returned to the vendor to preserve your statutory rights.
 
. With regard to statutory rights. Theoretically yes, but with Zeiss being so close I would let them have a look at it. I don't think they would quibble about legal issues.

It may be that the 8×32 at the bird fair had longer eyecups.
 
amelia1730 said:
............
What I still don't understand is why the pair I picked up on the Zeiss demo stand to try were perfectly OK.
..........
Click to expand...

The demo you used may have had the longer eye cups. Zeiss reps out here carry the longer cups with them to shows and will give them free to Conquest owners that mention having the issue you are having. Maybe someone complained about the shorter cups when using the demo and the rep then replaced the short eye cups with the longer ones for the potential customer.
 
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