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

New Zeiss Conquest HD (1 Viewer)

garymh

garymh

Binocular Engineer
I am just trying out one of the first Conquest HD binoculars to arrive in the UK.

The model in my hand is the 8x42 - and it feels very comfortable in the hand.

First impression after a few minutes of using it is ..........WOW !!!!!

The focus wheel is lovely and smooth and from close focus to inifinity is slightly less than one and a quarter turns.

The image is bright and pin sharp across the field with perfectly natural colours and I cannot see any CA or barrel/pincushion distortion - even at the edges.

Zeiss will be at the Festival of Birds at Slimbridge, Glos, on the 4th and 5th of February and will be displaying the 8x42 Conquest HD on their stand.
 

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garymh said:
I am just trying out one of the first Conquest HD binoculars to arrive in the UK.

The model in my hand is the 8x42 - and it feels very comfortable in the hand.

First impression after a few minutes of using it is ..........WOW !!!!!

The focus wheel is lovely and smooth and from close focus to inifinity is slightly less than one and a quarter turns.

The image is bright and pin sharp across the field with perfectly natural colours and I cannot see any CA or barrel/pincushion distortion - even at the edges.

Zeiss will be at the Festival of Birds at Slimbridge, Glos, on the 4th and 5th of February and will be displaying the 8x42 Conquest HD on their stand.
Click to expand...

Gary:
Now this sounds like you've gotten peoples attention, with your quick review.
I see you are now in sales along with the repair side. ;)
These look like a nice new addition to the Zeiss lineup.
Can you tell us how they compare to the older Conquest, and the FL?

Jerry
 
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Gary,
Thanks, but if you really want us to believe you, it would help if you'd say one bad thing about it. It looks good on the outside, I'll give it that. But I'm a sucker for the blue badge.

It's the night of the 4th. By now, somebody not paid by Zeiss has actually seen one. Why haven't they posted something yet? Maybe too stunned to speak?
Ron
 
In any event, looks like Zeiss have made a new conquest, wouldn't you say, Gary?
I liked the old Conquest, although it never quite 'felt' like a fairly expensive binocular...
 
Gary,

Thanks for posting those initial reactions. The fact that the focus wheel is "lovely and smooth" is good news since at least some samples of the previous Conquests had very stiff focusers.

The sharpness across the field and the good balance btwn pincushion and barrel distortion also sounds encouraging, though users' eyes differ in terms of their own distortion and ability to accommodate field curvature. So we'll have to get more eyes on them to see if this holds up.

I like the new body style better than the art deco ribbed Conquest, which reminded me of the buzzing space ships from the original Buck Rogers serial movies with "Buster" Crabb. Assuming a lack of thumb indents, I'd have to get them in my hands to find out if they felt comfortable. Closed bridge roofs are usually not that easy for me to hold, though there have been exceptions.

I can't wait for a shoot out between the new Conquests and the new Trinnies.

Brock
 
Hi Brock,

They do not have thumb indents but the rubber is quite soft giving a comfortable grip.

The metal body is a great improvement and gives a solid, quality feel.
 
garymh said:
Hi Brock,

They do not have thumb indents but the rubber is quite soft giving a comfortable grip.

The metal body is a great improvement and gives a solid, quality feel.
Click to expand...

Well done!
The d**n thumb indents are NEVER EVER EVER in the right place, nor are they of correct depth or angle.
 
garymh said:
Hi Brock,

They do not have thumb indents but the rubber is quite soft giving a comfortable grip.

The metal body is a great improvement and gives a solid, quality feel.
Click to expand...

Thanks for confirming that. As looksharp wrote, thumb indents rarely fit all hands. The original EL's thumb indents were in the wrong place for my thumbs, as were the thumb indents on the Promaster Infinity ED.

The trick with thumb indents is to make them wide and shallow to accommodate a variety of hand sizes and grips.

Designs that have worked for me are the thumb indents on the SLCneu and the EDG. The latter has gel pads, which can fit anybody's fingers.

The other design that's popular now that seems to work for me is the high bar "H" body style like the EDG II, Monarch 3, and Pentax NV.

By designing a narrow bridge near the EP side, it allows enough open bridge space to wrap my fingers around the barrels for better support. At least that's true on the full sized models, not sure about midsized.

I'm glad that Zeiss decided to upgrade the Conquest and give those of us who can't afford to spend $2K a chance to own an alpha quality bin.

I'm still leaning toward an EDG I because of its open bridge design and second tier price, but now that Zeiss and Leica have competition in the same price range, it's worth checking them out too.

Brock
 
Hello all,

I don't usually post on here.

Though as I as I actually tried the new Zeiss Conquest 8x42 HD today at Slimbride, after trying most of the Swarovski line up. As they were next to each other at the bird festival.

I would have to agree with all the comments made by Gary.

I was also very surprised, when I was told that they would retail around £700.
 
RE Birder said:
Anyone know how it compares to the FL range?
Click to expand...

Yes, it's half the price. :)

No, but that A/B should be very interesting since Zeiss is about to come out with a new Victory.

They seemed to have prepared for this by selling off the green armored version at a discount. But I'm sure there will be black armor FLs still available new, used, and refurbs at the time of the release of the FL IIs.

I've seen new 8x32 FLs selling for as low as $1299 and the 8x42 for $1499.

For those looking to buy a Zeiss bin, the question will be: Should I spend the extra $300-$500 for an "old" FL (less for demos and refurbs) or will the new Conquest HD give close to the same performance for le$$?

From the cursory comments above, the FL and Conquest HD's optics seem very different, in that the HD's appear to have a flatter field with less distortion. The body style is also very different, and so is the diopter mechanism.

This is a good, IMO, because it goes beyond merely price vs. performance to a choice between two different optical and mechanical designs, which one might prefer over the other.

But all this is rather speculative at this point.

One thing does seem certain. Zeiss will need to do better than Swaro did with the CLs, if it intends the Conquest HD as a way for birders to "enter the Zeiss family of optics" without breaking the bank.

IMO, the CL's format was too specialized to perform that function, but was better suited as a "companion" to a full sized Swaro, as the name implies. Indeed, many of the BF members who bought the CL already owned full sized Swaros or other alphas.

Now if Swaro follows up with a full sized CL, that might be a different story, and we could see a three way battle in the alpha second tier.

Brock
 
brocknroller said:
Yes, it's half the price. :)

No, but that A/B should be very interesting since Zeiss is about to come out with a new Victory.

They seemed to have prepared for this by selling off the green armored version at a discount. But I'm sure there will be black armor FLs still available new, used, and refurbs at the time of the release of the FL IIs.

I've seen new 8x32 FLs selling for as low as $1299 and the 8x42 for $1499.

For those looking to buy a Zeiss bin, the question will be: Should I spend the extra $300-$500 for an "old" FL (less for demos and refurbs) or will the new Conquest HD give close to the same performance for le$$?

From the cursory comments above, the FL and Conquest HD's optics seem very different, in that the HD's appear to have a flatter field with less distortion. The body style is also very different, and so is the diopter mechanism.

This is a good, IMO, because it goes beyond merely price vs. performance to a choice between two different optical and mechanical designs, which one might prefer over the other.

But all this is rather speculative at this point.

One thing does seem certain. Zeiss will need to do better than Swaro did with the CLs, if it intends the Conquest HD as a way for birders to "enter the Zeiss family of optics" without breaking the bank.

IMO, the CL's format was too specialized to perform that function, but was better suited as a "companion" to a full sized Swaro, as the name implies. Indeed, many of the BF members who bought the CL already owned full sized Swaros or other alphas.

Now if Swaro follows up with a full sized CL, that might be a different story, and we could see a three way battle in the alpha second tier.

Brock
Click to expand...

Great, I have recently just bought the 8x32FL's blissfully unaware that new ones are due out.....!!
Still the best bins I have looked through though,IMO.
Thanks for the reply Brock
 
I always liked my Conquests. The feel never bothered me as in return you got something incredibly light. I pulled the rubber eyecups up a quarter inch to give me a better view and that fixed the problem of not being able to get a good circle. Plus my focuser is smooth. To me the biggest advantage the FL's have is the 420ft FOV.

I'm curious to hear more about these conquests though.
 
Thanks Bob. So, is it indeed your contention that the extra 8mm of objective along w/ABK prism and the hefty pincushion is a value and a half over the HD (extra-low dispersion glass), Schmidt-Pechan (dielectric mirror coating) prism and much less PC?

Or perhaps the 8/10x42 Conquest is being introduced at an attractive price to lure more into the Zeiss fold. As I understand, lawd helps us now, the 8/10x40 ABK models are history being discontinued, yet the other Conquest ABK offerings will remain in the line-up.
 
I'm not talking value. I'm talking price. it is my understanding that ABK's cost more than SP's. I don't know if Zeiss is going to keep them in the 8 x 50 and 10 x 50 Conquests. All the other Conquests now have SP's including the 12 and 15's. These 8 x 50 ABK's are currently out of stock at Eagle Optics.

There were also complaints about the old Conquests ergonomics. I never tried them but among them the eyecups were said to be uncomfortable and there were complaints about the body armoring, cheap appearing or something like that, I think.

The 8 x 50's also have a very friendly 6.25 exit pupil. If you have ever used a 7 x 42 you will know what I am talking about. With the ABK prisms that in itself might make them as bright as the new 8 x 42 with dielectrics. Zeiss is keeping the ABK's in the Victory series.
 
Thanks again for sharing your knowledge. It would seem that since the 8/10x40 ABK are 86'd that the new & improved 8/10x42 will take their place. I don't know enough to appreciate the marketing hype of, ”Made in Germany“, totally robust or all new HD lens system.
I've read others discuss balance, molding and texture, yet for a guy more accustomed to wrapping his mitts around a post hole diggers it's all Greek to me. If I can grab 'em it's all good.
The low dispersion glass I'm sure is a boost, but I'm curious if anything/upgrade was done to the oculars in comparison. I suppose I'm beatin' 'round the bush, yet I wish to know if Zeiss did anything to the lens arrangement save add HD objectives. It would appear that w/talk of less PC that something else was tweaked.

I bought the 10x40 ABK partially because I figured the extra 2x boost would help mask the PC that was so prevalent in the little 8x30. No doubt I took a lot for granted in that assumption, but I didn't have a whole lot of information to work with at the time.

I look forward to some reviews of the new Conquests whilst keeping an eye peeled for deals on the existing/remaining Conquest ABK line.
 
I never could figure out why a change to ED glass was so expensive. Didn't Swarovski do it (without any hoopla) to it's EL's and SLC's as a matter of continuing improvements?

I know from my own experience that the improvement in brightness from the addition of dielectric prisms was much more evident than whatever the new ED glass did when I compared my old Nikon 10 x 32 LXL to my new Nikon 10 x 32 EDG. And I think changing the prisms must have been a big expense.

But I am not susceptible to CA either.

Bob

PS: I note in the Nikon sub forum today that Henry Link says ED glass reduces lateral color. http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?p=2358769#post2358769
 
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