Zeiss Victory 8x25 VS Swaro CL 8x30 last edition. (1 Viewer)

I insinuated that you should sell it, lose money and look for more. While your solution is good-better. The child will be very happy and you too will be with the Victory.

Rico70 said:

Unfortunately, that's the way it is. The lateral light enters the binoculars. You can solve with lens hood. I had the Lynx 10x30, it was similar to the Nikon Monarch 7 10x30, but much better in all and with less lateral glare.
An excellent binoculars which in my opinion is slightly lower than the Opticron Traveler ED 10x32, which manages the side lights better, but which is mechanically worse.

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I was wondering if those occasional reflections were due a faulty unit or if «*it was just me*», but thus apparently not. It seems hard to say where it comes from, but I had the impression I could cancel them out sometimes by shielding the side at the eyecups/my eyes rather than at the objectives.
Actually, I only have two negative points about the Lynx HD: those occasional reflections and the eyecups that don’t lock when extended. I’ve heard the latter issue would have been solved with the new eyecups in the new HD+ (though I don’t want to do a costly binocular upgrade just for that, apart from the eyecups and cosmetics, they are otherwise nearly identical as confirmed by Kite themselves). I would love to solve the former issue though. Did you try with lens hoods and/or winged eye cups?
You say you «*had*» the Lynx. Did you find a significant upgrade in the same range/size/form factor/...? (Thus around 30mm.)

Rico70 said:

Did you compare them carefully, in a open field, during twilight?

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I didn’t compare the Zeiss Victory 8x25 and Leica Ultravid 8x20 in the open field. I only had the chance to test the Leica in the store, looking both inside and through the window, but in a street. Thus I’m certainly not the best source of info on them . In that very limited testing situation, I just didn’t like the ‘sense’ of narrow view it gave me and the (little) more demanding eye placement. However, also considering its size, I could cope with the eye placement myself (as opposed to maybe some people, friends/family, less used to binoculars that would want to look through it on a walk). However I suppose the trade off of the smaller objective diameter and exit pupil will really start to be noticed on a brightness level, except during daytime on a clear day. It was very sharp though and I was impressed by its built quality! It felt more robust than my small Zeiss, while folding more compactly. I would love the Zeiss to feel/be(?) as robust, considering the use of it as small binoculars to take with you everywhere.

Alexis Powell said:

I don't understand what you are implying. Regardless, the good news is that I didn't need to wait for a low astigmatism version of the Zeiss 8x25 Terra because the Zeiss 8x25 Victory, which is much better in numerous ways, is very low in astigmatism off-axis. I bought a Terra on sale ($200) as a gift for a 10-year-old--it's great for its reasonable optical quality, smooth easy to reach focus, very close focus, and low IPD. But for myself, I use the worlds better Zeiss 8x25 Victory, with its slimmer design, better ergonomics, and much better optics.

--AP

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I'd have to say this closely describes my experiences with the Terra. I purchased one for a little under $300 (updated armor) as a birthday gift for my brother. I took them out to use and compare them with 8x25CL & 8x32SV. I spent about 2 hours on top of a mountain with these optics on a tripod rest and felt that I was giving each of them the fairest chance possible. The Terra seems like a nice little binocular for the money but it really seemed to perform to it's price point. There was never any moment that I switched to the Terra and thought to myself, "wow...that's impressive." Again, the view is good but it felt like I was comparing it to binoculars that cost two and four times as much.

The last time I was in my local optics shop, I looked through another set of 8x25 Terra's, a different 8x25CL (a demo, not my own) and the 8x25 Victory. It was very difficult for me to decide which view I liked more between the Victory and the CL because both of them had stand out advantages. The Victory's FOV is no joke! Both however, were clearly and instantly recognizable as superior to the Terra.

Due to these couple of experiences, I've found the discussion about the Terra a bit baffling. I know there must be some explanation but on the surface, it seems astonishing to me that Zeiss would produce two binoculars at two completely different price points, yet build in equal or superior performance to the ones that cost half the price. Not only is this not what I've experienced, but I'm skeptical because it's just not how things typically work. Still, I'm open to explanations based on reasonable argument about industry workings, or better yet, data, pictures, spectral analysis, transmission test, etc.

binomaniac said:

I have some very good binoculars like: Zeiss Victory FL 8x42, Steiner Nighthunter 8X56 latest model and Canon IS 14x32. I noticed a very annoying thing: many times when I need a binocular, I don't have one with me. I seriously think about selling all my binoculars and getting one that I can easily carry with me all the time. I have two binoculars in mind: Zeiss Victory 8x25 pocket and Swaro CL 8x30 last edition. I'm curious if anyone had the chance to compare them extensively and what their opinions would be. There would also be the Kowa BD 6.5x32 variant but I read about it mixed opinions so I am waiting for more. Thanks to everyone in advance.

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I can clearly understand what you mean, one of my favotire binoculars is also the Canon IS 14x32, last summer in Canada I was using it in combination with the Zeiss Victory pocket 8x25, it is a very good combination. The Victory pocket is small, very good optics, reasonable wide field. Then in the fall I purchaised the Kowa 6,5x32, a very nice extrem wide field binocular, so far I can not tell you if it will substitute the Victory pocket, it is much thicker, wunderfull wide contrasty view, but a small globe effect. When the Leica Trinovid 7x35 became unespectetly available after two years waiting I could not resists getting it. It is optically a step up from the Victory and the Kowa, a little bit bigger than the Victory, but thinner and taller than the Kowa. The next year will tell me which is the best addition to the Canon 14x32. At the moment I think it will be the Trinovid, it just fits into the pocket of several of my jackets.
I can not comment on the Swaro 8x30 EL but another small nice binocular, even lighter and wider view, is the Nikon HG 8x30 , a friend of mine owns it and I would take it into consideration.

Thomas


p.s. I owned the Leica 8x20 before switching to the Victory pocket, the field of view of the Leica 8x20 was too narrow for me

mbb said:

I only have two negative points about the Lynx HD: those occasional reflections and the eyecups that don’t lock when extended. I’ve heard the latter issue would have been solved with the new eyecups in the new HD+

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The Kite warranty covers the replacement of the eye shells for free (try to contact them). But I don't know if the old model accepts the new eye cups.

mbb said:

Did you try with lens hoods and/or winged eye cups?

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Yes, but they work only without glasses. If you want to test their efficiency, you could self build them with a few pieces of inner tube for MBT (for example).
If you have glasses, you could use typical shooters' blinkers (rifles) or build something similar on yours, with matte black rubber-plastic-cardboard.
The side light can also be very harmful and the hoods will always be welcome.

mbb said:

Did you find a significant upgrade in the same range/size/form factor/...? (Thus around 30mm.)

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In my opinion, the Opticron Traveller binoculars (32mm) is overall better than the Kite Lynx (30mm). And not for a difference of 2mm, but for many optical reasons, including the best management of the side light, both from the front and from behind. The only negative point is that the mechanical quality is poorer, and the focusing wheel is more stiff (it's cheaper).

mbb said:

I didn’t compare the Zeiss Victory 8x25 and Leica Ultravid 8x20 in the open field. ... It was very sharp though and I was impressed by its built quality! It felt more robust than my small Zeiss, while folding more compactly. I would love the Zeiss to feel as robust, considering the use of it as small binoculars to take with you everywhere.

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In the project of something so specific, a compromise must be found. And I understand that Leica's choice was basically for this reason.
I'm glad to read your comment on the feeling of build quality, since I'm always undecided in the choice between Victory or Ultravid.

Just a quick addition to this old thread because I recently did this comparison. From another post...

I read so many good reports on the VP 8x25 that I had to give them a go. I compared them against the Swaro CL 8x30 and the latest Opticron Aurora 8x42 which are both respected and at a slightly higher price point. I was expecting the Swaro to beat it because of their reputation and wider objective lenses. I was however surprised. The Opticron had a lovely bright view almost free of CA, though the demo one had a stiff and rough focus wheel which I could not have accepted in actual use. The Swaro was a lovely package and nice enough optically but not as good as I expected e.g. CA was present even in the centre of the field. The VP was superb; brighter than I expected (not far off the Swaro), almost no CA - certainly less than the other two - and also plenty of contrast and detail with a neutral colour balance as far as I could tell. The field was also wider and brighter than I could have expected from such a small device. I'm not sure exactly what 'Alpha' means when referring to bins but I suspect something like this.

I wear glasses and like this the VP worked easily with eyecups left in, but I often prefer to use bins without and so I had to extend the eyecups and find a brace position on the eye sockets. This worked OK but I can see some people finding it fiddly. However, the rubber eyecups I added to the old Zeiss porros fitted perfectly and like that with the VP eyecups pushed back in I got the ideal eye position (i.e. seeing the full field but no blackouts) and with the added advantage of no stray light entering near the eye. With these eyecups the VPs are excellent and for those who complain about using it without glasses I highly recommend this solution as it adds very little weight or size (or cost ~£5) and certainly makes using them easier as well as providing a subjectively better view.

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