Hello and bought some Victory 10x25's! (1 Viewer)

I'm not a birder but what better place to research small field binoculars than an enthusiast site like BF? I was looking for a new pair of portable field binoculars that I could carry in my fanny pack while hiking. I already have some wonderful old Minolta 6x20 porro prism binoculars from the late 70's but I was seeking more power and a slightly bigger objective lens.

Anyway, I spent a fair amount of time at a local sporting goods store comparing the compact 8's and 10's from Leica, Swarovski, and Zeiss (as well as Steiner, Brunton, Minox, and Pentax - they don't sell the Nikon LX). Weight was a critical factor as well as superb optics and ergonomics. I'd read through many threads here and on the other brand forums but found the Victory's were, for me, the best overall balance of great optics, ergonomics, weight, and price.

I thought the Swarovski had superior optics but not $200 superior. I also didn't like the *feel* as much as the Victory's. The Leica's, I just didn't care for as much all around. Surprising as I own a Leica camera.

So I bought the 10x25 Zeiss Victorys. Here's the rub, I spent some time with them along the Snake River Canyon (Idaho) near where the store is located. While the resolution was excellent considering the small objective, I started noticing a defect that was not one of my floaters. There was a spot inside one of the lenses that exhibited itself against brighter backgrounds (like the sky while I was tracking a couple of ducks). As I looked through the objectives, I saw what appeared to be a hair but was probably a scratch in the internal coatings in the other barrel. Both barrels had internal defects although only the spot revealed itself looking through the binoculars. Needless to say I returned them.

I was surprised at the poor QC as this was something that was definitely a factory defect. Even so, they are GREAT binoculars. The store couldn't get a new pair for at least a month so I ended up ordering a pair from binoculars.com and was pleased to get a price of under $400. Hopefully, the new pair (no, they aren't gray market) will be 100% and the pair I returned was just a fluke. I'll get them after the weekend and will give them a close examination.

Anyone else experience any problems with these from a QC POV? If they're consistant, they represent and incredible value in the high end compact market.

Chris

Chris,

Your story is sad. It tells us of a lack of quality control from a company which we can expect from chinese manufacturers. We have the right to expect more from the worlds maybe most highly respected binocular manufacturer.

Patric

Well, stuff happens. We'll see if the new ones are what they're supposed to be. Nobody gets it right all the time but there is NO way these should have slipped through.

Got the new ones and they seem just fine. As my property has LOTS of birds at this time of year (including a nesting pair of Swainson's hawks), I've trained these on the various birds around here as well as all the rabbits. They're great little binoculars and I suspect they'll get more *eye* time than the others I own (because they're likely to be with me more often than the others). The optics are really quite good though and these little Zeiss binoculars stand on their own merit.

A further comment for this thread - these things are exceptionally bright for their size. Except for the small exit pupil, you'd think they were 30-32mm objectives. They are proving to be really *outstanding* binoculars.

Coincidentally, I checked this forum one year to the day of my last post in this thread. The property is, once again, alive with birds, the Swainson hawks are back and nesting in the same tree and the Zeiss binoculars are besides me as I type.

In short, they have been superb binoculars and I would buy them again over the Leica and Swaro brands. I see they are now selling for a bit more than I paid but they are still a bargain.

BTW, when I reported to Zeiss the problems with the first pair and registered the second pair with them, they were very apologetic and sent me one of their cleaning kits to compensate the hassle I had in having to return a defective pair.

Excellent report. Thanks.

And a quick follow-up four years later. I still have these and use them and my Nikon SE 8x32 almost exclusively. The Zeiss have performed beyond my wildest expectations and are my primary binoculars for all around use, especially on hikes and trips.

I think it's hard to do any better in a small binocular than the Zeiss Victorys.

I've said it before elsewhere on Bird Forum, and I'll say it again: for its size, the Victory 10x25 is outstandingly bright, clear and very sharp. It's difficult to imagine any other bin of similar size being better. Has anyone done a comparison 'test of the best' of 10x25s ?

Could it have been eyelash problems? I know I have that issue with the victory mini's. I modded my pair to have eyecups like the Pentax 9x28, a perfect cup to fit your eye into. IMO all the Class A mini's I tried had the same problem, the ocular cup they put on the 20mm's is just way too small.

Eyelash problems? Regarding what?

Nessus said:

Could it have been eyelash problems? I know I have that issue with the victory mini's. I modded my pair to have eyecups like the Pentax 9x28, a perfect cup to fit your eye into. IMO all the Class A mini's I tried had the same problem, the ocular cup they put on the 20mm's is just way too small.

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I agree that all the alpha mini's have extremely small occular lenses and cups that don't give the best fit into your eyes. You basically have to hold them up to your eyebrow or the top of your eye socket and cant them out a bit to avoid the blinkies.

I actually prefer some of the single hinge 10x25's which have larger occular lenses and larger diameter eyecups. You give up a little optically, but they are much easier to use.

tom

James Bean said:

I've said it before elsewhere on Bird Forum, and I'll say it again: for its size, the Victory 10x25 is outstandingly bright, clear and very sharp. It's difficult to imagine any other bin of similar size being better. Has anyone done a comparison 'test of the best' of 10x25s ?

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I have. The Nikon 10x25 LX is just as good if not better and is usually cheaper but the focus wheel is in a different position. Be sure you are comfortable with it before buying. Alot of the reverse porros are just as good also including the Olympus Tracker 8x25. I find all the compacts a little lacking especially in shadows and low light and have pretty much moved away from them. A good 32mm will perform WAY better than any of them.

lilcrazy2 said:

I agree that all the alpha mini's have extremely small occular lenses and cups that don't give the best fit into your eyes. You basically have to hold them up to your eyebrow or the top of your eye socket and cant them out a bit to avoid the blinkies.

I actually prefer some of the single hinge 10x25's which have larger occular lenses and larger diameter eyecups. You give up a little optically, but they are much easier to use.

tom

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The Nikon 8x25 Prostaff has unusually large eyecups for a compact and fits your eyes pretty good for a compact.

James Bean said:

I've said it before elsewhere on Bird Forum, and I'll say it again: for its size, the Victory 10x25 is outstandingly bright, clear and very sharp. It's difficult to imagine any other bin of similar size being better. Has anyone done a comparison 'test of the best' of 10x25s ?

Click to expand...

It seems like everyone that buys one of these high dollar minis has their favorites, with most people preferring the Ultravids and Victory's over the Swaros. Most people who have compared the Nikon LXL put them on a level par with the best, if not slightly above - myself included.

But there is a new kid in town who is going to turn the mini market on its ear, and that kid is the new Alpen Wings ED 10x25 with its $170 street price. I have been playing around with one for the past 4 days, and it is every bit the equal to the LXL and Victory for resolution, contrast, and edge/edge sharpness, with almost non existant CA. I will publish a review in the near future, and can only hope it's little brother the 8x20 is equally outstanding.

Tom

Hi Tom, The review on Outdoor Life of this model they said it topped the resolution test, but was last on the low light test, well considering there were 8x33 and 9x32 and a reverse porro in the test. I used to look forward to that issue of OL. They tested a spotter with plastic lens this year and said it was a good buy for the price, "produces a dark image"

Hey Steve
I posted my review on the 10x25 Wings ED, and I agree with OL that the resolution and sharpness are simply outstanding. I bet they'd give that 9x32 a run for its money on brightness as I was out until dark thirty tonight with an 8x36 Ultra HD and a 10x50 Nikon Action EX porro, and the little 10x25's do a bang up job for a 2.5mm EP mini.

Tom

I'd like to tell you about my own experience with the Victory 10x25...

I purchased them in 2003 from Telescope House in London, in the intention of getting the very best compact available then, but unfortunately, I promptly noticed that there was a massive flaring probling when used in the open, regardless of the sun's position, in both fields.
The top section of the fields had bright, moonlike crescents that spoiled the view...
I returned to the shop for an exchange (of course the sales assistant did not notice anything wrong...) which I obtained.

Well after using this second pair for a while I noticed something wrong again, this time it was obviously the collimation which was out and the diopter wheel at the back was not set up properly, as I had to turn it all the way to one side to get it right (I have very little difference between both eyes though).

I sent them to Zeiss but they returned them stating that there was nothing wrong with them.

I kept on using this pair for the next 3 years, but always with the doubt that there was something wrong.

I decided to send them back to Zeiss again in 2006 and this time they replied that the binoculars were faulty and that they would send me a brand new pair, which they did.

I finally got my third pair and at last, everything was perfect and I felt relieved.


I still have them to this day and they have been my most used binoculars ever.
There are just a couple of things that should be improved:

The diopter wheel is difficult to adjust
The eye-relief is too short and I cannot access the full FOV (unlike what Zeiss claim) with my glasses.

Apart from that and the trouble I had, they are indeed a very good pair of binoculars.
It seems that it has taken Carl Zeiss a very long time to get it right though...

I've never noticed a flaring problem with mine although you can get a bit of CA in some situations.

I've always tried to see these for what they are, very compact, very sharp, very well built *compact* bins that have most of the faults of compact binoculars. Of the ones I tried way back when I bought these, these were the overall best though, as I'd stated in my initial post, I thought the Swaros had better (only slightly) optics.

BTW, the diopter adjustment on mine has always had the range I'd expect.