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

Fate of the FL 8X32? (1 Viewer)

chill6x6

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Anyone know if production of the is FL 8X32 ongoing? Just kinda curious when production with cease. I've see a few online vendors that are "out."

Anyone KNOW?
 
I don't have any inside information, but what I've seen before is merchants (B&H, adoramma) sell out then seem to need to wait a few weeks for a re-fill order. A couple months ago, B&H listed them as waiting for shipment for several weeks. In another thread, I think someone said Zeiss made them in small batches so there can be lags in the shipping.

Marc
 
Don't wait. Buy a 8x32 FL! I'm using it and enjoying it almost every day for about 15 years.

If I would need a new 8x32 bino, I would buy a FL again.
 
Zeiss Germany confirm that FL32 is still in production.

Lee

I have been trying to buy one here in Switzerland through my trusted dealer. It turns out he can't get one from Zeiss-Switzerland until at least the end of the month. :-C
Looks like production rate is low, though still ongoing.
 
The GFRP-housing really comes from Switzerland.

Cuckoo-clocks typically have been made in the Black Forest in South-Germany not in Switzerland. (But today come almost all from Asia).
 
The GFRP-housing really comes from Switzerland.

Cuckoo-clocks typically have been made in the Black Forest in South-Germany not in Switzerland. (But today come almost all from Asia).

Thats an interesting little factoid about FL. Thank you for posting.

The remark about cuckoo-clocks was not meant seriously but thank you for your response. I always associated them with Switzerland for some reason.

Lee
 
………….
Cuckoo-clocks typically have been made in the Black Forest in South-Germany not in Switzerland. (But today come almost all from Asia).

Of course, any Swiss tourist trap will gladly sell a cuckoo-clock to any tourist who is looking for one. ;)

Meanwhile, I'm still waiting to finally get my 8x32 FL. Apparently, some of the current production run are about to arrive here in Switzerland.
 
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The remark about cuckoo-clocks was not meant seriously but thank you for your response. I always associated them with Switzerland for some reason.

Lee
Hello Lee,

In film, The Third Man, Orson Welles' character, Harry Lime, says, "In Italy for thirty years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder, bloodshed. They produced Michaelangelo, da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, five hundred years of democracy and peace, and what did they produce? The cuckoo clock."

I think that may be your source for associating cuckoo clocks with Switzerland.

On this thread many folks might associate binoculars with the Swiss firm Kern.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur :hi:
 
Hello Lee,

In film, The Third Man, Orson Welles' character, Harry Lime, says, "In Italy for thirty years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder, bloodshed. They produced Michaelangelo, da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, five hundred years of democracy and peace, and what did they produce? The cuckoo clock."

I think that may be your source for associating cuckoo clocks with Switzerland.

On this thread many folks might associate binoculars with the Swiss firm Kern.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur :hi:

Bullseye! Yes Arthur, now I have read the full quotation that is definitely the source of my Swiss Cuckoo Clock notion.
Thank you.

Lee
 
And again the discussion is beyond the bino borders o:D

We need new equipment to keep on track. Leica, Zeiss, Swarovski, Meopta, ... it is your turn!
 
And again the discussion is beyond the bino borders o:D

We need new equipment to keep on track. Leica, Zeiss, Swarovski, Meopta, ... it is your turn!

Frankly, I'd rather forgo any new equipment for the next 10 years if the producers would invest the savings into getting the existing products right.
The tiny gains in FoV or brightness do not offset the considerable variance in optical and mechanical performance that continues to afflict even the alpha grade gear.
Imho a firm such as Zeiss or Swaro should be ashamed to produce a 'cherry' specimen, it really means they cannot produce consistent quality.
 
Imho a firm such as Zeiss or Swaro should be ashamed to produce a 'cherry' specimen, it really means they cannot produce consistent quality.

This would be true, indeed might be true, if the variation in performance when undertaking the tasks for which the products were designed to do, for example, birding, is really significant.

Lee
 
............….The tiny gains in FoV or brightness do not offset the considerable variance in optical and mechanical performance that continues to afflict even the alpha grade gear.
Imho a firm such as Zeiss or Swaro should be ashamed to produce a 'cherry' specimen, it really means they cannot produce consistent quality.

I fully agree. But then, on the optical side this would most likely mean a major price increase. I think the main point in the shame department is the mechanical side!
 
I fully agree. But then, on the optical side this would most likely mean a major price increase. I think the main point in the shame department is the mechanical side!

Mechanicals are surely a major factor, but lack of information is the underlying issue imho.
A disclosed minimum standard for measurable parameters such as collimation or transmission would be a good start. I don't know how one would measure smoothness of focus or quality of the hinge, but have total faith that if such were measured items, industry would find efficient ways to improve them, for competitive reasons.

In the electronics industry, there are industry working groups that collaborate to set minimum standards and specifications for critical items such as protocols, interfaces and I/O components, even though the players are simultaneously competing ferociously. That collaboration raises the performance bar for the entire sector. It would be nice to see something comparable in this space.
 
Mechanicals are surely a major factor, but lack of information is the underlying issue imho.
A disclosed minimum standard for measurable parameters such as collimation or transmission would be a good start. I don't know how one would measure smoothness of focus or quality of the hinge, but have total faith that if such were measured items, industry would find efficient ways to improve them, for competitive reasons.

To avoid units that are too good (if this is what 'cherry units' are) wouldn't you need to have a maximum permissible light transmission? Like Robert I think maxima like this would just increase cost.

On the mechanical side it might be difficult, as you point out, to set standards for focus smoothness but it ought to be possible to set them for the torque required to rotate the wheel and also for the maximum 'slack' or 'free-play' permissible when changing the direction of rotation.

Lee
 
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