Zeiss ht discontinued ? (1 Viewer)

Troubador · Apr 7, 2018

Vespobuteo said:
Meostar is a bit too heavy, and I don't find porros ideal for birding, ergo, focuser etc.

BTW, can't find the 7x42 Meostar on the new Meopta web:

https://www.meoptasportsoptics.eu/en/rada/meostar-b1-226-26/

So perhaps it's already discontinued?

I think it has discontinued but you might find one in a hunting store somewhere in Europe. I have one of the last ones and it is very nice indeed and to my surprise I don't find the weight too heavy. I now walk with the help of a walking pole in my right hand whereas in the past this hand always rested on my binos to enable me to be 'quick on the draw' with my binos. It turns out that my hand/arm resting on my binos was responsible for a significant amount of the weight I felt on the back of my neck by the end of a long day. During our recent holiday I never noticed the weight of the MeoStar during several long days. It may become a factor for viewing behaviour for extended periods but if this is expected I would normally can an SF for this.

Lee

Steve C · Apr 8, 2018

It always seemed somewhat strange to me that Zeiss would split their own market with two top tier binoculars. It may well be they developed two and let circumstances dictate which (or maybe both?) would survive. Seems like the SF is perhaps the winner.

Lee, I see a lot of people carrying binoculars as you describe. Your conclusion that always holding the glass like you did would indeed add some weight by the end of the day. I typically do not keep a hand on the glass. It seems I may be less bothered by weight. I had no problems with the Leupold Gold Ring or with the large Maven B2 or the Swarovski 10x50 SV I had for a while. All three are large binoculars. You are likely onto something.

james holdsworth · Apr 8, 2018

Holding your bins while walking also throws off your natural balance and gait and can contribute to back pain over the course of long field days.

Troubador · Apr 8, 2018

Steve C said:
It always seemed somewhat strange to me that Zeiss would split their own market with two top tier binoculars. It may well be they developed two and let circumstances dictate which (or maybe both?) would survive. Seems like the SF is perhaps the winner.

Lee, I see a lot of people carrying binoculars as you describe. Your conclusion that always holding the glass like you did would indeed add some weight by the end of the day. I typically do not keep a hand on the glass. It seems I may be less bothered by weight. I had no problems with the Leupold Gold Ring or with the large Maven B2 or the Swarovski 10x50 SV I had for a while. All three are large binoculars. You are likely onto something.

Steve
It might have seemed odd that Zeiss would do that but it wasn't without precedent was it? Swaro has EL as top dog and SLC kind of as very close second tier and I think Zeiss wanted a similar arrangement with customers to be choosing not between Swaro and Zeiss but choosing between HT or SF.

See my reply to James below.

Lee

Troubador · Apr 8, 2018

james holdsworth said:
Holding your bins while walking also throws off your natural balance and gait and can contribute to back pain over the course of long field days.

James I don't have back trouble but I developed 'frozen shoulder' a few years back and it was especially bad in my right shoulder, and it was my right hand that I rested on my binos. Using a walking pole to help steadiness crossing bogs, streams, sea inlets, and rocks has been a revelation in several ways and I am sure you are right to to point out that having an arm stuck in that position all day can lead to muscular problems and I bet it led to my frozen shoulder.

The walking pole can double as a Finnstick too.

Lee

tenex · Apr 8, 2018

Troubador said:
...in the past this hand always rested on my binos to enable me to be 'quick on the draw' with my binos. It turns out that my hand/arm resting on my binos was responsible for a significant amount of the weight I felt on the back of my neck by the end of a long day.

That doesn't surprise me. I'll do that only briefly when I'm climbing and don't want to stow the bino better, and as James says it throws balance off a bit too.

IAN JAMES THOMPSON · Apr 9, 2018

If my Zeiss HT Binoculars ever need repairing under guarantee or after guarantee, will Zeiss be still able to repair my HT Binoculars as they are being discontinued?
Ian.

james holdsworth · Apr 9, 2018

I'm sure - they still repair 40 year old classic series....

Chosun Juan · Apr 9, 2018

Steve C said:
It always seemed somewhat strange to me that Zeiss would split their own market with two top tier binoculars. It may well be they developed two and let circumstances dictate which (or maybe both?) would survive.....

Steve, this two pronged approach seems entirely logical to me. Such a strategy gives excellent market coverage and consumer choice to Swarovski with the SLC and SV. Zeiss has:-
Minimal glass lenses and a more natural field curvature, A-K prisms, HT & FL glass for maximal brightness on one hand with the HT, and
Multiple lens ocular and wide flat field with S-P prisms of the SF on the other.

What is strange is that they swallowed their own marketing fluff so completely :eat: that they:-
Abandoned the successful FRP chassis material of the FL series in favour of making the HT a brick, and
Hamstrung the SF from being all that it could be by not including HT glass for added brightness and a more neutral colour balance .....

In seeking to differentiate product so completely to suit the marketing department agenda, the lunatics took over the asylum.

If the HT is gone for good, then isn't that a decades long history of that basic design lineage down the gurgler ?!

Perhaps Zeiss will finally see the "light" and supercede it with the same optical train in a more advanced lightweight material model :cat:

Chosun :gh:

dries1 · Apr 9, 2018

Zeiss

I believe that these were the last glass Zeiss made with pure distinction, almost the end of an era. They may be considered old news to some, but I enjoy them and discussions with others who based their experiences using them stated they were built extremely well. They also sold many did't they.

Andy W.

Troubador · Apr 9, 2018

dries1 said:
I believe that these were the last glass Zeiss made with pure distinction, almost the end of an era. They may be considered old news to some, but I enjoy them and discussions with others who based their experiences using them stated they were built extremely well. They also sold many did't they.

Andy W.

Super collection you have there Andy. Great binos that will give pleasure for years to come.

Lee

paddy7 · Apr 9, 2018

Obviously we're not privy to the boardroom talks and marketing presentations at Zeiss Oberkochen, and if this is part of some developing strategy. Perhaps a further re-design of the SF (or ST?) with the best of HT, SF and FL, which would seem a very good place to go.
Ironically, i know more birders in my area who own the HT than the SF, and a whole host more who never saw the worth in trading in their FLs (myself included).

Troubador · Apr 9, 2018

paddy7 said:
Obviously we're not privy to the boardroom talks and marketing presentations at Zeiss Oberkochen, and if this is part of some developing strategy. Perhaps a further re-design of the SF (or ST?) with the best of HT, SF and FL, which would seem a very good place to go.
Ironically, i know more birders in my area who own the HT than the SF, and a whole host more who never saw the worth in trading in their FLs (myself included).

Those are all great binos Paddy. Tell you what though, SF 8x42's 148m at 1,000m field of view gives you a whopping great view of Walberswick marshes..

Lee

Canip · Apr 9, 2018

dries1 said:
I believe that these were the last glass Zeiss made with pure distinction, almost the end of an era. They may be considered old news to some, but I enjoy them and discussions with others who based their experiences using them stated they were built extremely well. They also sold many did't they.

Andy W.

Fully agree - the FLs somehow represent the epitome of an optically superb, well built bino, and I never understood why Zeiss gave them up. Jost got myself an almost new 7x42 (and will shortly also get a used 7x42 Dialyt), maybe my grandkids will still enjoy those when all my other modern looking binoculars will be long gone.

Patudo · Apr 9, 2018

Well, the collectors will likely soon come swooping in - best get your HTs before their prices go up too much...

For all we know, these may be the last Zeiss x42s with Abbe-Koenig prisms...

Regarding Zeiss' strategy: Time will be the final arbiter, of course. It might well be a smart move to cede the top-end hunters' glass area of the market (in x42 anyway) to Swarovski's superb SLCs, and compete a tier or half-tier below with the Conquest HDs. I can believe birders spend more on binoculars than hunters, and no doubt Zeiss have done their market research; focusing on the most lucrative area of the market certainly makes sense.

dries1 · Apr 9, 2018

Patudo,

Agree.

Most hunters in the US, the ones I know, ex-military, do not spend $$$ on a Swaro, but the real tool of their craft, scopes and rifles. So yes, the majority of birders are the Swaro consumers, to me no big loss for Zeiss at all. There are probably more Nikons out there with Hunters than anything else.

Andy W.

breydon · Apr 9, 2018

Canip said:
Fully agree - the FLs somehow represent the epitome of an optically superb, well built bino, and I never understood why Zeiss gave them up. Jost got myself an almost new 7x42 (and will shortly also get a used 7x42 Dialyt), maybe my grandkids will still enjoy those when all my other modern looking binoculars will be long gone.

Enjoy them 7x42 Dialyts my friend. Real old school icon bino's

denco@comcast.n · Apr 10, 2018

dries1 said:
I believe that these were the last glass Zeiss made with pure distinction, almost the end of an era. They may be considered old news to some, but I enjoy them and discussions with others who based their experiences using them stated they were built extremely well. They also sold many did't they.

Andy W.

Nice picture, Andy! What sizes are those FL's from left to right.

denco@comcast.n · Apr 10, 2018

Chosun Juan said:
Steve, this two pronged approach seems entirely logical to me. Such a strategy gives excellent market coverage and consumer choice to Swarovski with the SLC and SV. Zeiss has:-
Minimal glass lenses and a more natural field curvature, A-K prisms, HT & FL glass for maximal brightness on one hand with the HT, and
Multiple lens ocular and wide flat field with S-P prisms of the SF on the other.

What is strange is that they swallowed their own marketing fluff so completely :eat: that they:-
Abandoned the successful FRP chassis material of the FL series in favour of making the HT a brick, and
Hamstrung the SF from being all that it could be by not including HT glass for added brightness and a more neutral colour balance .....

In seeking to differentiate product so completely to suit the marketing department agenda, the lunatics took over the asylum.

If the HT is gone for good, then isn't that a decades long history of that basic design lineage down the gurgler ?!

Perhaps Zeiss will finally see the "light" and supercede it with the same optical train in a more advanced lightweight material model :cat:

Chosun :gh:

Sometimes I disagree with your posts but that was an excellent post. Right on concerning Zeiss. They should offer you a corporate position.:t:

chill6x6 · Apr 10, 2018

Troubador said:
Dennis

No but Zeiss announced job cuts last year and the transfer of jobs to Oberkochen. Doesn't take a genius miind to predict disruption of production so cutting product lines is an obvious route and HT42 is arguably more specialist than SF. Cutting HT42 is what I would have done so I could prioritise production of SF. But this is my surmise and I have no inside info.

Lee

Agree!

I think most knew something was going to have to give when the SF came out. Conquest HD, HT, and SF. The Conquest HD does 99% of what an HT will and it's a dang good binocular too. So 2X more money for an HT within the same company is hard to justify. If you have a Conquest HD and want to move up within the brand, only logical to go to the SF. The instant the SF came out the HT was no longer the flagship binocular. ALSO....honestly Zeiss gave up on the HT when the SF came out....marketing came to a screeching halt. All marketing dollars went to the SF.

How long was the HT 42mms offered? Will any Zeiss binocular EVER beat the success of the FL series?

Zeiss ht discontinued ? (1 Viewer)

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