My Leica 7x42 Trinovid BN was made in Germany. I have owned it since the year Leica switched to the Ultravid. My Leica 8x42 Ultravid BL was made in Portugal. No QC issues on either of them.
Bob
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ALL made in China?? (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter chill6x6
- Start date
My Leica 7x42 Trinovid BN was made in Germany. I have owned it since the year Leica switched to the Ultravid. My Leica 8x42 Ultravid BL was made in Portugal. No QC issues on either of them.
Bob
jan van daalen
Well-known member
Noctivids are labelled Made in Germany, but AFAIK there is no production facility at Leica HQ Wetzlar.
Jan
Jan
Thanks for the correction Bob. BAs were made in Portugal and I believed that BNs came from the same place. Not so.
Lee
Nikon Monarch HG, Zeiss Conquest HD, Leica Trinovid HD(and Trinovid before THAT), and Swarovski Companion....all in the BARLEY less than $1000 range....
Next tier down....Sightron S-III ED, Vanguard Endeavor ED II, and Vanguard Endeavor ED IV. I'd put a JIP Vortex Viper HD in there as well.
pbjosh
missing the neotropics
Agreed with Chuck, the number of QC problems some people are reporting sound nutty. I am not doubting, just commenting that I've not seen that many. I have, however, seen a number, and I share the overall opinion that something is not right with the large number of bad bins coming off the line. For binoculars among myself and friends, across 14 pairs that I've seen / used / handled in the past few years that I can think of, the following issues:
Diopter drift x2 (Monarch HG, Zeiss Conquest HD)
Broken strap attachment lug (Zen-Ray)
Loose optic inside barrel (Swaro)
I do think there are more quality isses than there ought to be. Personally I'm a bit perplexed by the frequency of focuser and diopter problems at the higher end. In lower end binoculars of course this is where there will be a lot of issues (I guess along with hinge tension). Without knowing a ton about binocular focusing mechanisms, but knowing about mechanical engineering in general, I would view this not as a QC problem but as an engineering problem. If 5, 10, or 25% of the new cars rolling off the line had steering problems or developed steering problems within a year or two, would you suggest a QC issue or an engineering issue? This is clearly all engineered to a certain price and weight and a lot might be gained by not trying to shave the last 20g and $20.
Diopter drift x2 (Monarch HG, Zeiss Conquest HD)
Broken strap attachment lug (Zen-Ray)
Loose optic inside barrel (Swaro)
I do think there are more quality isses than there ought to be. Personally I'm a bit perplexed by the frequency of focuser and diopter problems at the higher end. In lower end binoculars of course this is where there will be a lot of issues (I guess along with hinge tension). Without knowing a ton about binocular focusing mechanisms, but knowing about mechanical engineering in general, I would view this not as a QC problem but as an engineering problem. If 5, 10, or 25% of the new cars rolling off the line had steering problems or developed steering problems within a year or two, would you suggest a QC issue or an engineering issue? This is clearly all engineered to a certain price and weight and a lot might be gained by not trying to shave the last 20g and $20.
I don't think that the 4 examples mentioned are indicative of an epidemic of poor QC or bad design except for the China Made Zen Rays which have had many well documented problems.
The diopter on the Monarch HG could be a mechanical problem which I believe will be resolved or which may already have been resolved. It is a new binocular and it is rumored to be made by Kamakura of Japan for Nikon and they have been around for a long time making binoculars for numbers of firms.
What I noticed about the Monarch HGs locking right eyepiece diopter, which is supposed to be a copy of the locking diopter used on the earlier Nikon HGs, is that the locking mechanism does not seem to be as heavily constructed on the Monarch HG as it is on the locking diopters of my Nikon HGLs. They both look very much alike. I never heard of the Nikon HG/HGLs having any diopter problems with this design and they were around for a long time. It is a routine right eye diopter that has been used on many thousands of binoculars.
Bob
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I just bought a new Vortex Razor HD 8x42 that was made in China. Usually, I don't require any diopter adjustment. Even with diopter adjusted to it's maximum my right eye could not be focused. The binocular was totally defective. It's makes me wonder if Vortex is inspecting the binoculars coming from China.
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Sorry to hear about this Dennis it must be very disappointing and I wouldn't blame you if you just asked for your money back and not a replacement bino. But its a bit of leap to condemn all Vortexes coming out of China on the basis of one unit. The have been faulty units from all brands under the sun.
Lee
Yes, I shouldn't condemn them for one unit but on the other hand it doesn't give me confidence in their move to Chinese manufacturing. I have had enough problems with other Chinese built binoculars over the years to have a lack of confidence in a Chinese built binocular. I have had several Japanese built Vortex's without any problems at all. This problem on these Vortex Razor's 8x42 HD was such a big obvious flaw that I would think it should have been caught on inspection. I believe Vortex says they inspect every binocular before they ship it. You know binoculars are quite a complex piece of equipment that there really has to be a lot of care and thorough inspections in manufacturing to produce a perfect product.
The only thing Vortex can gain from Chinese manufacture is to line their own pockets. Chinese binos are never better than a Japanese made one, especially above $500, and more especially in the $1000 range of the Razor HD. For instance, my Toric was better optically, and build quality was at least equal to the Razor HD.
I agree with you. Vortex is saying they moved manufacturing to China to increase volume but I think a lot of it is profit motivated. Vortex also is saying they inspect every binocular before shipping. I find that hard to believe after my experience. I knew the Vortex Razor's HD 8x42 were not right within a minute of looking through them.
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Of course the move to China by Vortex was profit motivated Dennis.
Nikon has many of their binoculars made there too for that reason.
It is also why most of us recommend that one "try before they buy." (Even though I don't do it all the time myself.:smoke
I had to send a binocular back for a diopter issue but it was made in Japan and the problem didn't show up for a week or so. That annoys me even more than if it was bad right out of the box!
Bob
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What caused you to buy THAT binocular Dennis? Did you get a good deal? I can't find them any less than $900-$1000. I can think of a whole lot I'd rather have for that money... I had one for a while.... I liked several better than it...it's best thing IMO was it was really lightweight. I really couldn't tell it was that much better than a Viper HD(Japan).
Attachments
I liked the Vortex Viper HD so I wanted to try their "Flagship" binocular because of the APO glass and the lightweight. What is your favorite binoculars in that $1000.00 mid-price range for 8x32 or 8x42?
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I did try the Vortex Razor at Cabella's but I didn't buy it there because it was $250.00 more. A lot of these binoculars are hard to try before you buy because our local sporting good's stores around here just don't have them. That is a weird malfunction when you can't bring both eyes into sharp focus. Never encountered that one before.Of course the move to China by Vortex was profit motivated Dennis.
Nikon has many of their binoculars made there too for that reason.
It is also why most of us recommend that one "try before they buy." (Even though I don't do it all the time myself.:smoke
I had to send a binocular back for a diopter issue but it was made in Japan and the problem didn't show up for a week or so. That annoys me even more than if it was bad right out of the box!
Bob
fleurviola
Member
Thank you Chuck! Martin
