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Conquest HD 8x42 - Zeiss will be providing new eyecups (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter CSG
- Start date
Glad to know they are fixing this issue with the Conquest....this is a solid pair of binos and one I would surely pick up. I know when I reviewed this last year, one of the things I came up with was 'lack of quality'...or not in quality in terms of optics but in terms of the little things. And the eyecup is a good example.
If you are going to provide excellent optics such as the Conquest has, at a price near $1000, you have to shave corners someplace and this is one area that comes to mind (Eye-cups).
But if they fix this issue, I wouldn't mind picking up a pair even though I have the HT..... jim
If you are going to provide excellent optics such as the Conquest has, at a price near $1000, you have to shave corners someplace and this is one area that comes to mind (Eye-cups).
But if they fix this issue, I wouldn't mind picking up a pair even though I have the HT..... jim
you are right there Jim.
I have an FL 8x32 but would love a Conquest 8x32 to partner it. I would use it when rock-pooling or marsh surveying ie when I would rather not risk the FL. This is not to undersell the Conquests capabilities, exactly the opposite.
Lee
To me, the key is to get the eyecups set once and not have to change them. But that's also the problem. How you'd set them if you were wearing sunglasses is different than no glasses at all. It was the twist up/down motion that broke two of them on my 8x42's. What's surprising is how much better the eyecups are on the Terras!
Still, these longer eyecups have made the 8x32's more usable to me because of the added relief. While they were quite usable otherwise, I now have virtually no issues with blackouts. As good as the HT's.
Still, these longer eyecups have made the 8x32's more usable to me because of the added relief. While they were quite usable otherwise, I now have virtually no issues with blackouts. As good as the HT's.
NDhunter
Experienced observer
I just received a set of replacement eyecups for my 10x42 Conquest HD, as I wanted to see
how they would change the view. Zeiss will send them out if you give them a call. The replacement
for the 42's is shorter and brings the eye relief closer for eyeglass wearers, close to 4mm.
I don't wear glasses and now when using the new shorter cup, they are full out. With the original eyecup
I placed them in the second stop from full out. They are different, and offer different eye relief steps
at a different spot between each.
So, for those enjoying the Conquest, just use them if things are well, if not, get the other eyecup
that is available.
I am in the camp of leaving the eyecups in my preferred position at all times, and that is full or
part way out. However, some cases are so tight you are forced to screw the cups inward to fit in
the case, and that is to prevent push damage to the eyecup. That is how they explained the design of
the Zeiss Terra case to me.
Jerry
how they would change the view. Zeiss will send them out if you give them a call. The replacement
for the 42's is shorter and brings the eye relief closer for eyeglass wearers, close to 4mm.
I don't wear glasses and now when using the new shorter cup, they are full out. With the original eyecup
I placed them in the second stop from full out. They are different, and offer different eye relief steps
at a different spot between each.
So, for those enjoying the Conquest, just use them if things are well, if not, get the other eyecup
that is available.
I am in the camp of leaving the eyecups in my preferred position at all times, and that is full or
part way out. However, some cases are so tight you are forced to screw the cups inward to fit in
the case, and that is to prevent push damage to the eyecup. That is how they explained the design of
the Zeiss Terra case to me.
Jerry
I had one of the eyecups on my Conquest HD 10x42's cease to function. It happened when I was extending the eyecup. One call to Zeiss and a replacement pair of eyecups was sent to me, which corrected the problem.
The feel of the eyecups against the eye sockets is excellent, but the mechanical design of the extension feature is sticky, jerky, and feels cheap. "The eyecup extension mechanism is the single fly in the ointment with these, otherwise, magnificent bins."
I would not give up these bins over this issue, but Zeiss really needs to step up to the plate and change the design of the extension mechanism on the Conquest HD line-up. By doing so, the Conquest HD line of bins would arguably be the best choice in quasi/near-alpha bins.
I now keep the eyecups on my 8x32 and 10x42 Conquest HD's extended all the time, only retracting them when needed... which is not often.
The feel of the eyecups against the eye sockets is excellent, but the mechanical design of the extension feature is sticky, jerky, and feels cheap. "The eyecup extension mechanism is the single fly in the ointment with these, otherwise, magnificent bins."
I would not give up these bins over this issue, but Zeiss really needs to step up to the plate and change the design of the extension mechanism on the Conquest HD line-up. By doing so, the Conquest HD line of bins would arguably be the best choice in quasi/near-alpha bins.
I now keep the eyecups on my 8x32 and 10x42 Conquest HD's extended all the time, only retracting them when needed... which is not often.
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Sorry guys, don't know how to post with multiple quotes so had to copy and paste for CSG and ZDHart comments.
by CSG: To follow-up, I got the new eyecups from Zeiss for my 8x32 HD's. They are a bit longer and when fully extended have solved the minor blackout issues I had with those binoculars. The 8x32's were better than the 8x42's but the new, longer length eyecups have eliminated the issue.
HOWEVER, they are still the absolutely horrible design of the originals and rotating them to the various detent positions remains quite difficult.
Friday 4th April 2014 18:43
by ZDHart: The feel of the eyecups against the eye sockets is excellent, but the mechanical design of the extension feature is sticky, jerky, and feels cheap. "The eyecup extension mechanism is the single fly in the ointment with these, otherwise, magnificent bins."
I would not give up these bins over this issue, but Zeiss really needs to step up to the plate and change the design of the extension mechanism on the Conquest HD line-up. By doing so, the Conquest HD line of bins would arguably be the best choice in quasi/near-alpha bins.
I now keep the eyecups on my 8x32 and 10x42 Conquest HD's extended all the time, only retracting them when needed... which is not often.
Friday 6th June 2014 04:56
All,
I recently received the second generation eyecups for my Conquest HD 8x32 from Zeiss. It was a quick call to Zeiss CS and they arrived a week later at my door. They are slightly elongated but otherwise the same as far as I can tell. With the original and replacement eyecup fully extended sitting side by side on my desktop, I laid a straight edge across the two and measured the gap above the original eyecup, which amounted to 1.25mm (this is not an exact measurement, but eyeballing the ruler while next to the gap).
The items I mentioned in my review of the 8x32 Conquest HD, fiddling to get the binoculars situated to the face and some blackening at the edges when not correctly situated to the face, have been eliminated with the new eyecup. I can now pull the bin to my face and find an immediate fit and experience none of the blackening at the edges.
I'm not an eyeglass user and I leave my eyecups in the fully extended position.
As the others reported, the eyecups are not smooth when adjusting between stops; but they do lock-in solidly to the position they are set to.
I completely agree with the comments listed above and found dealing with Zeiss to be simple and pleasant.
CG
by CSG: To follow-up, I got the new eyecups from Zeiss for my 8x32 HD's. They are a bit longer and when fully extended have solved the minor blackout issues I had with those binoculars. The 8x32's were better than the 8x42's but the new, longer length eyecups have eliminated the issue.
HOWEVER, they are still the absolutely horrible design of the originals and rotating them to the various detent positions remains quite difficult.
Friday 4th April 2014 18:43
by ZDHart: The feel of the eyecups against the eye sockets is excellent, but the mechanical design of the extension feature is sticky, jerky, and feels cheap. "The eyecup extension mechanism is the single fly in the ointment with these, otherwise, magnificent bins."
I would not give up these bins over this issue, but Zeiss really needs to step up to the plate and change the design of the extension mechanism on the Conquest HD line-up. By doing so, the Conquest HD line of bins would arguably be the best choice in quasi/near-alpha bins.
I now keep the eyecups on my 8x32 and 10x42 Conquest HD's extended all the time, only retracting them when needed... which is not often.
Friday 6th June 2014 04:56
All,
I recently received the second generation eyecups for my Conquest HD 8x32 from Zeiss. It was a quick call to Zeiss CS and they arrived a week later at my door. They are slightly elongated but otherwise the same as far as I can tell. With the original and replacement eyecup fully extended sitting side by side on my desktop, I laid a straight edge across the two and measured the gap above the original eyecup, which amounted to 1.25mm (this is not an exact measurement, but eyeballing the ruler while next to the gap).
The items I mentioned in my review of the 8x32 Conquest HD, fiddling to get the binoculars situated to the face and some blackening at the edges when not correctly situated to the face, have been eliminated with the new eyecup. I can now pull the bin to my face and find an immediate fit and experience none of the blackening at the edges.
I'm not an eyeglass user and I leave my eyecups in the fully extended position.
As the others reported, the eyecups are not smooth when adjusting between stops; but they do lock-in solidly to the position they are set to.
I completely agree with the comments listed above and found dealing with Zeiss to be simple and pleasant.
CG
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I purchased my Conquest HD 8x42 from eBay US. I really like them but need the new longer eyecups to avoid the blackout. I wrote to Zeiss and they asked me to call the local dealer in Hong Kong. Very disappointed. The local dealer seemed to have no knowledge about the replacement eyecups.
So, can anyone in US help me to get a pair of the longer eyecups from Zeiss US (just a call to Zeiss?) and then send them to me in Hong Kong? I am glad to pay the shipping cost (by Paypal). I really need some help there. Can someone please help? PM me please if you are willing to help. Thanks in advance.
A despirate lover of the Conquest HD.
So, can anyone in US help me to get a pair of the longer eyecups from Zeiss US (just a call to Zeiss?) and then send them to me in Hong Kong? I am glad to pay the shipping cost (by Paypal). I really need some help there. Can someone please help? PM me please if you are willing to help. Thanks in advance.
A despirate lover of the Conquest HD.
cycleguy, I was shocked to see the exact same design coming with the replacement eyecups but that extra length in the fully extended position has completely eliminated the blackout issues with my 8x32 HD's. Still, how the eyecups on the Terras can be so much better a design is something I can't wrap my head around.
james holdsworth
Consulting Biologist
My replacement eyecups for my 8x32 HD were as crappy, if not more so, than the originals - so, I would say no. One of my all-around favorite bins let down badly by poor kit, I now leave the cups down to the 1st stop and use the MOLCET, which gives a fabulous walk-in view and mean I don't have to monkey with the terrible stiff eyecups.
I'm a Zeiss guy at heart but I have consistently criticised eyecups on most Zeiss models as being shoddy and not in keeping with the price of the bins.
However I am not sure the Conquest eyecups have a design problem as such. For sure Zeiss have had to make extended cups available so a cynic would say this is an admission of a design flaw but it is not as simple as that. No eyecups fit everybody. So it may be Zeiss missed their eyecup target (ie the percentage of people that would find them acceptable) by a few percent.
However, my main criticism is in how they are manufactured. Seems to me the moulds that turn out the components of the eyecups (often 3 parts go to make a Zeiss eyecup) are not manufactured to sufficiently tight tolerances, leading to eyecups that wobble, have rotational free play and click-stops that are barely there and so are unreliable. But not on all Zeiss eyecups. Pick up an FL or HT for example (these are Victories so are supposed to be better than Conquests) and you can't predict how loose or how tight they will be, so there is a problem of consistency too. In fact although Terras are comparatively crude in design, the ones I have tried have felt better made than Conquests.
Still, there might be light at the end of the tunnel. My FL 8x32s recently came back from servicing with new eyecups fitted, that appear to be the same design as the old ones, and they are absolutely fine. The feel nicely tight with no free play in any direction and are everything they should have been umpteen years ago when FLs were launched. Let's hope this is a sign that Zeiss are taking eyecups more seriously.
And if they want to know how to do eyecups they should take a look at those on GPO HDs. My brother in law who is not a bino-crazy like us on here, couldn't stop talking about the eyecups on the unit I had for review. I have never heard him use the word 'precision' so many times.
Lee
However I am not sure the Conquest eyecups have a design problem as such. For sure Zeiss have had to make extended cups available so a cynic would say this is an admission of a design flaw but it is not as simple as that. No eyecups fit everybody. So it may be Zeiss missed their eyecup target (ie the percentage of people that would find them acceptable) by a few percent.
However, my main criticism is in how they are manufactured. Seems to me the moulds that turn out the components of the eyecups (often 3 parts go to make a Zeiss eyecup) are not manufactured to sufficiently tight tolerances, leading to eyecups that wobble, have rotational free play and click-stops that are barely there and so are unreliable. But not on all Zeiss eyecups. Pick up an FL or HT for example (these are Victories so are supposed to be better than Conquests) and you can't predict how loose or how tight they will be, so there is a problem of consistency too. In fact although Terras are comparatively crude in design, the ones I have tried have felt better made than Conquests.
Still, there might be light at the end of the tunnel. My FL 8x32s recently came back from servicing with new eyecups fitted, that appear to be the same design as the old ones, and they are absolutely fine. The feel nicely tight with no free play in any direction and are everything they should have been umpteen years ago when FLs were launched. Let's hope this is a sign that Zeiss are taking eyecups more seriously.
And if they want to know how to do eyecups they should take a look at those on GPO HDs. My brother in law who is not a bino-crazy like us on here, couldn't stop talking about the eyecups on the unit I had for review. I have never heard him use the word 'precision' so many times.
Lee
I have no complaints about the eyecups on my Terras or HTs, it's just the HDs. My post yesterday was prompted because I was using the Conquests on a walk and wearing sunglasses. I went to twist the cups down (with a bit of struggle to get them to move from their outward position) so I could keep my sunglasses on and get the full FOV. Later, when trying to raise them back up, the left one unscrewed from the body. I had to really tighten it up to be able to get it raised back out to its fully twisted up position.
I'm going to call Zeiss tomorrow and request a replacement pair. Again.
I'm going to call Zeiss tomorrow and request a replacement pair. Again.
I sympathise, I really do. And don't get me started on what happens with the rainguard when you have a narrow IPD like me and you try to slide it quickly over the eyepieces........ I have fitted an old Dialyt rainguard to get over this and its perfect even if it looks clunky and doubles the weight of the bins :eek!:
Lee
Sc0tty
Well-known member
Can I ask about servicing. I also have 8x32FL and want to know if I should send them for servicing. As far as I can tell they are still in perfect working order. Do people send their bins for servicing when they are working fine or what? What is done in the service? Does it cost anything? How often should they be serviced?
Thanks.
james holdsworth
Consulting Biologist
A few here suggest regular servicing, even if all is well but I would not - I have many Zeiss bins, some more than 40 years old - still use them and they are all still in perfect working order. Your FL should be good for decades.
Send them in and the rigors of travel and handling may just produce a problem, when no problem existed before....just IMO.
