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

Zeiss 11x50 Victory Ht (1 Viewer)

Interesting speculation.

I think its too early for a big-bore HT like a 50 or 56. I think Zeiss will assessing carefully how the 42 is being adopted by the hunting community and whether its enhanced light transmission will make large diameter objectives unnecessary. So, a big-bore HT is not off the agenda but I guess its on the back burner for now.

I think Brock may well be right when he touts the Conquest HD line as most likely to get big objectives. In fact I would put money on these coming out soon.

I also predict 32mm Terra EDs, providing novices and tourists and other more casual users with a compact inexpensive format.

7x42s, in fact, 7xanything, are off the agenda for Zeiss IMHO. They have been there, done that and not sold enough.

Not long to SHOT now!

Lee

USA introductions will be hitting our website the first week of January. :)
 
Since we are looking in crystal spheres I will also mention what I faintly saw appearing in the smoke of the Zeiss future:
-1- An 8o mm ED Conquest telescope almost similar to the Swarovsi ATS telescope, price around 1000 euros and
-2- a very cheap addition to the Terra line, price of about 100 euros and

oooh boy a smoke curtain prevents a deeper view in my glass sphere...
Merry Christmas to you all.
Gijs

Gijs

Perhaps the smoke that you saw was coming from the aromatic and ennervating 'cigarette' you were smoking at the time;).

Lee
 
8x56 binoculars are the most common binoculars among hunters in Germany and much of Central Europe, since much of the hunting is done in very low light in the early evenings/mornings and at night. Offering an 8x56 HT makes a lot of sense for a company like Zeiss that has traditionally been the make the hunting fraternity in Germany buy. They'd be stupid not to transfer the HT technology to that size. And it's not just the increased light transmission of the HT's that make this technology a prime candidate for an 8x56, it's also the increased contrast in low light. The difference between the Victory 8x42 FL and the 8x42 HT in low light is quite pronounced, and I can't think of any reason why there shouldn't be a similar difference between the 8x56 FL and an 8x56 HT.

Hermann

Hermann

What you say about the logic of offering a 56mm using HT tech is undeniable, but, but, but...

The 42mm HT is touted by Zeiss as the brightest premium binoculars in the world. This turn of phrase is used by Zeiss all over the place.

How do they follow that with a 56mm?

"Here is the new brightest premium binocular! And over here in the 42mm corner is what used to be the brightest and still is very bright, honestly".

As I have said elsewhere I have no inside knowledge on this but it seems likely to me that Zeiss would assess just how well 'the brightest bins' attract hunters. If they feel that the 42mm doesn't cut it with the hunting set then perhaps we will see the 'brightest' claim for the 42mm HTs fade away and after a decent interval we might see 50 or 56mm emerge.

Or I could be totally wrong like so many times in the past :smoke:

Lee
 
USA introductions will be hitting our website the first week of January. :)

Looking forward to it Mike, thanks for the reminder. Oh, and thanks for drawing everyone's attention to my predictions so that in January I look a right chump! :-O

A merry Christmas to all!!!

Lee
 
Looking forward to it Mike, thanks for the reminder. Oh, and thanks for drawing everyone's attention to my predictions so that in January I look a right chump! :-O

A merry Christmas to all!!!

Lee

Lee, my pleasure. If it will help spin the Christmas fury, the fun won't end in January. We will have a frenzy of new great stuff in 2014, and plan on product launches in January, March and May. Let the good times roll.... Merry Christmas to all.
 
Hermann

What you say about the logic of offering a 56mm using HT tech is undeniable, but, but, but...

The 42mm HT is touted by Zeiss as the brightest premium binoculars in the world. This turn of phrase is used by Zeiss all over the place.

How do they follow that with a 56mm?

"Here is the new brightest premium binocular! And over here in the 42mm corner is what used to be the brightest and still is very bright, honestly".

As I have said elsewhere I have no inside knowledge on this but it seems likely to me that Zeiss would assess just how well 'the brightest bins' attract hunters. If they feel that the 42mm doesn't cut it with the hunting set then perhaps we will see the 'brightest' claim for the 42mm HTs fade away and after a decent interval we might see 50 or 56mm emerge.

Or I could be totally wrong like so many times in the past :smoke:

Lee

I dont know, add more arrows to the quiver and the ad's can easily tout, Zeiss, maker of the brightest binoculars in the world.
 
Lee, my pleasure. If it will help spin the Christmas fury, the fun won't end in January. We will have a frenzy of new great stuff in 2014, and plan on product launches in January, March and May. Let the good times roll.... Merry Christmas to all.

Mike

You ain't nuthin' but a big ole teeser ;)

Presumably the March launch will tie in with announcements in Europe, so us poor relations over here :)-O) have a lot to look forward to as well.

Please say hi and Merry Christmas to Stephen for me B :)

Lee
 
The last thread on digital bins seems to be <this> 7½ mths ago. Developments since then?

Very true. No new products at all afaik.
If there has been any public announcement since then of any developments in this space, I've missed them.
There have however been multiple reviews of the new Sony DEV-50 digital binoculars, mostly positive, with complaints about the software, the camera performance and the battery life, but kudos for the 3D and video aspects. The binocular displays are still a little short on resolution desired, so it will probably take a 4K screen to give images detailed enough for birders. We can hope for a DEV 500 by mid 2014, if the Sony leadership is supportive.
 
Etudiant, there's a thread just begun titled "The Death of the Traditional Binocular". I fear the news is not greatly exaggerated.
 
Very true. No new products at all afaik.
If there has been any public announcement since then of any developments in this space, I've missed them.
There have however been multiple reviews of the new Sony DEV-50 digital binoculars, mostly positive, with complaints about the software, the camera performance and the battery life, but kudos for the 3D and video aspects. The binocular displays are still a little short on resolution desired, so it will probably take a 4K screen to give images detailed enough for birders. We can hope for a DEV 500 by mid 2014, if the Sony leadership is supportive.

This topic is very interesting, but as far as Sony, the 3D TV flop has
been a very expensive loss, so don't expect much development in the
binocular area from them.

I've visited with a camera salesman who pointed out how great the
Sony cameras are, but I am wondering if they have even made a dent in
the high end market there.

I am just giving my simple view of the marketplace, and I have had
Sony TV's for 30 years. I regard them very well.

Jerry
 
Lee, post 23.
My crystal sphere was recently calibrated, so even after a nice glass of brandy it showed the same picture until the view was troubled by a smokescreen.
Gijs
 
Lee, post 23.
My crystal sphere was recently calibrated, so even after a nice glass of brandy it showed the same picture until the view was troubled by a smokescreen.
Gijs

Well I hope it was calibrated according to the correct ISO standard and by a company accredited to ISO 9000-series.

Ignore the smokescreen: it was probably 'interference' from some of those pesky anti-Dutch folks that sometimes post on BF.

Beste Wensen

Lee
 
A very interesting topic. My personal view, unrelated to Zeiss and not representing the Zeiss opinions of this market position, is that there will be a future for digital binoculars, but even after price is dramatically reduced and quality is dramatically increased, this will always be a small piece of the market, and traditional binos will always be the majority of the business. Take riflescopes as an example. Electronics to assist the shooter have become commonplace in scopes, such as integrated laser rangefinders, illumination, etc. But sales are still highly sku'd to the "plane Jane", scopes. It will be a long time (if ever) before digital optical clarity beats the optical clarity of a high-end glass lens product. However, (again my personal view) evaluating what a consumer is purchasing when they buy a binocular, the list is broad. Optical brilliance, ergonomics, durability, price, FOV, waterproof, etc,etc,etc... are all choices. Optical companies are not just selling "Optics", they are selling a laundry list of features in a package, and these features are weighed based on what they consumers is most interested in, and the consumer will sacrifice/compromise some features to gain another of more interest. When digital products become commonplace, an entire new list of features will come available for consumers to choose from. Some consumer will be willing to sacrifice optical clarity or durability for a digital feature that is of more interest. My guess is that this will dilute the bino market but not replace it and will become a piece of the market, not "the" market. The future will be interesting for sure.
 
A very interesting topic. However, (again my personal view) evaluating what a consumer is purchasing when they buy a binocular, the list is broad. Optical brilliance, ergonomics, durability, price, FOV, waterproof, etc,etc,etc... are all choices.

Optical companies are not just selling "Optics", they are selling a laundry list of features in a package, and the consumer will sacrifice/compromise some features to gain another of more interest. When digital products become commonplace, an entire new list of features will come available for consumers to choose from.

My guess is that this will dilute the bino market but not replace it and will become a piece of the market, not "the" market. The future will be interesting for sure.

The feature list is provocative because apart from optical brilliance very few ever make their way into the ad campaigns. The binocular industry does too little to educate its customers, which is surprising considering the same firms do an excellent job highlighting the features of their riflescopes.

There is no reason why the emergence of digital binoculars should not greatly expand the market, rather than 'dilute' it. Certainly the emergence of digital cameras has multiplied the number of photographers, while also shifting the foundations of the industry. Likewise here, a good built in image capture plus stabilization plus perhaps a bit of image enhancement for twilight would augment the market appeal of binoculars considerably imho.

I would expect the binocular market evolution to retrace the camera experience, where pure optical glass models are either minimal budget products, akin to the throw away cameras sold at resorts, or hard core expert designs, sort of the Linhofs of the binocular world. In between the opto/electronic designs will be the norm.
 
As I have said elsewhere I have no inside knowledge on this but it seems likely to me that Zeiss would assess just how well 'the brightest bins' attract hunters. If they feel that the 42mm doesn't cut it with the hunting set



Lee

I am not a hunter so am not sure how the HT has been accepted among the hunting set. But obviously this bino has made strides within the birding set.

Should the HT be touted more as a birders bino than a hunters?

Did Zeiss just make the wrong target audience to begin with?

If the Zeiss is 'it' for birders...why come out with a bino that now is meant for birders if this bino fits perfectly. I wouldn't want to bird using a large bino such as a 11-12mm X56...This isn't practical as a walk-about but would fit well in 'sea watch' duty or shorebirding.
 
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I am not a hunter so am not sure how the HT has been accepted among the hunting set. But obviously this bino has made strides within the birding set.

Should the HT be touted more as a birders bino than a hunters?

Did Zeiss just make the wrong target audience to begin with?

If the Zeiss is 'it' for birders...why come out with a bino that now is meant for birders if this bino fits perfectly. I wouldn't want to bird using a large bino such as a 11-12mm X56...This isn't practical as a walk-about but would fit well in 'sea watch' duty or shorebirding.

HT is being advertised in birding magazines over here in the UK.

Lee
 
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