Another advantage of the FL's composite body is lightweight. My FL 7x42 only weighs 26 oz.(737 grams) on the scale. Which is very light for a 42mm.
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I never met a 7x I liked until I met the Zeiss FL 7x42. (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Dennis Mau
- Start date
Have they been in the heat or sun much at all? Do you have high humidity? Any DEET, sunscreen or lotions used on your hands? I am curious why the armor would lift and blister. I thought that was only a Swarovski problem.
They are hard to find because people tend to keep them once they look through them!I've heard great things about them, but never had the pleasure of a look through
FL's are a real classic, one of Zeiss best IMO
I was unsure about the composite but feel similarly good about it now. And, there’s this:
Endurance test of 8x42 binoculars - Final results and summary - AllBinos.com
The best binocular tests on the net. The comprehensive database of binoculars with their parameters and users opinions. Interesting articles and comparisons.
These results make me wonder why people are still so confident in leica. I know that full submersion is a rare accident, but it speaks also to the integrity of the company, as noted in the report.
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Yup, thanks for the tip. I always wanted to try the Zeiss FL 7x42 but could never find one. The seller was great, and they are in like new condition.
The Zeiss FL took 1st place and the Tasco Essentials were dead last. It was funny what they said about the Trashco's. Nobody expected miracles....I was unsure about the composite but feel similarly good about it now. And, there’s this:
Endurance test of 8x42 binoculars - Final results and summary - AllBinos.com
The best binocular tests on the net. The comprehensive database of binoculars with their parameters and users opinions. Interesting articles and comparisons.www.allbinos.com
These results make me wonder why people are still so confident in leica. I know that full submersion is a rare accident, but it speaks also to the integrity of the company, as noted in the report.
Zeiss FL 8x42 1st Place
"Let’s pass to more pleasant things and outline shortly the winners of our test. The success of the Carl Zeiss Victory 8×42 T* FL binoculars is especially worth emphasizing because, as the only instrument produced by one of the ‘big trio’ companies, it managed to climb the podium. What’s more, it was significantly better than its most expensive and most reputable rivals. We can only hope that the successive series, Victory HT, is as mechanically good as this one. If you don’t care so much about the newest HT models, I think you can still find a lot of older FL ones on the market, and for bargain prices to boot. Apart from that, only 42 mm models are disappearing from the shelves; those with 32 mm and 56 mm objective lenses can still be bought, and their build quality is the same.
The score of our endurance tests speak for itself: we deal here with a very solid pair of binoculars which, after a year of intensive wear and tear, looks like new and all its mechanisms are fully functional. Some small slip-ups connected to extreme temperatures don’t change the overall picture, which is very positive. If you want a pair of binoculars, produced by a reputable company, which will serve you many years problem-free, and you don’t want to spend a huge amount of money, like 7-10 thousands PLN, on it the Zeiss, tested here, will be an excellent choice."
Tasco Essentials 8x42 Last Place
"The worst result in the endurance test got the Tasco Essentials 8×42, a cheap roof prism pair of binoculars. Nobody expected miracles here, but its performance was awful, practically in every testing category. The frost almost blocked the focusing wheel, high temperature caused a serious grease leakage in one of the tubes, the water drenched both tubes completely and a fall left the binoculars decolimated, with one eye cup broken. The Delta Optical Forest II showed that even a cheap device can endure a lot ; compared to that, the result of the Tasco is weak indeed."
Endurance test of 8x42 binoculars - Carl Zeiss Victory 8x42 FL T* - AllBinos.com
The best binocular tests on the net. The comprehensive database of binoculars with their parameters and users opinions. Interesting articles and comparisons.
Endurance test of 8x42 binoculars - Final results and summary - AllBinos.com
The best binocular tests on the net. The comprehensive database of binoculars with their parameters and users opinions. Interesting articles and comparisons.
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Thotmosis
Well-known member
Congrats, awesome binocular. Now don’t sell this one, you hear 😜
henry link
Well-known member
Please note that what is described by Zeiss itself as rubber armor on the FLs is not the same material as the fiber-reinforced polymide used along with some magnesium parts for the body itself. The great advantage I've found in the body material is that, unlike metal, it is essentially scratch and dent proof.
The rubber jacket appears to be made of the same stuff that was used by Zeiss for decades on armored binoculars, not just on the FLs. It's certainly very resistant to wear. My wife's 8x42 FL's 20 year old armor still looks practically new, but the adhesive used to affix it to the body failed long ago, leaving large shallow blisters between the armor and the body on the underside of each tube.
The materials are mentioned in the brochure below.
BTW, I prefer early pre-LotuTec FL specimens when possible. All the early ones I have seen have had more neutral color transmission than later ones with LotuTec.
Also, IMO the 8x56 is optically the best of the FLs in daylight, because its axial aberrations are the lowest when stopped down by the eye and in addition it uses an achromatic doublet focusing lens instead of a simple singlet. Unfortunately not available without LotuTech.
The other FL model that is particularly interesting is the 10x32. Its eyepiece has an extra doublet added to the field group which acts as a Barlow and should lower off-axis astigmatism and field curvature compared to the other FLs.
The rubber jacket appears to be made of the same stuff that was used by Zeiss for decades on armored binoculars, not just on the FLs. It's certainly very resistant to wear. My wife's 8x42 FL's 20 year old armor still looks practically new, but the adhesive used to affix it to the body failed long ago, leaving large shallow blisters between the armor and the body on the underside of each tube.
The materials are mentioned in the brochure below.
BTW, I prefer early pre-LotuTec FL specimens when possible. All the early ones I have seen have had more neutral color transmission than later ones with LotuTec.
Also, IMO the 8x56 is optically the best of the FLs in daylight, because its axial aberrations are the lowest when stopped down by the eye and in addition it uses an achromatic doublet focusing lens instead of a simple singlet. Unfortunately not available without LotuTech.
The other FL model that is particularly interesting is the 10x32. Its eyepiece has an extra doublet added to the field group which acts as a Barlow and should lower off-axis astigmatism and field curvature compared to the other FLs.
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james holdsworth
Consulting Biologist
I found the same with most of my recent rubber armoured Zeiss… The armour itself is durable, but the adhesive allows voids and loose areas to appear over time.
Thanks for this useful info Henry.
How would you describe the difference? Less a green cast than sometimes mentioned? Or just more neutral color transmission overall? My Victory FL 7x42 is older, bought used but the color balance seems pretty neutral - see also below. Don't know how to tell whether mine has LotuTec.
The 30' wider FOV than most 7x42 roofs is very useful to me as is the close focus performance.
Love mine. Bought new @ 8years ago. Color balance seems the same as the 7x42. Very bright and the "snap focus" on mine works perfectly. The first focus adjustment is nearly always perfect and any attempt to fine tune almost never results in a better image. May be just me and my sample.
Both have excellent eye relief. I really like the composite body of both for the additional reason the size to weight to shape ratio makes both comfortable to hold, and a particularly steady for a 10x32.
Mike
How would you describe the difference? Less a green cast than sometimes mentioned? Or just more neutral color transmission overall? My Victory FL 7x42 is older, bought used but the color balance seems pretty neutral - see also below. Don't know how to tell whether mine has LotuTec.
The 30' wider FOV than most 7x42 roofs is very useful to me as is the close focus performance.
Love mine. Bought new @ 8years ago. Color balance seems the same as the 7x42. Very bright and the "snap focus" on mine works perfectly. The first focus adjustment is nearly always perfect and any attempt to fine tune almost never results in a better image. May be just me and my sample.
Both have excellent eye relief. I really like the composite body of both for the additional reason the size to weight to shape ratio makes both comfortable to hold, and a particularly steady for a 10x32.
Mike
tenex
reality-based
That made me chuckle.
Reasonably good anyway; it was an auction, and ended up near $1500. (I too looked as I've always been curious, though not quite enough.)
Of course not, but softness is one thing and smears another. I have a bad memory of ugly astigmatism around the edge of FL 42 (8 and/or 10x) years ago, but never tried the 7x. Does it have less? I've asked that before and seem to recall the answer being no. (Some may be bothered by this less than I was.)
Well, the simple calculation gives 60.1°, the tangent formula 62°. The truth lies in the middle, toward the higher end for a model with low AMD, so perhaps close to 61.5° which really is not bad, and class leading for 7x.
How would you compare the resulting view with an 8x NL, SF, or E II that give just as much real FOV, and even more apparent? (I too wish someone would make a 7x bin again with 9.5-10° FOV. Arguing that there's no market for one is unconvincing when all people have seen for years is models with unimpressive FOV.)
Remember that pupils contract in daylight...
The 10x32 is our only FL; we've had it for a couple of years now, use it a lot, and love it. Optically great, generous FOV, and just the right size in the hand.
P.S. I just have to add a plug for the 10x56 that Chuck has for sale in the Classifieds, in case this thread inspires any retro lust...
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Interesting that the earlier pre-LotuTec FL specimens had more neutral color transmission, so I guess they didn't have as much of the slight green tint Zeiss's are known for in some models.
That must be some tough armor to last for 20 years and still look new, and it is logical that the adhesive would be the first thing to fail. At least the armor didn't fail in a few years, like some of the newer binoculars have been known to do.
I have heard that the FL 10x32 has less field curvature than the other FL models, so that would be an interesting one to try. It seems this FL 7x42 I just purchased has less field curvature than the other FL models I have tried also just going from memory.
I just bought an SF 10x32 to try because I was attracted by its huge 7.5 degree FOV, which is the widest FOV of any Zeiss, so I will have to put off picking up an FL 10x32 for the time being unless I can get a deal on one!
I wonder if the FL 7x42 has an extra doublet in the field group of the eyepiece because it seems to have less off-axis astigmatism and field curvature compared to other FLs I have tried.
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My FL 7x42 is also pretty color neutral. I don't see any of that slight green tint I have seen even in some of the newer SF's.
A "snap focus" is indicative of superb optics. High quality APO telescopes always snap into focus and that is how you tell they have excellent optics.
The "snap focus" is one thing I like about the FL 7x42. You hit the focus perfect first time every time.
How is the field curvature on the FL 10x32 compared to the FL 7x42?
I bought the Zeiss FL 7x42 for $1450 on "Buy it Now" which wasn't bad for their like new condition. I have had all the FL's except the FL 10x32, and I find the FL 7x42 has less astigmatism than any of the other models I have tried.
The FL 7x42 has less astigmatism than my Nikon HG 8x42, which is pretty good by any standards. The FL 7x42 also has sharper edges than the HG 8x42, which I found surprising since I don't remember any of the FL's I tried having that sharp of edges.
It is weird, but I find the view through the FL 7x42 is close to class leading binoculars like the NL, SF or EII as far as size, maybe with just slightly less sharp edges than the NL or SF but with much sharper edges than the EII. The FL 7x42 is also much brighter and has more contrast than the EII.
The feeling I had when I first looked through them was the same as looking through an NL or SF. A huge FOV with quite sharp edges so they give you that same wow factor and of course they are brighter than most of the NL's and SF's with the big 6mm EP.
Somebody does make a 7x binocular with a 10.7 degree FOV. The Nikon WX 7x50, and I would definitely like to try one if I could afford one! That is 10.7
degrees! Wow! It weighs 5 pounds though but maybe with a big enough harness!
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Conndomat
United States of Europe
Hi Mike,
You can recognize LotuTec by the engraving 7x42, if there is a small arch over the "42" it has LotuTec.
Zeiss Victory FL 8x56 T* FL Premium Fernglas Binoculars TOP Excellent + Caps + S | eBay
Sehr guter bis ausgezeichneter und voll funktionsfähiger Zustand; Das Fernglas zeigt lediglich leichte Spuren, keine Dellen oder Kratzer! Das Glas ist klar und frei von Kratzern, Separation, Nebel oder Glaspilz.
www.ebay.de
with LotuTec Picture 6...
Freunde und Freizeitpartner finden | kleinanzeigen.de
Kleinanzeigen: Freunde und Freizeitpartner finden - Jetzt in Winsen (Luhe) finden oder inserieren! - kleinanzeigen.de
without LotuTec Picture 8
Andreas
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Conndomat
United States of Europe
I can't confirm that, quite the opposite.
Place the binoculars on a tripod and see when the stars become astigmatic.
In fact, because of this clarity, I said goodbye to the 7x42, I still have the 8x32 and 10x56 FL.
Andreas
NDhunter
Experienced observer
I agree with you, this guy likes to abuse things, and seems to have something against Zeiss.
Alan, what is it all about ? I have a BS detector, and it has reached the alarm level..............
Jerry
So look, I consider myself a little bit of a "fanboy" for the FL 7x42, and I acknowledge a little bit of my enthusiasm stems from being still in the honeymoon phase with these bins (4 months?). As part of that, I've spent a lot of time comparing my NL8x32, Eii8x30 and FL, ultimately arriving at my current preference for the FL. Even still, my knee-jerk reaction to the above-quoted comments was skepticism.
Just now I compared the three and, accepting that our specific samples and our eyes may differ, and noting that I am not an optics expert (so I won't comment on astigmatism), these are my observations:
Brightness (late afternoon, dappled shade under oak tree canopy): FL>NL>Eii
Saturation: NL~Eii>FL
Width of blurry edge of field (less is better): Eii>FL>>NL
Magnitude of blur at very edge (more is blurrier): FL~Eii>>NL
FOV-width of reference area (~15m away) in view: equal (despite diffs in mag)
FOV-proportion of view is 'the tunnel' (more = tunnel vision): FL>Ei~NL
I also made these notes previously, which I add here because I am not confident in commenting on contrast in daylight, as the differences in magnification and saturation confuse my perception of contrast, sense stricto.
Low-light Contrast (tested previously in moonlight): NL>FL
Low-light Brightness (tested previously in moonlight): FL>NL
Veiling glare looking toward sunrise/set (more is worse): NL>>FL
Of course, differences in sample and all that, but I'm afraid I am not as convinced that the FL takes all the wins and ties, despite my overall preference for it (the NL and FL are a tie for me when the sun is high; FL wins all other times... for completeness, I will add that, in my opinion, the FL focuser wins BY FAR due to faster focus, and the NL wins manual ergonomics and also build quality-due to having metal eye cups).
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Nice comparison! Better than many reviews and good information. The NL, FL and E2 are three great binoculars, so it is interesting to hear opinions on how they compare.
