• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Why Does Zeiss Still Use 42mm HTs in their Marketing? (1 Viewer)

quincy88

Well-known member
Does anyone know what is up with this? Zeiss still uses 42mm HTs in their marketing on their website. It's kinda lame, because it gets my hopes up that they are bringing them back. See the screenshot taken today. Maybe I am mistaken?
 

Attachments

  • Capture.PNG
    Capture.PNG
    1.7 MB · Views: 82
The second image grab you attached says 54mm?
Its all one image grab. The banner looks like 42s to me. Then the two thumbnails look like 42s, but they are labelled 54s. Then the pair at the bottom look like 54s to me. I welcome your thoughts.
So there are 4 images of binoculars in this one screenshot, and 3 of them look like 42s to me.
 
I think these are all current shots of HT 54, which are indeed a bit more compact than competing 56s, but being shown with no recognizable object for scale is triggering your impulse to recognize the abandoned 42.
 
I think these are all current shots of HT 54, which are indeed a bit more compact than competing 56s, but being shown with no recognizable object for scale is triggering your impulse to recognize the abandoned 42.
No that's not correct; of the four images on that screengrab, only the last one is the 54.
 
Oops, you're right. The 54 has a clearly widening diameter evident only in the last photo. My left hemisphere must have been asleep... like someone's at Zeiss that day.
 
I still love my 10x42 HT I got from Eagle Optics in 2013 and have never seen anything yet that I wanted more.
Its 95% light gathering ability has never been equaled so why switch?
 
I think the 8x42 HTs are the finest binoculars in that size class ever made. Better than anything from Swaro or Leica in the same size. My opinion, of course. I have no idea why Zeiss so quickly dropped them. Their ergos are better than the SFs even though the SFs have a wider FOV.
 
I still love my 10x42 HT I got from Eagle Optics in 2013 and have never seen anything yet that I wanted more.
Its 95% light gathering ability has never been equaled so why switch?
I loved my Zeiss HT 8x42 also and always thought it had the brightest and most transparent view until I got the 8x42 NL. After many weeks of side by side comparing the NL for me just has a much more relaxed view. Also the brightness and transparency of the NL was even better than the HT and really can’t explain why since the HT on paper should be brighter but it was not. I recently traded my HT only because I like the NL better. HT is a really nice binocular and for me only the NL is better. Maybe someone can explain why the NL is brighter than the HT?
 
I still love my 10x42 HT I got from Eagle Optics in 2013 and have never seen anything yet that I wanted more.
Its 95% light gathering ability has never been equaled so why switch?

I think the 8x42 HTs are the finest binoculars in that size class ever made. Better than anything from Swaro or Leica in the same size. My opinion, of course. I have no idea why Zeiss so quickly dropped them. Their ergos are better than the SFs even though the SFs have a wider FOV.
Haha. That's why I wish they still made and sold them! It seems kind of sad to me that they replaced them with the SFs so quickly. It seems like they were chasing after Swarovski's EL success. I've never used a pair of HTs, but have always been interested in them. The AK prisms and resulting transmission values was unusual and impressive.
 
I really hope that the reason that Zeiss is using the 42s in their marketing is laziness or complacency. My instinct is to assume that it is dishonesty that is driving the choice. Like, they use the better looking and smaller binocular in their marketing to cultivate the perception that the HT 54s are smaller and better looking than they actually are. Perhaps I judge too harshly. Typically I assume that people are acting deliberately, but that isn't always the case.
 
It seems kind of sad to me that they replaced them with the SFs so quickly. It seems like they were chasing after Swarovski's EL success.
Yes, and isn't it ironic that at the same time as Zeiss was designing the SF to look more like the EL, Swarovski was designing the NL to have a look more like the HT.
 
Maybe someone can explain why the NL is brighter than the HT?
Hi,

maybe it's because of the very flat, even transmission curve.
Did you also compare both glasses in the twilight?

According to Gijs measurements, the NL also has 92-93% transmission, I find it just as bright during the day as a Swarovski SLC 8x56, which of course has advantages at some point in the twilight.

Yes the NL is very bright, optically a fantastic pair of binocular.

Andreas
 
Hi,

maybe it's because of the very flat, even transmission curve.
Did you also compare both glasses in the twilight?

According to Gijs measurements, the NL also has 92-93% transmission, I find it just as bright during the day as a Swarovski SLC 8x56, which of course has advantages at some point in the twilight.

Yes the NL is very bright, optically a fantastic pair of binocular.

Andreas
Yes I compared both at twilight and both on tripods next to each other and the NL was slightly better. Not a lot of difference of course but noticeable nonetheless.
 
I don't wear glasses and don't have an issue with the eyecups on the 8x42 HTs. Matter of fact, I think they're pretty good for Zeiss.
 
Perhaps I got some bad samples, glad they work for you.
I started to think perhaps Zeiss thought that if one dropped their binocular the eyecups were meant to act as the primary absorption of the impact (plastic and threaded on the thin side), so while eyecup is totaled after impact, the binocular never felt any impact in respect to prisms or internal lens.
 
Yes, and isn't it ironic that at the same time as Zeiss was designing the SF to look more like the EL, Swarovski was designing the NL to have a look more like the HT.
Haha. It is a bit ironic. The NLs do look similar to the HTs, though a bit shapelier of course. I bet the ergonomics are pretty similar.
 
Warning! This thread is more than 2 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top