SeldomPerched
Well-known member
[Following on from PYRTLE's sharp spotting of a green Zeiss 8x32 FL and posting about it in a separate thread - much appreciated.]
Completely on impulse the decision was made mid-morning to take advantage of the fine weather to visit the London Wetlands Centre where the In Focus branch is, complete with 3-sided viewing platform so you can look out on to the wetlands away from the sun, sideways on, and into the sun, all good tests of binoculars. The thinking was to see what the wetlands centre was like, check it out for a future more relaxed visit to see nature not binoculars, but also to see the green Victories at first hand.
The Simon King 8x32 Victory FL was in better condition than the shop's photo hinted at: cosmetically A1 apart from a tiny, very fine biro mark 1/4" long on the underside of one green armoured tube. The case, a brown cordura variant of the standard black case had a faux brown leather flap (as per HT) and brown strap, each with a pawprint, footprint, and camera icon motif. The case like the binoculars was in undamaged condition, remaining unfazed by obvious though careful use in the field. The only care needed in order to return the whole set to pristine condition is basic exterior cleaning of the binoculars: to blow and/or brush away some minor dust and grit at the edges of the objective lenses where they meet the recessed inside of the barrels, also on the outer cosmetic surfaces along the hinge edges and between eyecups and barrels. A clean of the eyepieces wouldn't come amiss either. Collimation appeared perfect after a quick and easy dioptre adjustment out on the viewing platform -- dioptre setting being one of the few occasions when objective caps are useful IMO. As a result views fell surely into focus, even against the light -- which was strong, with absolutely no cloud cover at 2pm in west London.
Had a good chat with Derek, the In Focus assistant, and tried out various sizes of different glass -- Nikon Monarch HG, Opticron in 8x32 and 10x32, and an EL SV 8.5x42 on the wildlife in the wetlands, on the SAS and British Airways birds, and on the flowers, which just happened to be obstructed by summery young women whose beautifully brushed hair floated nicely into focus...
Talking of focus, the focuser's action was irreproachable -- no rough patches, uneven resistance, or grating sounds. And a small consideration but it was what prompted the journey: binoculars in green to my taste look better than in black -- at least some models, and second hand good condition Victory FLs are not that common even in black. I have to come clean and admit to already having a very fine and fully Zeiss-serviced 8x32 FL already in black, courtesy of Lee, but green is what I was thinking when first wanting to get serious binoculars a long time ago.
Today all boxes were ticked beyond expectation. The binoculars came home with me and I can't wait to take them out into the woods, the park, and the marshes. In recent years Zeiss has come in for some criticism on the forums for poor quality control and choice of materials to house their great optics. But I sense Zeiss can't be criticised for any quality control slack over the FL generation of binoculars. As for cost, seeing that the Cleyspy example at the same cost looks very tired by comparison, the Simon King version from In Focus is fairly priced.
Many thanks to Pyrtle and No Spring Chicken for spotting this item in the first place and posting a thread to alert Bird Forum readers.
Tom
Completely on impulse the decision was made mid-morning to take advantage of the fine weather to visit the London Wetlands Centre where the In Focus branch is, complete with 3-sided viewing platform so you can look out on to the wetlands away from the sun, sideways on, and into the sun, all good tests of binoculars. The thinking was to see what the wetlands centre was like, check it out for a future more relaxed visit to see nature not binoculars, but also to see the green Victories at first hand.
The Simon King 8x32 Victory FL was in better condition than the shop's photo hinted at: cosmetically A1 apart from a tiny, very fine biro mark 1/4" long on the underside of one green armoured tube. The case, a brown cordura variant of the standard black case had a faux brown leather flap (as per HT) and brown strap, each with a pawprint, footprint, and camera icon motif. The case like the binoculars was in undamaged condition, remaining unfazed by obvious though careful use in the field. The only care needed in order to return the whole set to pristine condition is basic exterior cleaning of the binoculars: to blow and/or brush away some minor dust and grit at the edges of the objective lenses where they meet the recessed inside of the barrels, also on the outer cosmetic surfaces along the hinge edges and between eyecups and barrels. A clean of the eyepieces wouldn't come amiss either. Collimation appeared perfect after a quick and easy dioptre adjustment out on the viewing platform -- dioptre setting being one of the few occasions when objective caps are useful IMO. As a result views fell surely into focus, even against the light -- which was strong, with absolutely no cloud cover at 2pm in west London.
Had a good chat with Derek, the In Focus assistant, and tried out various sizes of different glass -- Nikon Monarch HG, Opticron in 8x32 and 10x32, and an EL SV 8.5x42 on the wildlife in the wetlands, on the SAS and British Airways birds, and on the flowers, which just happened to be obstructed by summery young women whose beautifully brushed hair floated nicely into focus...
Talking of focus, the focuser's action was irreproachable -- no rough patches, uneven resistance, or grating sounds. And a small consideration but it was what prompted the journey: binoculars in green to my taste look better than in black -- at least some models, and second hand good condition Victory FLs are not that common even in black. I have to come clean and admit to already having a very fine and fully Zeiss-serviced 8x32 FL already in black, courtesy of Lee, but green is what I was thinking when first wanting to get serious binoculars a long time ago.
Today all boxes were ticked beyond expectation. The binoculars came home with me and I can't wait to take them out into the woods, the park, and the marshes. In recent years Zeiss has come in for some criticism on the forums for poor quality control and choice of materials to house their great optics. But I sense Zeiss can't be criticised for any quality control slack over the FL generation of binoculars. As for cost, seeing that the Cleyspy example at the same cost looks very tired by comparison, the Simon King version from In Focus is fairly priced.
Many thanks to Pyrtle and No Spring Chicken for spotting this item in the first place and posting a thread to alert Bird Forum readers.
Tom
