The FL isn't still in production is it?
Jan: Do you think you would sell any 8x32 SF:s? I guess most serious birders buy 42mm?
And less serious birders don't want to pay that much and prefers the Conquest HD, which did not exist when the FL was released.
And would zeiss be able to make any profit at the current price point for the competition. About 1700 Euro for the 8x32 SV.
R&D, new production line etc. is expensive. Is there enough volume in the segment?
Perhaps Zeiss made it impossible for a 8x32 SF with the release of their budget bins...the market have changed.
Jan: Do you think you would sell any 8x32 SF:s? I guess most serious birders buy 42mm?
And less serious birders don't want to pay that much and prefers the Conquest HD, which did not exist when the FL was released.
And would zeiss be able to make any profit at the current price point for the competition. About 1700 Euro for the 8x32 SV.
R&D, new production line etc. is expensive. Is there enough volume in the segment?
Perhaps Zeiss made it impossible for a 8x32 SF with the release of their budget bins...the market have changed.
Hi Vesp,
I am not in the birding business. 80% is safari Africa.
Given the massive FOV of the 42 and the (hopefully) increased FOV of the 32 I think it will leave the SV 32 in the dark.
Zeiss is catching up in the SV segment with their SF. With a 32 and 50 line it will become equal (under the condition that the after sales/service keeps up with Swaro's level).
Via Schiphol Airport more than 400.000 people went to Africa of which more than 100.000 people had a vacation destination and all are equiped with a bin.
Considering that for most of this target group money is not an issue and in 2016 we delivered >1000 pieces of optics to them, the potential (Zeiss) market is of Trump proportions.
Jan
HI VB
Basically I am sure you are right that a 42 is the versatile bin that most observers choose. But anyone that starts to think about a second pair will think seriously about a 32 not only as back-up but also for those times when they want to carry less weight or bulk.
Lee
If you need bins it's not Safari to me....I want to be able to poke the lions in the head.
A 50mm SF would make me even more surprised with Zeiss already having 2 models in that size segment.
But I hope I'm wrong...a 50mm SF at 900 grams would be something..
Not everyone would buy a second pair for 2000 Euro.
And the Conquest HD 32mm is pretty good already right?
And I'm not sure it's that easy to shrink the 42SF into a equally good 32mm bin.
Pretty much like developing a completely new bin I suspect?
But I guess the 32mm FL have to go sooner or later.
A safari is tent camping, with an outside pit latrine and, on leaving, finding a lion in the way: thus spending the night in the PL!
I personally think a 32mm would sell, as long it's not too long and heavy. With 32mm bins compactness counts. A bit longer than the FL would be alright, I think, and a weight up to 650 gr.
Hermann
The Swarovski and Leica 8x32 sell, so would Zeiss'.