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

Zeiss Conquest HD 8x32: highs and lows (1 Viewer)

It's a dust baffle on the back of the rotor, normal for it to be free but mine [HD] is not as loose as yours appears to be. That said, my FL's have the same baffle and it is loose and rattles a bit. I would pay it no heed.
 
Don't think there's a linguistic misunderstanding. More specifically, if you were to pull the knob off (not recommended unless you're mechanically handy and used this sort of disassembly) what you'd see is the focus assembly is fixed to one side of the bridge (my memory is it's the left with the objectives facing away from oneself) and configured to provide a floating drive to the focus rod on the other side as the IPD's changed. Calibration for the independent focus adjust anchors to the fixed side and the primary focus tracks with it as well, relying on the float to keep the other barrel in sync. For the focus knob to work it needs a fixed point to push against to move the rods, screws, and sliders which make all this go. That's provided by a snap ring on the shaft on the center of the bridge with the dust baffle in question sitting towards the objectives from the ring. If the baffle wasn't free the focus knob would drag or jam when turned or the IPD adjustment would hang up.

The baffle on the Conquest HDs I just got back is free but sits very snugly. There has to be some mechanical slop but it's below what I can detect. The Terra EDs have the same design but the baffle seems lighter and flexes a little under a fingertip. No rattle on my pair and I'd just as soon have the weight savings, slight as it is, from the lighter build as there's no functional consequence to it. My T*FLs don't seem to use this design---the bridge housing flares outwards to match the focus knob instead. They do have a slight crunch at one point in the focus throw but I suspect that's related to their fancier independent focus design and possibly some grit from one of the previous owners.
 
Thanks James, twest820

That's reassuring. Sounds as if there is some variation in how loosely this plate sits, but it's working as it's supposed to.

Cheers, Peter
 
Cool, cool. I'd forgotten about it but happened to be checking back on some things and was reminded the allbinos Victory 8x32 T*FL review includes a cross section showing (among other things) the drive rod from the focus knob to the focusing element between the objective group and the prism.

As an aside, folks interested in point by point comparison between models may find the allbinos Conquest HD 8x32 review also helpful. No allbinos Terra ED 8x32 review at this time, though.
 
Not a reply, more of a return to the origin of this thread. After repair my Conquests worked fine for a year or so, then the intermittent sticky focus began to return. It was minor enough to live with for a while, but has become worse over time and I’ve reluctantly sent them back to Zeiss again. I’m hoping for a quick replacement rather than a three-month turnaround for repair. I still love everything else about these binos and find it hard to work without them (back to using my old Zen Ray ED 9x36, with marginal eye relief, narrow FOV and very slow focus - pretty good once you do lock on though).
Interested to hear if other forum users have had problems with Conquests that persisted after warranty repairs.
 
My pair, despite being incredible robust for all types of fieldwork etc., do have a semi-sticky focus. It's caused by the rubber cover rubbing against the chassis and seems worse in warm and humid conditions - when the rubber expands the most I guess. Very minor for me and so variable that I don't notice most of the time.
 
Interesting. Semi-sticky sounds about right, except this is sticky enough to make it hard to focus properly. I did wonder about the rubber of the focussing wheel catching against something but if so it’s impossible to see where. The problem doesn’t seem to be related to temperature or extended hard use.
Glad you find yours so robust in the field; apart from this hassle I’d have said the same and optically they are close enough to alpha for my eyes. I still recommend them to students but it’s getting hard to justify if they have to be in for repair for six months in the four years since I bought them new.
 
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