Zeiss victory fl 8x32 vs Leica ultravid hd 8x32 (1 Viewer)

Finally got a chance to look at a pair of the Leicas and I have to say I was very impressed. Nice compact feel in the hand and the image was excellent. I compared it to a swaro el 8x32 and an Opticron imagic. Not really fair on the Opticron but it held its own and I was really impressed. Compared to the swaro the Leica was a lot brighter with a clearer image.
Unfortunately I wasnt able to compare with a Zeiss fl although I have tested out a pair before. If my memory seves me right the fl's had a wider fov and felt lighter but I will have to compare these two side by side for a more accurate comparison.
Has anybody compared the Zeiss and Leicas and which one trumped. Thanks Ger.

squidge said:

Finally got a chance to look at a pair of the Leicas and I have to say I was very impressed. Nice compact feel in the hand and the image was excellent. I compared it to a swaro el 8x32 and an Opticron imagic. Not really fair on the Opticron but it held its own and I was really impressed. Compared to the swaro the Leica was a lot brighter with a clearer image.
Unfortunately I wasnt able to compare with a Zeiss fl although I have tested out a pair before. If my memory seves me right the fl's had a wider fov and felt lighter but I will have to compare these two side by side for a more accurate comparison.
Has anybody compared the Zeiss and Leicas and which one trumped. Thanks Ger.

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I have and I preferred the Zeiss 8x32 FL. For me they just work better. But you should try them both yourself because they are both so darn good that it comes down to personal preference as to which one you prefer. The Zeiss 8x32 FL is my second favorite binocular of all time. Of course the Swarovision 8.5x42 is first.

Yes I'll have to test them together but I think it will be the Zeiss that will win based on what I can remember of the test I gave them and most importantly price where the Zeiss come in a few hundred euro cheaper. Ger.

I spent an hour today comparing the two and went for the Leica.
I wear glasses and the 13.3mm of eye-relief is ample for me. If you worry that the eye-relief is too small you may be surprised, leica must measure this differently to other manufacturers.
The Zeiss really didn't work for me. Eye placement is critical and I couldn't stop getting blackouts, they were hard work really and felt a bit too rugged and chunky.
The leicas felt more natural and gave an easier more pleasing image. The Zeiss also were not as sharp towards the edge. The Leicas are slimmer and feel better built and more elegant.
Try before you buy is the best advice here, do not buy online without trying first, whatever you do.

Jason

I have the Leica 10x32HD and previously owned the 8x32 FL. For me its Leica but only the recent HD.

For less CA the FL is king.

For warmer great vibrant colour the Leica wins and I must add that the 10x32 are amazingly accurate over distance. I think I definitley prefer them over an 8x32 but I do like my new 8x56 Hawke.

Could some-one who has tried the Leica tell me if the focus is smooth. Mine are in for repair as they were not and Leica tell me that they should have been silky smooth.

I watched a program about German weapons of the 2nd world war and apparently the Lugar pistol was so finely machined to tight tolerances that it could get easily affected by dirt and it was essential to have it kept clean.

I'm wondering of the Leica are a bit like that suffereng from to high tolerances or something since my comparitively cheap Hawke have an effortlessly smooth focus.

@ Mosschops: how can you have black-outs wearing glasses? And how can a bin be too rugged?

In any way, optically they are not very much different. If you want a warm colour, go to a warm country. If you want a cold colour, go to Northern Europe on a wet winterday.

The biggest differences for me buying the Zeiss were:
1. price. Zeiss is cheaper for the same or even better image quality.
2. grip. The Leica has slimmer tubes, so they fit certain hands better than other (mine)
3. focus knob. I love the smooth focus and hard rubber feel of the Zeiss. The Leica has a smaller knob which has a 'plastic' feel and it's a little less smooth.

But if the Leica would fit my hands and I would be rich, I wouldn't mind choosing one just by straw picking.

Hello Mosschops,

I have the 8x32 FL and it has always given an easy view, even with my specs on. This only illustrates that trying before buying is essential.

Happy bird watching,
Arthur Pinewood :hi:

I recently acquired a pair of Zeiss FL 8x32, and use them for walking (as I'm finding 42mm binos a bit heavy on the neck these days). They give a superb view, are easy on the hand and the neck, with the smoothest focusser I've ever encountered. I also like the Leica Ultravid HD 8x32, but it's FOV is narrower, and the real deal-breaker for me was the amount of negative reports of Leica aftersales/customer service. (I've only had one experience of this, when they didn't bother replying to an e-mail of mine requesting a simple replacement lanyard which I wanted to buy, and which was advertised in their documentation).

squidge said:

Finally got a chance to look at a pair of the Leicas and I have to say I was very impressed. Nice compact feel in the hand and the image was excellent. I compared it to a swaro el 8x32 and an Opticron imagic. Not really fair on the Opticron but it held its own and I was really impressed. Compared to the swaro the Leica was a lot brighter with a clearer image.
Unfortunately I wasnt able to compare with a Zeiss fl although I have tested out a pair before. If my memory seves me right the fl's had a wider fov and felt lighter but I will have to compare these two side by side for a more accurate comparison.
Has anybody compared the Zeiss and Leicas and which one trumped. Thanks Ger.

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Albino's did and the Leica got trumped. I agree with them. The Zeiss 8x32 FL is the best 32mm going right now. I chose it over My Swarovision 8.5x42 because it is lighter and the view is about as good.

http://www.allbinos.com/allbinos_ranking-binoculars_ranking-8x32.html

[email protected] said:

Albino's did and the Leica got trumped. I agree with them. The Zeiss 8x32 FL is the best 32mm going right now. I chose it over My Swarovision 8.5x42 because it is lighter and the view is about as good.

http://www.allbinos.com/allbinos_ranking-binoculars_ranking-8x32.html

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When you compared FL to the Leica where did you notice the most differences?

Bob

ceasar said:

When you compared FL to the Leica where did you notice the most differences?

Bob

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The big difference is the FOV is wider on the Zeiss. Also, I felt it was little brighter and showed me less CA especially at the edges. To me the FL shows the least CA of any binocular I have looked through. You can get the FL for less then the Leica also and I like the case, strap, rainguard and tethered objective covers better on the Zeiss. The Zeiss FL fits my hands better too but as others have said they are both excellent so try before you buy and see which one you prefer.

Posted some of this on the Meopta HD thread for different reasons, but it bears repeating here to counterbalance Dennis' biased comments on his bin du jour.

In Alula Magazine, Kimmo Absetz compared the 32mm FL to the 32mm Ultravid.

Some of the comments are based solely on his opinion, others are based on a test group, which compared the two midsized alphas during several weeks in January-March 2005 (before the Ultravid HD came out at the end of 2007).

Contrast:

"The contrast of the 32mm Zeiss is good, but not on the level of the Ultravid or Zeiss’ 42mm FLs."

Appearance:

"The FL 32 looks a whole lot like Zeiss’s old 8x30 Classic and is by no means ugly, but failed to elicit in me the kind of “I want that” response the Ultravid did."

Colour Rendition:

"The Zeiss models have a slight yellow bias, while the Ultravid has a slight reddish-brown bias, which makes black and very dark colours seem deeper and more natural than in the Zeiss. Users generally felt that the Ultravid showed more vibrant colours, but the FL’s relative lack of chromatic aberration cleans up the colours, as it were, whereby there is less colour “spillover” in the image."

Resolution:

"Compared with the reference binoculars and previous test data with other models, the resolution of the 8x32 Ultravid is on a par with the best 8x32mm binoculars tested so far, while both Zeiss models were a little bit less sharp - roughly on the level of the Swarovski EL 8/10x32s."

Rest assured the FLs got their share of praise for different reasons, not least of which was the FL's better CA control.

Here's the entire article.

http://www.lintuvaruste.fi/hinnasto/...a32mm_GB.shtml

Brock