• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Keep my new Victory 8x32 FL or get something less expensive? (1 Viewer)

Of all the 8x32, the FL is probably the one I've liked best. I had both it and the Swarovision 8x32 at the same time and they were both good but had different issues that made me get rid of them; the SV had some weird issues with glare/flare whereas the FL had some odd issues with fit to the eye (that I experience with many 8x32s).

If you are looking to downgrade, the Vortex Viper HD 8x32 (discontinued) or the 8x32 Cabela's Euro HD are both very good options and you won't really be giving up a lot optically; I've owned 3 of the above 4 (have looked through but not owned the Euro HD as it had insufficient eye-relief) and would be fine using any of them as an everyday binocular if I was looking for an 8x32. The Conquest HD is good as well but more expensive than the other two models I mentioned and in my opinion a worse option as it is heavier/bulkier.
 
Sounds like you have a sample from the lower end of the quality tolerance... I´d recommend to send it back. 1000.- is way too low a price for a normal sample, it´s for lemons nobody wants and that have been returned again and again. The FL is definitely one of the very best 8x32s and these are and will be in demand. I have it on my wishlist and the cheapest one on ebay in Germany is sometimes sold and relisted soon after...

You need that immediate WOW. I´m sure you will get it with a good sample. That´s exactly what alpha bins are about.
 
Tried it a bit during the weekend following some birds (and also saw some dragonflies).
One evening I had a look at the sky and compared to my Pentax and can now say that the larger FOV makes a noticeable difference.

As I look at it now it's a very nice binocular except for the stiff focus.
Especially my Pentax but also the small Nikon that I otherwise don't like very much have a smooth and easy focus. On the FL I need to use more force and push my finger harder on the focus wheel so it's hard to make the fine tuning. That makes that I have to rock the focus back and forth maybe 4-5 times before I get it where I want it. There is no slack, it's just to high resistance for fine adjustment.
It's not acceptable for most binoculars and not in this price range.

I don't think the price reflects that it should be a lemon. The store always have some product with some good discount, bike, tent, bag, jogging shoes or whatever. About a week ago the conquest 8x32 had a 90 euro discount and then back to ordinary price again. Before I found the FL with discount it sold for ordinary price and I saw no signs of it being opened or used before even though I can't tell for certain.

Will see the coming weekend if I can show it for a Zeiss guy and here what he/she says.
If I can get the focus sorted i will keep it, otherwise it will probably go back.
 
Tried it a bit during the weekend following some birds (and also saw some dragonflies).
One evening I had a look at the sky and compared to my Pentax and can now say that the larger FOV makes a noticeable difference.

As I look at it now it's a very nice binocular except for the stiff focus.
Especially my Pentax but also the small Nikon that I otherwise don't like very much have a smooth and easy focus. On the FL I need to use more force and push my finger harder on the focus wheel so it's hard to make the fine tuning. That makes that I have to rock the focus back and forth maybe 4-5 times before I get it where I want it. There is no slack, it's just to high resistance for fine adjustment.
It's not acceptable for most binoculars and not in this price range.

I don't think the price reflects that it should be a lemon. The store always have some product with some good discount, bike, tent, bag, jogging shoes or whatever. About a week ago the conquest 8x32 had a 90 euro discount and then back to ordinary price again. Before I found the FL with discount it sold for ordinary price and I saw no signs of it being opened or used before even though I can't tell for certain.

Will see the coming weekend if I can show it for a Zeiss guy and here what he/she says.
If I can get the focus sorted i will keep it, otherwise it will probably go back.

The stiffness of the focus wheel can be adjusted on FL so this should be no problem.
Lee
 
During the weekend I had a look at and through a lot of binoculars, mostly quick looks.

Without any deeper knowledge about all the details of the different aspects like resolution, distortion, abberations, flat field etc I more thought that if I put a bino up to my eyes I want to just get a great view.
And I want to get that great view without thinking about placement and fiddling with the focus, I just want it to be there,

Looking at it that way I would not want to replace my FL with any other of the 8x32 binos I tried except for maybe Swaro 8x32 EL and that would probably mostly be because the swaro I tested had a very smooth and easy focus.
Otherwise they were pretty similar and both the EL and FL gives that instant "great view" (in my eyes, others may of course think differently). The Swaro is much more expensive compared to what I paid for the FL so that is not going to happen.

I did not like the 8x32 Leicas I tried as much (but I did try the 8x42 Noctivid and it gave a beautiful image both with and without glasses).

There was a Zeiss guy doing some service and he had a look at my FL and he actually thought it was pretty good but all the Zeiss binos in their stand was smoother than mine.
He gave it a try to make it smoother but it was hardly noticeable and he said he couldn't do more there at the moment, then it had to go back to the factory.

In two weeks I will get to the store it came from and I will leave it to them to get it fixed, that after talking to Zeiss service department today. I'll guess I could send it in also but this way I don't have to bother with transport.

I did look at the Conquest HD 8x32 and it was good but prefer the FL. I also had a look at a Kamakura, don't remember the model but price similar to the Conquest. That was a strong competitor to the Conquest I think from my short view.

To sum it up:
The Zeiss FL 8x32 is a great binocular that will probably be even greater when the focus is the way I think it is supposed to be. |=)|
 
The Zeiss FL 8x32 is a great binocular that will probably be even greater when the focus is the way I think it is supposed to be. |=)|

Shame about the focus, Gunnar. I've got FLs in 8x32 and 7x42, and the focus on both is nigh on perfect - fast, smooth and silky. In fact, I only wish my Leica examples had focusers like that.

I guess it shouldn't really be a factor with alpha bins, but it does seem that you need to test out and be entirely happy with a particular sample before you commit. I think someone has mentioned that the focuser on FLs can be adjusted (albeit at the Zeiss factory, unfortunately): it would appear to be much more of a problem with Leicas.

Anecdotally, I've heard that a lot of Swaros have less than perfect focusers. Nikon, on the other hand, would appear to be perhaps the best in this regard.

Cheers
John
 
Well, that sounds like a great result all round - good choice made, and running into all the right people at right time to get the focus sorted - just a brief delay in starting a lifelong relationship, i reckon!
 
After reading a lot of threads, getting all the helpful answers in this thread and trying different binoculars I think I have made a good choice.

I have read about some Swaro and Leica having less than perfect focus and Nikon very good focus.
I have also seen many telling their Zeiss binos inkl FL 8x32 having very smooth focus and that makes me believe that mine also will be good after it gets fixed.

It will take a while until I'm there but I will uppdate when I know how it turns out.

As a newbee I'm very thankful for and very impressed by the knowledge and experience about binos and very impressed by the bird knowledge I see here.

Cheers
Gunnar
 
Got my FL 8x32 back a couple of weeks ago. Has been really busy lately but was out yesterday trying it.

The focus is now smoother, still quite firm but not the "stepwise" feeling it gave before.

Now it's easy to find correct focus and to follow with the focus.

It might seem like a small change on the bino but it makes it totally different to use.
I'm very happy I sent it in.
 
GunnarGG, post 28,
We learn our students not to believe what others say unless they can confirm it themselves. That also counts for the quality of focussers. We never had any problems with the focussers of Leitz/Leica, Swarovski and Zeiss although many instruments passed in our hands. What can be a problem is when the focussers have a heavy turning resistance as is the case with the Swarovski Habicht 8x30 for example, but on the other hand, hunters often want stiff focussers (I heard, but I am not a hunter) to avoid an unwanted focus shift in the field.
Gijs van Ginkel
 
Gijs,
you are spot on with the heavy turning resistans, that was the problem.
You are probably also right about the hunters, I think a hunter would have thought that it was just fine as it was.

With my other binos, and my FL now after it was fixed, I apply a small amount of force to make the focus wheel start moving and I can make very small and precise adjustments.

With the FL when I got it first that small amount of force didn't move the focus wheel. I then had to apply a little more force until it moved and when it then did move it made a small jump of maybe 1 or 2 mm and so no precision.
If I looked at a bird and the focus was let's say 10-20 cm in front of it and tried to get it in focus I would end up having the focus 10-20 cm behind it instead. It took me rocking the focus back and forth several times before I found correct focus. Then the bird moved and I had to start over again, pretty annoying.

Maybe a hunter sets the focus on a spot 100-200 meters away and keeps it there for long time. So a focus with higher resistance is wanted.
 
Maybe a hunter sets the focus on a spot 100-200 meters away and keeps it there for long time. So a focus with higher resistance is wanted.

I am not a hunter Gunnar but I know that for many hunters, what you describe is correct. They climb into hunting towers when the light is still good and focus their binos on the place where deer or boar are expected and then they don't want to focus their binos again because as the light fades at the end of the day it becomes harder and harder to focus accurately. So once they set the focus in good light they don't want to have to move the focus again and more importantly they don't want the focus to be moved accidentally. This is why some bino models have quite stiff focus actions.

Lee
 
And then there is the "spot and stalk" hunter or maybe that is supposed to be "stalk and spot" where everything is changing near to far with every step.

CG
 
When it is too dark to tell if your binoculars are focused ....... it's time to quit and go home.

True, but some folks do late evening scouting after legal shooting hours in order to determine where they want to be at the crack of light the next morning. I do a lot of elk spotting during the early fall and the big guys seem to come out of the tree lines into the open meadows right at dark. A good 10X50 works great for those situations.

Poor photo to give an idea of what it is like. There was not much light to work with to get a good picture.

0-Elk.jpg
 
True, but some folks do late evening scouting after legal shooting hours in order to determine where they want to be at the crack of light the next morning. I do a lot of elk spotting during the early fall and the big guys seem to come out of the tree lines into the open meadows right at dark. A good 10X50 works great for those situations.

Poor photo to give an idea of what it is like. There was not much light to work with to get a good picture.

View attachment 646348

Thats a great photo to show what deer look like in near-darkness Bruce. :t:

Lee
 
Thats a great photo to show what deer look like in near-darkness Bruce. :t:

Lee

Thanks Lee. Actually in this case, we are looking at a bull elk off the state highway passing though the White Mountain Apache Indian Reservation in eastern Arizona. It is one of the premier elk areas in the country, although some Colorado folks might want to argue that. He is a big guy, but would be considered small compared to some of the elk in the area.

Normally I use a Zeiss SF 10X42 during my summer excursions but it is these early and late spotting trips that justify using a Swaro 10X50 EL SV. The difference is not that great but every bit helps when dealing with so little light. It seems the bigger the elk, the closer to dark they make their appearance. I guess they did not get that big by being stupid!
 
True, but some folks do late evening scouting after legal shooting hours in order to determine where they want to be at the crack of light the next morning. I do a lot of elk spotting during the early fall and the big guys seem to come out of the tree lines into the open meadows right at dark. A good 10X50 works great for those situations.

Poor photo to give an idea of what it is like. There was not much light to work with to get a good picture.

View attachment 646348

Bruce,

:t: Ditto... but with whatever glass I've been carrying for the day! And no that isn't a Bourbon Whiskey glass Troub... which I am having a shot of as I type (Woodford Reserve Distiller's Select Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey). And here is a different shot to share. It is the real deal. They come out of the National Park and walk thru town just like the tourists, but they tend to eat the flowers and other shrubbery... the tourists tend to smoke it. B :)

CG
 

Attachments

  • IMG_0739.JPG
    IMG_0739.JPG
    272.6 KB · Views: 110
Warning! This thread is more than 6 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top