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Where premium quality meets exceptional value. ZEISS Conquest HDX.

One more SF 8X32 or SFL 8X40? (6 Viewers)

I received the SF.

First, no plastic around the binocular. Is it a Zeiss choice?

Then, there' s dust on the optical outside, I did not yet check into.
I suppose seller showed it at some customers.

About warranty, there's no specific paper. I supposé invoice is enough ( for exemple, Nikon need invoice + warranty paper.

About eyepieces, they are not similar. One is hard to extension, maybe too hard and the other is easier, probably too easier on first position and I think he won't stay in thiz position if I have to use like that.
Currently, i use them totally extend.

1st pictures here. ( dont know why quality picture is bad like that)
 

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I suspect that sometimes, super deals which are sold as 'open box' or 'like new in box' are the result of dealers who have had returns, exactly because buyers are very picky and reject something because for instance, one eye cup is a little stiffer than the others. When you spend $3k or thereabouts, you expect perfection. So people end up with boxes with broken seals, a little dust on items, etc. but really, they are 'new' and unused. I had the experience of receiving a 'refurb' Noctivid, directly from Leica (in order to resolve an issue with used pair I had purchased from dealer), which looked new and unused in every way. Was it a good-will offer from Leica (heavily discounted since I had originally intended to buy a used item), or was it something they had 'on the shelf' because of a return or was it a demo, or what?

Sounds like you got great bins for a good discount. enjoy!
 
I suspect that sometimes, super deals which are sold as 'open box' or 'like new in box' are the result of dealers who have had returns, exactly because buyers are very picky and reject something because for instance, one eye cup is a little stiffer than the others. When you spend $3k or thereabouts, you expect perfection. So people end up with boxes with broken seals, a little dust on items, etc. but really, they are 'new' and unused. I had the experience of receiving a 'refurb' Noctivid, directly from Leica (in order to resolve an issue with used pair I had purchased from dealer), which looked new and unused in every way. Was it a good-will offer from Leica (heavily discounted since I had originally intended to buy a used item), or was it something they had 'on the shelf' because of a return or was it a demo, or what?

Sounds like you got great bins for a good discount. enjoy!
Are Zeiss serial numbers sequential and not random in any way?
 
I received the SF.

First, no plastic around the binocular. Is it a Zeiss choice?

Then, there' s dust on the optical outside, I did not yet check into.
I suppose seller showed it at some customers.

About warranty, there's no specific paper. I supposé invoice is enough ( for exemple, Nikon need invoice + warranty paper.

About eyepieces, they are not similar. One is hard to extension, maybe too hard and the other is easier, probably too easier on first position and I think he won't stay in thiz position if I have to use like that.
Currently, i use them totally extend.

1st pictures here. ( dont know why quality picture is bad like that)
I would return it with those faulty eyecups. You shouldn't have to put up with that, even with an open box deal on expensive binoculars like those. I personally wouldn't mess around sending them to Zeiss or getting new eyecups. You shouldn't have to do that for as much as you paid.
 
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Suggestion try out the binocuars and see if everthing else is good opticaly and your enjoing the glass, the fit and the mechanics. Then, if the eyecups are not a deal breaker, keep them and enjoy yourself. If they still bother you, send them to Zeiss, and they will fix them up real nice. While there they will make sure everything is to spec before shipping them back to you. I do this on a lot of used bins that I buy, to get them just right, OCD and all you know.
 
I received the SF.
..

About warranty, there's no specific paper. I supposé invoice is enough ( for exemple, Nikon need invoice + warranty paper.
Bonjour Fab31,

In the USA, Zeiss no longer provides a warranty document, but one registers the purchase online. Perhaps, the same is true in the EU.

Bon chance,
Arthur
 
They look beautiful! Can't see the glass too well but they look like mint condition to me. The eyecups are pretty much cheap plastic and you can call Zeiss and get a couple new ones if you want.
 
I have to test more and I have a lak of time but I will do that in the next days.

I tried them quickly today and I saw too the Blue Ring. It's not a problem to use it but I have to tell I saw it like Dennis and some other members.
Not a joke.
 
I have to test more and I have a lak of time but I will do that in the next days.

I tried them quickly today and I saw too the Blue Ring. It's not a problem to use it but I have to tell I saw it like Dennis and some other members.
Not a joke.
It's not evident all the time; it's only with certain angles and how you position the eyecups into your eye sockets. When you do notice the blue ring, adjust the eyecup deeper into your eye sockets, and it will disappear, at least for most people. My wife doesn’t see it under any circumstances, I see it only under certain conditions, not a deal breaker.
 
I have to test more and I have a lak of time but I will do that in the next days.

I tried them quickly today and I saw too the Blue Ring. It's not a problem to use it but I have to tell I saw it like Dennis and some other members.
Not a joke.
The BROD lives. I believe it is a type of CA. You really notice it when you compare it to a pair of binoculars without it, like the Swarovski SLC 8x42. I saw it in the SFL 8x40. Like Paul says, I think it is dependent on eye cup positioning, but also how deep or shallow your eye sockets are. Some people may never see it.
 
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Be sure you have no doubts about sharpness of the image, focusing is smooth, objects snap into focus well, you can easily find the right diopter setting, and it doesn't need to be redone. This is where most problems occur.
Hello,

I have to look at better for sharpness but for the rest, all is ok. Just the right eyepiece is a little too smooth as already told.

What is it surprising is that I have a little more tunnel feeling with the SF compared to my monarch 7 8X30. I don't see the FOV difference and the Monarch give me a more open sensation.
Probably because I know it perfectly. We are married since several years. :D
 
Hello,

I have to look at better for sharpness but for the rest, all is ok. Just the right eyepiece is a little too smooth as already told.

What is it surprising is that I have a little more tunnel feeling with the SF compared to my monarch 7 8X30. I don't see the FOV difference and the Monarch give me a more open sensation.
Probably because I know it perfectly. We are married since several years. :D
More tunnel feeling with the SF 8x32 than the Nikon M7 8x30! Wow, that is a testament to how good those little Nikon's are for the money. The Nikon M7 8x30 does have an amazingly big feeling AFOV for some reason.
 
S'pect idea not to be undervalued. Takes time to know a bino. Not everyone understands this.
I used to pride myself on being able to have the binoculars focussed on the subject before they reached my eyes.
Particularly in fast moving woodland environments, with lots of birds moving thru at different distances.
It was quite natural, and moving them back to a reference point between use.

Sadly, this is an art I doubt I will ever be able to replicate with such sensitive fast focus wheels!
I would say my current SFLs take (slightly) longer to get on the bird, as the focussing fine tuning, however sensitive, can only start when I'm looking at the subject. And if I guess close to the subject, it actually hampers me slightly, as I don't know whether I'm short or beyond the bird.

My best hope is to bring the focus in close, so at least the fine tuning can always start in the right direction
 
I used to pride myself on being able to have the binoculars focussed on the subject before they reached my eyes.
Particularly in fast moving woodland environments, with lots of birds moving thru at different distances.
It was quite natural, and moving them back to a reference point between use.

Sadly, this is an art I doubt I will ever be able to replicate with such sensitive fast focus wheels!
I would say my current SFLs take (slightly) longer to get on the bird, as the focussing fine tuning, however sensitive, can only start when I'm looking at the subject. And if I guess close to the subject, it actually hampers me slightly, as I don't know whether I'm short or beyond the bird.

My best hope is to bring the focus in close, so at least the fine tuning can always start in the right direction
Wow! If I understand… you were able to establish focus while bringing Bino to eyes? Had no idea this was possible.
 
Takes time to know a bino. Not everyone understands this.
I agree strongly with this statement.

There is a distressing tendency toward “Well, this one’s no good, off it goes.” and a glass which may have served very well, gets packed up and sent back.

I spent a good part of the summer getting to know an 8X30W Habicht, and a little jewel it is.

The more one looks, the more one sees, and it is always easier to see what you already know is there, so you could say that “additional layers of seeing” accumulate as use increases. This happens especially in one’s familiar, home area.

Because we see so much more with a binocular than we do with bare eyeballs, perhaps part of the "getting to know" is getting used to seeing all the additional things which are revealed to us by the binocular.

This is perhaps an awkward way of explaining my way of experiencing Tom’s concept of “getting to know” a binocular.

(I hope it makes some kind of sense)
 
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What is it surprising is that I have a little more tunnel feeling with the SF compared to my monarch 7 8X30. I don't see the FOV difference and the Monarch give me a more open sensation.
Two obscure things to consider, maybe even in combination:
(1) SF has more eye relief, and a deeper eyecup can give me more of a tunnel impression, although I'm not sure why it should.
(2) SF has a different distortion profile (less pincushioning, more AMD) that gives a smaller apparent field. Of course it also has a larger true field, so this could cancel out, but at any rate it won't feel as much wider as it might.
 
I agree strongly with this statement.

There is a distressing tendency toward “Well, this one’s no good, off it goes.” and a glass which may have served very well, gets packed up and sent back.
Were you thinking about anybody specifically? 😝
I spent a good part of the summer getting to know an 8X30W Habicht, and a little jewel it is.
It really is. It’s such a powerful elegant little bino.
The more one looks, the more one sees, and it is always easier to see what you already know is there, so you could say that “additional layers of seeing” accumulate as use increases. This happens especially in one’s familiar, home area.

Because we see so much more with a binocular than we do with bare eyeballs, perhaps part of the "getting to know" is getting used to seeing all the additional things which are revealed to us by the binocular.

This is perhaps an awkward way of explaining my way of experiencing Tom’s concept of “getting to know” a binocular.

(I hope it makes some kind of sense)
100%. There are so many things, nuances we start to notice after a few weeks or longer from one binocular to another.
 
Wow! If I understand… you were able to establish focus while bringing Bino to eyes? Had no idea this was possible.
Use the Force!

The Zeiss SF's show the BROD if your eye isn't in the right place. Very important to get the eyecups set to the correct height. After more use you start to keep your eye centered better and it's less and less of a problem IMO.

If the eyecups aren't far enough out, you can turn them to the outermost position and then unscrew them a turn or two for more height. If you don't wear glasses you can experiment with this. I was getting tons of blackouts in the 8x42's until I unscrewed the eyecups 1 to 1.5 turns, they don't go high enough for me at full extension
 

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