Focus wheel placement on Zeiss HT (1 Viewer)

[karmantra]

The soon to be released Zeiss HT looks quite impressive, but its focus wheel placement is so far forward than it was in the FLs, or most other binoculars. I understand that it was probably necessary in order to give the double-hinge support for the long tubes.
I have not had the opportunity to hold an HT, but with my smallish hands, I'm trying to visualize hand placement on the new Zeiss--still use the ring finger for focussing with the middle, ring & pinkie fingers forward gripping the tubes, or using the middle finger for focussing with the thumb & index finger behind wheel & ring & pinkie forward? Not sure which postion would balance best in the hands, but it looks like a little 'retraining' on hand placement may be necessary!
Is there anyone out there who has had the pleasure of holding the new HTs, on what hand placement seemed to work for them?

 

[garymh]

When you actually hold the binocular the focus wheel falls naturally to hand.....whichever fingers you use to focus.

The focus wheel was not put there as a side thought to accomodate the double hinge - the double hinge was built around the most ergonomic position for the focus wheel !!!!

 

[James Bean]

That's why Zeiss are so nice...

 

[karmantra]

When you actually hold the binocular the focus wheel falls naturally to hand.....whichever fingers you use to focus.

The focus wheel was not put there as a side thought to accomodate the double hinge - the double hinge was built around the most ergonomic position for the focus wheel !!!!

Dear garymh: Whoa! I did not make any negative comment about the 'focus wheel being placed as a side thought to accomodate the double hinge'.
I was inquiring about hand placement & balance of the binocular, particularly for small hands, and use of either index or middle finger for focussing. I am sure that Zeiss went to great pains regarding the ergomonics of the HT & that it will be a great product.
Don't be so defensive about your new HT--you have had the advantage of holding one, I haven't--lighten up!

 

[Torview]

This looks so "right" to me, in the way a Spitfire looked right, or a Miura, very often the greatest designs just look "right" !

 

[James Bean]

Or a Hawker Hunter, E-type Jaguar, or Zeiss BGAT. "If it looks right, it's likely to be right".

 

[joe101]

I am more worried about the material, looks like rubber and in my climate i don't think it will hold up . most rubber armouring and covering whether camera or bino melts and becomes sticky.( over a few years, not immediately)

 

[garymh]

Dear garymh: Whoa! I did not make any negative comment about the 'focus wheel being placed as a side thought to accomodate the double hinge'.
I was inquiring about hand placement & balance of the binocular, particularly for small hands, and use of either index or middle finger for focussing. I am sure that Zeiss went to great pains regarding the ergomonics of the HT & that it will be a great product.
Don't be so defensive about your new HT--you have had the advantage of holding one, I haven't--lighten up!

I did not accuse you of making negative comments.

I am on this forum to share my information with other members - not to get involved in debates.

You inquired about the hand placement and I answered your question. The wording about the position of the focus wheel was my own description.

I was simply trying to describe the priorities of the designers when developing this binocular.

As you said......."lighten up".

 

[brocknroller]

You can't judge a book by its cover. Nor can you be assured that a roof will fit your hands by looking at a photo of it or even by asking someone else how it fits his hands. One size (design) does not fit all.

Ergonomics is an are were personal preferences reign supreme, there are no "bench tests" that will give you objective info you can use to make a purchase decision.

I think the new Nikon Monarch 7 will fit my hands better than the Monarch 3, but I won't know how comfortable or how stable my grip will be until I actually get one in my hand. Doesn't mean I shouldn't ask others about it feels to them, but ultimately, with a new design, I'm not going to know for sure until the bin is in my hands and up to my eyes.

A couple of examples to illustrate this. Take the Plain Jane Pentax 8x36 NV. It's a slender body didn't look like it had enough "real estate" to accommodate my big paws, but lo and behold, when I picked it up, my hand and fingers feel into the right places and it was stable and comfortable. Not what I had expected.

Even more surprising was the Vortex 8x42 Fury (why did they get rid of that model??????). It's about the fattest bin I've seen. The Nikon LX might have it beat on the scale, but in terms of barrel size, the big Fury's barrels are so large that even at my 68* IPD, the barrels have little room between them at the bottom.

At the top, there's really no bridge to speak of. Just a narrow cover over the center post. So I'm thinking, where the h e double hockey sticks am going to hold this bin. It has no thumb indents and no bridge. And there wasn't much barrel out front to grip like the 6" long Pentax.

Well, shiver me timbers if I don't grab the bin and it fits like a glove. My thumbs folded beneath the barrels but instead of having nothing to grip like the 8x32 LX, the barrels were so fat that and so close to each other, that my thumbs formed sort of a bridge across the bottom, with the tip of my right thumb touching the left barrel and vise versa. The flared strap lugs acted as a nice "backstop" for my palms.

On top the fat barrels there was plenty of room. Didn't need a bridge since the two barrels were nearly touching.

Third example, the Promaster Infinity Acura Lexus ED. Looking at the pix with its open bridge, I'm thinking this is going to work fine for my big hands.

Then I got hold of it and couldn't find a comfortable grip. The thumb indents were in the wrong place for any grip that felt comfortable such that I could reach the focuser. The whole bin was too long and not well balanced. The view was nice, but it was not comfortable to hold.

Lesson learned: You can't judge a bin's ergonomics from its picture.

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