Zeiss Conquest 12 x 45 BT* : any good? (1 Viewer)

KorHaan · Mar 28, 2007

Has anyone tried these or owned these? Can't find any reviews.

According to the Zeiss website they are an ultra lightweight pair of bins ( only 605 grams ), yet quite tall. Could be interesting for hand held long range viewing if the balance is any good.

The exit pupil is 3,75 mm, which would be acceptable for daylight viewing but are they bright enough for low light conditions? How is the eye relief?

Your opinions would be very welcome.

Greetings, Ronald

nctexasbirder · Mar 28, 2007

good luck hand-holding a 12x...if you can see the birds through all the jiggling

3

someone may be able to help you tho..

KorHaan · Mar 28, 2007

nctexasbirder said:
good luck hand-holding a 12x...if you can see the birds through all the jiggling

3

someone may be able to help you tho..

Hi Texasbirder,

You're probably right. I am a 7x bin user like you and enjoy the relaxed wide view they provide. Never experienced a more panoramic view than with my FL's.
But I was just curious why there are no reviews or posts of the 12x Conquest, since the magnification is not much greater than 10x and lots of people swear by 10 mag bins.

Greetings, Ronald

John Russell · Mar 28, 2007

Hi Ronald,

I too am a 7x user and am considering the 12x45 Conquests for use in open country, when I am not willing to carry 5,5kg of scope and tripod.
It would appear that the 12x45 and 15x45 Conquests are basically 8x30s and 10x30s with 45mm objectives of 1,5x the focal length and I recently had the opportunity to try some out at a local dealer. They are surprisingly light and compact and compared to my 7x42 SLCs almost diminutive. The dealer does not stock the 15x45s as he considers eye relief and exit pupil to be marginal and recommends the 12x45s for use on moving (raptors?) rather than stationary objects, where one tends to over-compensate for each slight movement. I experienced problems holding them steady and would probably need to use a monopod but, unfortunately, there is no tripod socket. A rain guard is supplied but I cannot understand why Zeiss do not include objective covers.
Optically they fulfilled expectations. The AFOV is less than the Victory models but at 55° quite acceptable and, while there was some field curvature, I did not notice any of the astigmatism, which is present on some Victory bins.
There are not that many 12x bins on the market and the Zeiss 12x45 Conquests offer a unique combination of optical performance, low weight and value for money.

John

KorHaan · Mar 29, 2007

John Russell said:
Hi Ronald,

I too am a 7x user and am considering the 12x45 Conquests for use in open country, when I am not willing to carry 5,5kg of scope and tripod.
It would appear that the 12x45 and 15x45 Conquests are basically 8x30s and 10x30s with 45mm objectives of 1,5x the focal length and I recently had the opportunity to try some out at a local dealer. They are surprisingly light and compact and compared to my 7x42 SLCs almost diminutive. The dealer does not stock the 15x45s as he considers eye relief and exit pupil to be marginal and recommends the 12x45s for use on moving (raptors?) rather than stationary objects, where one tends to over-compensate for each slight movement. I experienced problems holding them steady and would probably need to use a monopod but, unfortunately, there is no tripod socket. A rain guard is supplied but I cannot understand why Zeiss do not include objective covers.
Optically they fulfilled expectations. The AFOV is less than the Victory models but at 55° quite acceptable and, while there was some field curvature, I did not notice any of the astigmatism, which is present on some Victory bins.
There are not that many 12x bins on the market and the Zeiss 12x45 Conquests offer a unique combination of optical performance, low weight and value for money.

John

Thank you for the info, John.
They look certainly interesting for times you don't carry a scope. Too bad you got problems holding them steady; I wondered if that would have made a difference as they are so much lighter, but it seems not.

I can imagine it's a different ball game birding with 12x bins when you're used to 7x, it's getting short steady views for a second but that can be enough to ID a bird. For a backup bin they could be just fine. For now I only have 7x FL but with visitors around I would gladly lend them the FL's and take a second bin myself when we go birding. I love the "OOO" 's and "AAA" 's whenever people take a look through the FL's.

Having become too intrigued by them to simply discard them,
I am going to get a good look through these 12x Conquests soon. I discovered a store with a huge amount of Swaro's, Leica's ( even Trinovids )and Zeisses, pretty good chance they got all the Conquests as well.
I'll come back on this later.

Greetings, Ronald

Tero · Apr 1, 2007

John, inquire here about the tripod possibilities
http://www.opticsplanet.com/msgboard/
also, ask them for a a 15x recommendation

ceasar · Apr 1, 2007

Ronald and John,
K & K Outdoors, 4243 Winter Ave., Klamath Falls, OR. 97603 (no website--call 1-888-884-1577 or fax 541-884-5980) manufactures 2 very nice "Sureloc bino mounts": SC1 for 30/50 roof prisms and SC2 for 40/50/60 porro's. I have them both. They mount on the Ballhead of a monopod or tripod. They cost about $25.00. Call them for a brochure. They also make quality tripods and other accessories for use out doors.
Bob

KorHaan · Apr 2, 2007

ceasar said:
Ronald and John,
K & K Outdoors, 4243 Winter Ave., Klamath Falls, OR. 97603 (no website--call 1-888-884-1577 or fax 541-884-5980) manufactures 2 very nice "Sureloc bino mounts": SC1 for 30/50 roof prisms and SC2 for 40/50/60 porro's. I have them both. They mount on the Ballhead of a monopod or tripod. They cost about $25.00. Call them for a brochure. They also make quality tripods and other accessories for use out doors.
Bob

Thanks, Bob, but sometimes I like to go out with bins only and leave scope and tripod at home; the light weight of the 12x Conquests makes it easy to take them along, when I'm doing my regular bicycle ride through the polder. ( Not birding trips, I'm doing my own delivery service for my art work and there's no space left for a tripod, but I wouldn't be without bins though.)

In case a distant bird needs ID I could easily use the saddle of my bike as a support for the bins, I guess this should work quite well.

I will probably go and check them out this week, compare them to my FL's and decide I want to waste my money on something else...

... or not.

Greetings, Ronald

John Russell · Apr 2, 2007

Tero said:
John, inquire here about the tripod possibilities
http://www.opticsplanet.com/msgboard/
also, ask them for a a 15x recommendation

Thanks Tero, but I am not really willing to junk my old and heavy Gitzo Series 4 tripod. I use a straight scope and am 190cm tall (6'3") so I really need the height. I could not save more than about 1kg and would then sacrifice stability.
I also have a Manfrotto 685B monopod with the 234RC tilt head. It's an ingenious piece of kit (just pull out to the required height and it locks) but I have difficulty using it with the 23x scope so, like Ronald, I am considering "wasting" some money on 12x bins.

John

John Russell · Apr 2, 2007

ceasar said:
Ronald and John,
K & K Outdoors, 4243 Winter Ave., Klamath Falls, OR. 97603 (no website--call 1-888-884-1577 or fax 541-884-5980) manufactures 2 very nice "Sureloc bino mounts": SC1 for 30/50 roof prisms and SC2 for 40/50/60 porro's. I have them both. They mount on the Ballhead of a monopod or tripod. They cost about $25.00. Call them for a brochure. They also make quality tripods and other accessories for use out doors.
Bob

Thanks Bob, I'll contact them. The Leica bino adaptor is €75 and the Zeiss, a ridiculous €160!

John

Tero · Apr 2, 2007

I meant the clamp that goes on the Zeiss to get it on the tripod.

John Russell · Apr 2, 2007

KorHaan said:
In case a distant bird needs ID I could easily use the saddle of my bike as a support for the bins, I guess this should work quite well.

Ronald,
That sounds plausible. While out birding on heath land recently, I met a guy on a bike, who was using a Leica Duovid 8+12x42 for surveys. Optically they were fine but very expensive and the focussing mechanism was horrible. I can't understand why Leica sacrifice lubricant and smooth focussing just to keep them functioning at -20°C.

John

hinnark · Apr 2, 2007

John Russell said:
Ronald,
That sounds plausible. While out birding on heath land recently, I met a guy on a bike, who was using a Leica Duovid 8+12x42 for surveys. Optically they were fine but very expensive and the focussing mechanism was horrible. I can't understand why Leica sacrifice lubricant and smooth focussing just to keep them functioning at -20°C.

John

The Zeiss 12x45 Conquest:
pros: contrast and brightness
cons: narrow FOV, small sweet spot, sensitive to stray light, cheap look and feel

The multi function focusser was invented by Leica and has been copied many times by many other manufactorers since then. I still prefer the original and can´t understand all the complains about it. It is smooth enough at any given temperature, you can read the adjustment without the need of popping them up like Zeiss FL and Swaro EL and the diopter is useable without the limit of given snaps like Swaro bins.

Steve

John Russell · Apr 2, 2007

Tero said:
I meant the clamp that goes on the Zeiss to get it on the tripod.

Sorry, I misunderstood.

John

Tero · Apr 2, 2007

hinnark said:
The Zeiss 12x45 Conquest:
pros: contrast and brightness
cons: narrow FOV, small sweet spot, sensitive to stray light, cheap look and feel

Steve

I don't have the 12x handy to check right now, but the 10X Conquest has a fairly wide sweet spot. Wider than the Nikon Monarch for instance. So in those terms, the Conquest series has binoculars somewhere between the $300 and $1200 binoculars.

hinnark · Apr 2, 2007

I think it´s not a big deal to have a wider sweet spot than a Nikon Monarch.

John Russell · Apr 2, 2007

hinnark said:
The Zeiss 12x45 Conquest:
pros: contrast and brightness
cons: narrow FOV, small sweet spot, sensitive to stray light, cheap look and feel

The multi function focusser was invented by Leica and has been copied many times by many other manufactorers since then. I still prefer the original and can´t understand all the complains about it. It is smooth enough at any given temperature, you can read the adjustment without the need of popping them up like Zeiss FL and Swaro EL and the diopter is useable without the limit of given snaps like Swaro bins.

Steve

Steve,

I don't dispute the effectiveness of the dioptre adjustment on Leicas but this is something one usually sets and forgets. It's the rough feel of the focussing mechanism I dislike. It may not be present on all examples but has often been criticized on this forum.
The 12x45 Conquest is a fairly unique binocular without any direct competitors and I think its deficiencies should be viewed in relation to a moderate RRP of around €700. Look and feel are not significantly worse than FLs and the limitations in the sweet spot are down to field curvature rather than astigmatism. The AFOV is somewhat limited but is nevertheless superior to most compacts, 7x50s, many Japanese 8x42s and the exalted 8x56 ClassiCs.

John

Tero · Apr 3, 2007

hinnark said:
I think it´s not a big deal to have a wider sweet spot than a Nikon Monarch.

To some, this may be the selling point. It is a fairly flat field for most of the view, some edge softness in Conquests. But, I would worry more about brightness. The 12x Zeiss may not be all that bright. I bet 12x50 Nikon Actions are equally bright, for $90. FOV is 288ft, still useable. Weight 945g or 33.8 oz, the Zeiss are 21.3 oz. Actually, the Zeiss are pretty light, even the 10x weigh more, 29 oz.

hinnark · Apr 3, 2007

John Russell said:
Steve,

I don't dispute the effectiveness of the dioptre adjustment on Leicas but this is something one usually sets and forgets. It's the rough feel of the focussing mechanism I dislike. It may not be present on all examples but has often been criticized on this forum.
John

John,

I know the reports of a rough feel of the Leica focus mechanisms here in Birdforum. I have even seen such samples with a slip stick effect of Leica Ultravids by myself too. But this samples were from the beginning of the Ultravid´s production. Since then I have tried a greater number of different Leica bins without this problem. When there´s no technical defect, the Leica focus mechanism is smooth and not rough and among the best constructions available. There are a lot examples for problems in the beginning of the production of other new product in optcal industry. Because of this I feel the continuing reports about the focus issue of Leica bins are exaggerated and simply not fair.

Steve

postcardcv · Apr 3, 2007

KorHaan said:
They look certainly interesting for times you don't carry a scope. Too bad you got problems holding them steady; I wondered if that would have made a difference as they are so much lighter, but it seems not.

I would think that the lightweight of these bins is what makes them espeically hard to hold steady. I used to have a pair of Leica Duovids (fairly heavy bins) and found them very easy to hold steady at 12x, but I have struggled with lightweight 10x bins.

If you want a bit of extra power for use on the odd occassion when you don't have a scope with you perhaps you should look at the Ziess 3x12 monocular. With a small adapter it can be fitted to the FL's as a booster so on your 7x42s it would give you 21x magnification. It's clearly not designed for prolonged viewing, but handy to put on when you need a bit more mag to check an ID.

Zeiss Conquest 12 x 45 BT* : any good? (1 Viewer)

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