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

Troubador's Mini Review: Black vs Grey SF (1 Viewer)

My brother, a couple of friends, and myself have the North American "gray" armour with no problems. I assume it must be an improvement over the European "grey" armour. ;)

I can only bow to your superior knowledge and experience Bruce.

You guys over the big pond must be better at something so maybe 3mm thick pieces of gray rubber is this elusive something :-O

Lee
 
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Lee .... I do not know about superior knowledge or experience but in the 20 or so SF gray units I have handled, I have not come across any that struck me as having **** armour.

It was not my intention to denigrate the "grey" version. Actually, I have it on good authority that although some "grey" units did experience **** armour, they held up well, especially to sheep and goose dropings. :t:

http://www.birdforum.net/showpost.php?p=3281956&postcount=32

I was especially impressed that the smell was still nice. :king: However, I have no intention to try and confirm those results.
 
Lee .... I have it on good authority that although some "grey" units did experience **** armour, they held up well, especially to sheep and goose dropings. :t:

I was especially impressed that the smell was still nice. :king: However, I have no intention to try and confirm those results.

Of course Bruce I understand your interest and comments are purely scientific. And you are quite correct that the grey armour has proven remarkably ****-proof despite the variety and quantity of the **** to which it has been subjected.

Lee
 
I recently had to send my 10x42 SF in for service. It was slightly out of collimation.

It went to Germany and was back in a short time. Mine is the gray version, focuser was always very smooth. They did replace the armor with a newer gray more tight fitting style.

No cushioned give in the armor like the earlier ones have had.

Glad to have it back, what a nice binocular. ;)

Here is a binocular that also has some give in the armor, the Leica
8x32 BN. This is a recent purchase, and I am very impressed with
this gem.

The SF and the Leica Trinovid, are the only binoculars I have found with
this design.

Jerry
 

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My father owns the grey model Victory SF 10x42 but this binocular has a serious issue: whenever the binocular is hanging from the neck (in between looking through the glass) the focus is moved, i.e. the inner lenses are pulled downward due to gravity. When the binocular is lifted again, the user has to re-focus.

Is this a known issue?

Has the above mentioned issue been fixed in the new black SF-models?

Kind regards
Troels
 
My father owns the grey model Victory SF 10x42 but this binocular has a serious issue: whenever the binocular is hanging from the neck (in between looking through the glass) the focus is moved, i.e. the inner lenses are pulled downward due to gravity. When the binocular is lifted again, the user has to re-focus.

Is this a known issue?

Has the above mentioned issue been fixed in the new black SF-models?

Kind regards
Troels

Troels:

That issue is unusual, I have not heard of this happening with any
binocular, of any kind.

I do wonder if this is just a personal user problem, and
have you or others seen the same ?

Jerry
 
My father owns the grey model Victory SF 10x42 but this binocular has a serious issue: whenever the binocular is hanging from the neck (in between looking through the glass) the focus is moved, i.e. the inner lenses are pulled downward due to gravity. When the binocular is lifted again, the user has to re-focus.

Is this a known issue?

Has the above mentioned issue been fixed in the new black SF-models?

Kind regards
Troels

Troels,

Could you please scroll down to the illustration of the insides of the Victory SF 10x42 in the link below?

See if you can identify for us the "inner lenses" that are pulled down by gravity.

http://www.allbinos.com/304-binoculars_review-Carl_Zeiss_Victory_SF_10x42.html

Bob
 
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Hi Bob

Fact is that the focus changes whenever the bins are hanging "downside-down" for a longer period. I would guess it is lens no. 6 (the upper part of the "Lens system 130g").

Troels
 
This kind of focus creep happens with the Canon binoculars I have or have had. The focus action is smooth with rather low friction, and the weight of the objective lens assembly, which moves in its entirety and outwards towards close focus, is enough to change the focus when the binocular is hanging around my neck. In my previous 15x50 IS, I placed a rubber O-ring between the focus knob and the binocular body to increase friction and effectively prevent this. With my current 10 x 42 L IS, I have not bothered to do anything with this, and just re-focus when necessary.

In the Zeiss cutaway, it looks like there is only a single moving lens, but this seems to be enough to cause creep. In any case, I would consider this not a flaw but a design choice of sorts. People want smooth and light focusing action, and it can have its downsides.

Kimmo
 
Just to support the focus mechanism problem described by Troels above. I had the exact same issue on an early pair of Zeiss HT 8 x 42. The internal focus was very loose and moved as described here, under gravity. The focus wheel was also very free - no play in it but too smooth and moved easily without any pressure. Finally, there was a slight audible 'click' when the focus was moved backwards and forwards. These were clearly faulty and they went straight back to Zeiss for attention.

Zeiss replaced the binocular with a new one as they were unused and the replacement is perfect with smooth but firm focus and no unwanted internal movement.

Troels. Might I suggest your father sends his faulty SFs back to Zeiss who will fix this without charge?

Peter
 
Interesting topic.
Has anyone tested this away from the body to verify it's actually gravity causing the movement? I've seen very light focus wheels that moved at the slightest touch...such as those caused by contact with clothing.
 
It is real, do you have a question ?

Jerry

I did have questions, but most have been answered many thanks. Initially I have enjoyed the view from a novelty perspective and I would consider purchasing the SF for further assessment, but alas, Zeiss customer service in Australia leaves a lot to be desired, and due to this, the mere thought of buying into an expensive product with demonstrated QC issues is too much for me personally. It is a pity. If Zeiss australia had shown themselves to be more supportive I would probably take this purchase risk safe in the knowledge that Zeiss would (in a fuss free and courteous manner) remedy any serious issues as they did for yourself.

It begs the very simple questions - does Zeiss employ any person in Australia who knows the slightest thing about binoculars?
If so, does this same person possess any authority whatsoever regarding Zeiss binocular products and warranty/service issues?
If so, who is this person?

Rathaus
 
I did have questions, but most have been answered many thanks. Initially I have enjoyed the view from a novelty perspective and I would consider purchasing the SF for further assessment, but alas, Zeiss customer service in Australia leaves a lot to be desired, and due to this, the mere thought of buying into an expensive product with demonstrated QC issues is too much for me personally. It is a pity. If Zeiss australia had shown themselves to be more supportive I would probably take this purchase risk safe in the knowledge that Zeiss would (in a fuss free and courteous manner) remedy any serious issues as they did for yourself.

It begs the very simple questions - does Zeiss employ any person in Australia who knows the slightest thing about binoculars?
If so, does this same person possess any authority whatsoever regarding Zeiss binocular products and warranty/service issues?
If so, who is this person?

Rathaus

I got a par of Zeiss Terras from gunemporium in Melbourne. The eye cup broke and I emailed them... No reply, so I ended up dealing with Germany direct. Sent it in to them at my cost and they gave me a new pair.
 
If the coatings have been tweaked, shouldn´t that be visible looking at the objectives´surfaces? Would love to see a photograph.
It's an old thread, but still very much worthwhile looking through it.

Regarding "tweaked" coatings, a very obvious one happened when Zeiss changed from the purplish to the orange-red. And nobody mentioned it officially. Except, when I bought my FL 8x32 after having used a loaned demo sample from Zeiss, The model came with a different color than the test sample had. I had tried for an exchange, but that was apparently not possible. I had posted about my problems with the red previously, so no more about that. But it seems the new SFLs will come with a non-reddish coating version. So maybe there is hope for me. Looking very much forward to the release and subsequent reviews of that new model.
 
It's an old thread, but still very much worthwhile looking through it.

Regarding "tweaked" coatings, a very obvious one happened when Zeiss changed from the purplish to the orange-red. And nobody mentioned it officially. Except, when I bought my FL 8x32 after having used a loaned demo sample from Zeiss, The model came with a different color than the test sample had. I had tried for an exchange, but that was apparently not possible. I had posted about my problems with the red previously, so no more about that. But it seems the new SFLs will come with a non-reddish coating version. So maybe there is hope for me. Looking very much forward to the release and subsequent reviews of that new model.
Although some changes to coatings are easily seen I am not convinced that some subtle changes might not be visible.

As for SFL it seems review units are not so easy to obtain yet but I am still hopeful that I will get one soon.

Lee
 
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