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Where premium quality meets exceptional value. ZEISS Conquest HDX.

Product Review: The Sky Rover Banner Cloud 8 x 42 Binocular (1 Viewer)

I joined here a week a or so ago to possibly become part of a community and hopefully learn from others.

All of the above is an absolute disgrace.

I’ll stick to walks with my bins and books and leave you fellas to squabble.

Adam
Maybe you should read the actual reviews of the person who started this thread - then you'd know what caused all of the anger.
 
There are two large astro forums in Germany, once the SRBC was discussed, eight posts now it has disappeared into obscurity again.
I can understand that in Germany, with a great tradition of domestic optics manufacturing and probably a wider variety of top class optics available on the new and secondhand market than anywhere else in the world, that another mid-level binocular from an obscure manufacturer would not have much appeal. If Nikon does not sell well in Germany, Sky Rover/Kunming probably won't.

(Although, Mr Ludes does seem to have built up a successful business selling made in PRC optics ... are most APM binoculars sold outside Germany then?)

If Canip, Sancho and others think the SRBC is nice binocular and write a positive review, that's one thing, a positive review with condescending comments towards others is another thing, especially when additional political messages are distributed.
That's fair enough, everyone has his/her own style - Tobias Mennle (whom I enjoyed reading when his site was online) has sometimes been pretty negative about Swaro and Zeiss. Some are more abrasive than others, and most of us have individual BF users that we think are a$$holes. I generally ignore the people I dislike the most. But there are definitely individuals that I pay more attention to and when they report impressive performance, I can't discount it because the binocular is made in the PRC, or because it's supported by people I dislike. I wouldn't want to rule out eg. Swaro or Leica just because there are major league a$$holes who use (or should I say own) them.

It's fair to say that if you already have a complete stable of alpha binoculars, or can buy secondhand former alphas for not a great deal more than the SRBC, the SRBC isn't going to have the same kind of appeal as in markets that don't have those options. Sky Rover/Kunming is probably not targeting the LEICAMAN, or even the wannabe LEICAMAN. It's the likes of Vortex, Opticron, Hawke etc that need to watch out (or embrace the SRBC like Markus has).
 
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I joined here a week a or so ago to possibly become part of a community and hopefully learn from others.

All of the above is an absolute disgrace.

I’ll stick to walks with my bins and books and leave you fellas to squabble.

Adam
How British of you to lob a grenade into the conversation, then run off.
 
All of the above is an absolute disgrace.

I’ll stick to walks with my bins and books and leave you fellas to squabble.
Lots of forums (motoring, cameras ... even activities as apparently innocuous as fishing - and no doubt golf!) can get more than a bit spiky. This can be true of other parts of the site too (just wait for one of the bird ID threads to get heated). It's just the way things are. There's some useful info to be gleaned here, in many aspects of birding - it's worth your while if you can ignore the ar$eholes.
 
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(Although, Mr Ludes does seem to have built up a successful business selling made in PRC optics ... are most APM binoculars sold outside Germany then?)
Hi,

Markus has been firmly anchored in the astronomy scene here in Germany for over 30 years and is a valued dealer by most people.
He also sometimes discusses things in German forums.
I can't say which countries his main customers come from, but APM binoculars are also bought here.

By the way, new to Ludes...does this sound familiar?

That's fair enough, everyone has his/her own style - Tobias Mennle (whom I enjoyed reading when his site was online) has sometimes been pretty negative about Swaro and Zeiss.
Yes, Tobias sometimes speaks negatively against some binocular models, but not towards their users, that's exactly the difference.

Andreas
 
Addendum: I forgot to mention Sancho in the list of trustworthy people who wrote positive reviews. Sorry, Sancho ... :)
Not at all, Hermann, no worries! I'm not really trustworthy anyway because I change my mind all the time, I've never used an NL, and I don't do 'technical'.
 
How eight years in particular, am I missing an obvious reference? In any case it doesn't just happen, some people have been actively doing it for decades now... and yes, it ends up affecting practically everything.

I am wondering if that is when the Zenray experiment happened. A China made clone
optic that failed miserably. It was even said they would bring Swarovski down......................
ZR still has its own subforum, and it should remind us of what happened.
Jerry
 
P.S. Yes, a few people on CN and BF.

There are two large astro forums in Germany, once the SRBC was discussed, eight posts now it has disappeared into obscurity again.

IMO lots of hot air...

Andreas

I can see why Germany does not want to encourage the products subsidized by the CCP (Chinese Communist
Party). Volkswagon has just announced it is closing plants in Germany, sales slowdown. China dumping cars
into Europe, etc.
 
So what about Zenray? They're out of business, but there are any number of brands selling Japan (the PRC of the day) made binos that no longer exist. A couple are still around, but will Bushnell service a Rangemaster? Will Swift work on any Audubon other than maybe the very latest version?

Just recently I saw one of the moderators (Mono) saying his ZR 7x36 had given up the ghost. That's not a bad innings given that Zenray went bust years ago, and Mono is an actual birder.

OK, so we don't like binoculars produced by communist or other nasty regimes. How many collectors have Zeiss Jena (DDR - People's Republic of Germany) or Nazi era German "glass" then?
 
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I am wondering if that is when the Zenray experiment happened. A China made clone
optic that failed miserably. It was even said they would bring Swarovski down......................
ZR still has its own subforum, and it should remind us of what happened.
Jerry
i'm pretty sure the Zenray had glowing reports when they were available :unsure:
 
OK, so we don't like binoculars produced by communist or other nasty regimes. How many collectors have Zeiss Jena (DDR - People's Republic of Germany) or Nazi era German "glass" then?
The difference is that neither the DDR nor Nazi-Germany still exist. I'm pretty certain collectors would have been far more hesitant to buy a German bino while Hitler's armies were conquering Europe, don't you think?
And a couple of European bino makers do still exist. For now.
And, yes, I still like my old Japanese porros and my new Fujinons but should I have bought them while Hensoldt, Optolyth, CBS, Hartmann, etc. still existed? That's a different question. And it wasn't obvious to everyone back in the day that a "Porst" bino or an "Adlerblick" isn't German. Many re-sellers tried their best to trick customers with German-sounding names, etc. To this day I see "Seeadler" binos on eBay with a sticker on the hinge that covers the "Made in Japan" underneath.
 
IIRC plenty of folks bought Zeiss Jena DDR binoculars and even Soviet binoculars (Komz, Tento) when the Cold War was in full swing, for pretty much the same reasons that PRC binoculars are bought today (relatively good quality at a cheaper price than W German or Japanese products).

Pretty sure Carl Zeiss sold quite a few binoculars in the States and in the UK in the 1930s too.
 
There are Pentacon Six lenses marked I think 'Aus Jena'.
If you peel this off it says Zeiss underneath.

Also some Japanese cameras had stickers, which if removed said something else.

I think in WW1 Zeiss binoculars were still being sold in the U.K.
There was a Zeiss subsidiary in the U.K. also.

The problem with PRC is the dumping of everything, fixing of exchange rates, basically economic warfare.

I am guilty of buying their astro scopes, which can be very good for a lowish cost.

What I really don't like is the lies.
60x60 binoculars.
700x25.
5000x25 etc.

Plus the larger zoom and non zoom PRC binoculars with similar lies.
This is just fraud and Amazon and Ebay are partners in this.

The internet in general is often just dishonest.

So, one puts up with it or doesn't.

I am quite agreeable to countries banning certain items and closing down internet providers if clearly harmful.

If careful, one can buy carefully.
I don't mind buying, say Nikon Aculons as Nikon have some control over what is made and what is sold.

Our firm had sole European rights over some Chinese goods from about 1930 to the 1960s, and although China was pretty awful then, their business practices were immaculate and gentlemanly.
Not so now.

I also had no problem buying Soviet binoculars.

The whole situation is rather complex and messy.

Would I fly in a Chinese or Russian made civil aircraft.
Not bl--dy likely.
But Boeing are also not great.
Nor was the Comet.

Regards,
B.
 

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