• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Victory SF: Condensation on ocular lens (1 Viewer)

The SF - the most ridiculously over-scrutinized binocular in history.

People seem to care more about the look of the bin, rather than the look through the bin.......

If that's true then I guess all the attention and scrutiny and high expectation is ultimately a form of flattery and admiration for a brand/product with such a rich history of excellence.

Also, when purchasing a luxury high end product such as this, people do indeed care about what it looks and feels like and the quality of its finish. Performance is obviously paramount, but I have no problem in saying I like a beautifully finished product if I'm dishing out big dollars.

I may want to buy an SF and I appreciate all the info I can get.

Rathaus
 
Last edited:
The "oil-like" coating that I posted images of in the beginning of this thread hasn't changed/dried etc. I'm wondering if anyone else has seen such a coating on the interior of the objective barrel of their SF as well?

Dont have a clue about SF's but I have seen it on Minox and Leupold.

My advice is if it bothers you or you think it interferes with your view, return it to where you bought it and ask them to make it right.

Zeiss has an excellent warranty, they will make it right.
 
If that's true then I guess all the attention and scrutiny and high expectation is ultimately a form of flattery and admiration for a brand/product with such a rich history of excellence.

Also, when purchasing a luxury high end product such as this, people do indeed care about what it looks and feels like and the quality of its finish. Performance is obviously paramount, but I have no problem in saying I like a beautifully finished product if I'm dishing out big dollars.

I may want to buy an SF and I appreciate all the info I can get.

Rathaus

This is similar to why BMW removed the pressure markings from the oil pressure gauge. Owners were comparing, if one owner idled at 40 psi and the other at 38, the 38 took it back and demanded it be repaired to show 40.

I'm not sure people go to this much trouble when buying pots and pans, mixers or washing machines, It only applies to binoculars, cameras, fly rods, bicycles, firearms and stereo equip.
 
This may be a silly question answered before, but why is the SF being released....teased out in such tiny numbers? Has it been officially launched yet? Why don't they just release and sell it properly?
 
If that's true then I guess all the attention and scrutiny and high expectation is ultimately a form of flattery and admiration for a brand/product with such a rich history of excellence.

Also, when purchasing a luxury high end product such as this, people do indeed care about what it looks and feels like and the quality of its finish. Performance is obviously paramount, but I have no problem in saying I like a beautifully finished product if I'm dishing out big dollars.

I may want to buy an SF and I appreciate all the info I can get.

Rathaus
I agree. The optical performance is paramount but I still don't want stains and rust on my $2500.00 binoculars nor do I want the ocular lens fogged up. I am considering buying the SF also so I want to hear about any problems before I do.
 
This may be a silly question answered before, but why is the SF being released....teased out in such tiny numbers? Has it been officially launched yet? Why don't they just release and sell it properly?
Maybe they are making the customers beta testers to see if they have any issues with them. That is what it seems like.
 
What a sewer this place has become......

And I make one comment about how threads like this are unnecessary and the standard ''fanboy'' claim is thrown out from the Swaro owners.

I'm taking another vacation from fools like Dennis that monopolize and infuriate and generally just drag this place down to his level of stupidity.
Sorry ,James. Threads like this are necessary and very important to those considering purchasing the SF. I think most would agree that they want to hear about any issues before they do. I can understand somebody that has already purchased the binocular to want to ignore any issues or problems but for the people on the fence concerning the SF these threads are very interesting and important.
 
Dont have a clue about SF's but I have seen it on Minox and Leupold.

My advice is if it bothers you or you think it interferes with your view, return it to where you bought it and ask them to make it right.

Zeiss has an excellent warranty, they will make it right.
I may be out of line but IMO a $2500 binocular should operate perfectly or be near perfect. That is what you are paying the big bucks for. There should be no rust or stains or ocular fogging. Return them if you are not satisfied in any way.
 
This may be a silly question answered before, but why is the SF being released....teased out in such tiny numbers? Has it been officially launched yet? Why don't they just release and sell it properly?

Rathaus

This was true mid to late last year, but not this year.
Availability has accelerated and SF is widely available.
For sure it is in very high demand around the world and there may be a short wait in some places.

Lee
 
Not just on one ocular and not the other.

Dennis

You are assuming that each side of the bins are at the same temperature and a lot of the time you would be right to do so.

But there are circumstances where this doesn't apply.

I have caused fogging on one side only by holding just one side of a pair of bins, with my fingers aroung the eyepiece for several minutes and then going outside into the cold. The side that I had been holding got fogged on the outside of the eyepiece.

On many other occasions I have been observing through the bins and then lowered them a little to look with the naked eye and my breath coming out of my nose fogged just one eyepiece. Actually I have even done this during cleaning when looking just through one eyepiece to ensure I had cleaned away a greasy fingerprint, I found I hadn't, lowered the bins from my eye to look around for a microfibre cloth and when I looked again I had fogged the eyepiece with my breath. Grrr!

Lee
 
I would say condensate on ONE ocular IS a problem. If it was on both no. There is something wrong if condensate forms on just one ocular. The difference between the SF and SV are the problems in the SV are design problems and the SF's problems are QA problems. The glare and sticky focusers and RB are problems inherent in the DESIGN of the SV. They are not there because somebody forgot to apply the Lotutec coating to the ocular lens like the SF. Because these are QA problems in the SF that is where my concern lies. Zeiss is getting sloppy on their QA.

Dennis
I don't see you leading a movement to get Swaro to redesign the EL but you are pumping up minor issues with SF, and while I agree that all QA issues should be addressed I don't agree with your hysterical and childish leaping on every possible issue and hypeing it up.

The thing about design issues Dennis is that they are still there no matter how good your QA is.

Lee
 
Good idea. It could very well be missing the Lotutec coating.

Wrong again Dennis.

Lotutec isn't there to stop fogging. This is caused by a temperature difference and results in fine droplets.

Lotutec works by causing larger droplets such as medium to heavy rain to run off or be easily shaken off.

In very light or misty rain it doesn't work well because the droplets, like the droplets from fogging, don't reach the necessary size for them to become unstable and run off.

Lee
 
Fogging on an external ocular lens???

That would NEVER happen with a Swaro…..
Wait, I actually have a coated Swaro lens here so I will try it,
just verifying the superior quality of Swaro,
breathing on it right now….
but what the F*UCK….
It fogged…

LENSES FOG, no matter the name of the coating. Period.

50 posts about fogging on an external ocular lens,
THAT is not healthy,
go birding instead, please.
 
Last edited:
Fogging on an external ocular lens???

That would NEVER happen with a Swaro…..
Wait, I actually have a coated Swaro lens here so I will try it,
just verifying the superior quality of Swaro,
breathing on it right now….
but what the F*UCK….
It fogged…

LENSES FOG, no matter the name of the coatings. Period.

50 posts about fogging on an external ocular lens,
go birding instead, please.

Very true! couple of observations on every bin I have had I can get fogging on one or the other lens, its likely to be just exposure unequal (like pressing one side closer to the eye on one side etc) - it isn't anything to worry about!

Stop worrying so much about the kit and settle down and enjoy the view of the Birds!
 
Very true! couple of observations on every bin I have had I can get fogging on one or the other lens, its likely to be just exposure unequal (like pressing one side closer to the eye on one side etc) - it isn't anything to worry about!

Stop worrying so much about the kit and settle down and enjoy the view of the Birds!

Hallelujah, common sense prevails at last :t:

Lee
 
Fogging on an external ocular lens???

That would NEVER happen with a Swaro…..
Wait, I actually have a coated Swaro lens here so I will try it,
just verifying the superior quality of Swaro,
breathing on it right now….
but what the F*UCK….
It fogged…

LENSES FOG, no matter the name of the coating. Period.

50 posts about fogging on an external ocular lens,
THAT is not healthy,
go birding instead, please.

DO NOT DO THIS AT HOME!

I ate hot Indian currie last night and breathed on my SF this morning and the complete SF vaporised.
WTF, talking about CQ issues..

Jan
 
DO NOT DO THIS AT HOME!

I ate hot Indian currie last night and breathed on my SF this morning and the complete SF vaporised.
WTF, talking about CQ issues..

Jan
Jan,

As you know, vaporization is the transition from a liquid or solid (your sample) state to a gaseous state. Or, one could say, the opposite of condensation, the subject of this thread.

In any case, you experienced what I like to call the BF conundrum. Take a simple topic, beat it senseless and you end up with a conundrum. In your case, a post spicy meal exhalation resulted in nothing but a lot of hot air. Sort of like this entire thread. 3:)
 
Jan,

As you know, vaporization is the transition from a liquid or solid (your sample) state to a gaseous state. Or, one could say, the opposite of condensation, the subject of this thread.

In any case, you experienced what I like to call the BF conundrum. Take a simple topic, beat it senseless and you end up with a conundrum. In your case, a post spicy meal exhalation resulted in nothing but a lot of hot air. Sort of like this entire thread. 3:)

Thank God, I thought it was me....:-C:-C
 
Warning! This thread is more than 9 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top