Zeiss Victory 8x40 B T P and flaw per salesman (1 Viewer)

I have yet to figure out what I want in a bin. I was looking for something compact, but then I looked at some Victory 8x40 B T P's today. They seemed real nice. Close out price of $750. I like the idea of buying locally where I can see and touch what I buy.

A few questions.

Is the price fair? (Only thing I have found in the forums is a closeout price of $500 from 2005)

How do these compare to Pentax 8x42 DCF WP's? Without a side by side comparision, the Zeiss seemed sharper and just balanced in my hands better. I will check it out again tomorrow with both bins, but I am interested in others opinions.

The salesman told me that Zeiss are more sensitive to cold fluctuations. for example, air conditioned house to hot summer day will give barrel distortions with resultant poor view. (I have never read that and take it as garbage!) Comments?

The Swarovski 8x30's had a bit of increased edge sharpness? Not worth the $450 price increase. They also did not seem lighter and were dimmer as expected. The 10x42 EL's were nicer, but no way can I buy those (Same for Zeiss FL's, for several reasons the most important being the added cost of surgery to remove the binos when my wife finds out the price). The Zeiss 10x30 Conquest were nice, and I think that the 8x30 (not available) would be a great size, but for only a price difference of $50 less than the Victories (at the store) or $100 (on the web), that just does not seem right.

Thanks for your opinions.

Mike

I think there are others out there at that price that I would look at. I for one liked the Classics better than the Victory. Have not had that much experience with the FL though it is out of your price. A few I would consider over the Victory. Meopta, Leupold GR HD, Pentax DCF ED all in 8x format and can be had at the price you are looking at, and maybe a refurbished 8x Nikon LXL. Read the post's in different forum's and shop around. The one thing on the Zeiss is the warranty! Hope this will give you some direction and I'm sure other's will chime in as well. Good luck, Bryce.

Hello Mike,

As I recall that line had a Victory I, which had problems with glare and strap attachments and a Victory II, where both matters were improved. Some felt that it was not top of the heap for resolution. I guess those problems led to the FL line, also known as Victory FL, in some markets. The orignial Victory's armour was rather different from what some bird watchers expected.

I have one but currently use an 8x32 FL. My 8x40 Victory I was satisfactory and I rarely had problems with glare, but other may find such problems a deal breaker. I moved to the FL because of the improved glass and the smaller size.

One of my correspondents had both the Victory and NIkon 8x42 LX. He thought the the latter was a tad sharper but that the Victory was lighter and a better companion on a long day of bird watching. Nevertheless, he sold the Victory for something else.

I do not feel able to comment about the price beyond writing that I cannot see how a $500 clearance item, in 2005 may be 50% more, today.
Edit: Actually, with the devaluation of the dollar, it may be only slightly overpriced. Bryce gave good advice about trying out the Meopta. Perhaps you can try the Victory, seeing if glare is problematic.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood :scribe: