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Zeiss 7x45 Design Selection (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Omid
- Start date
chartwell99
Well-known member
The optics are awesome, possibly Zeiss's best effort to date. The ergonomics, however, are truly terrible - nose heavy balance, eyeglass unfriendly eyecups, overwide ipd, slippery armor, hard to reach and hard to use focusing knob, and an overall weight making even occasional field use unpleasant. I have tried very hard to overcome these negatives and have, at different times, owned two of these glasses but at the end of the day decided (correctly, in my view) that I could have 90+% of the optics in an actually usable binocular with the Zeiss 7 x 42 BGA Classic.
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Alexis Powell
Natural history enthusiast
I agree. I wanted to want to get one, but I managed to resist the temptation for the reasons given. And despite not using much these days, I still LOVE my 7x42 Classic.
--AP
Omid
Well-known member
Thank you for the comments. I too agree that these binoculars are very heavy and I don't want them to be around my neck when I go hunting. I love them because they represent the peak of optical/construction quality in the Zeiss binocular line up. I have a 8x56 Design Selection and every bit of its body screams "quality". I can't say the same thing about the newer victory series. They look ugly and made of cheaper materials.
http://www.omidjahromi.com/Gallery/Temp/Zeiss_8x56_DS.jpg
http://www.omidjahromi.com/Gallery/Temp/Zeiss_8x56_DS.jpg
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John M Robinson
Well-known member
Hi, I just Googled Zeiss 7x45 and right up front was a listing for Cambridge Camera with a photo of a green one just like your pic and a price of $684.98 brand new.
Kevin Purcell
Well-known member
Cambridge Camera always show a hit for everything.
http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Cambridge_Camera
0.48 out of 10 for 121 reviews.
IMHO I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole
http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Cambridge_Camera
0.48 out of 10 for 121 reviews.
IMHO I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole
OPTICSLUVR
Member
7x45 Zeiss Nightowl
I acquired a pair of these a few months ago and can vouch for both their superb optical performance and high build quality. Aside from their brightness it is possible to focus to an incredible sharpness and they are very wide angle at 8.6 degrees. Personally I think the fantastic optical performance outweighs the issue of weight. I understand they are the last of the generation of Zeiss bins which used Schott leaded glass (developed over 100years) and that everything since is lead free for environmental reasons which explains the weight. The bodywork weighs very little because it is made of a carbon type material reinforced with GRP so the lenses and prisms make up the bulk of the product. My collection of bins includes a pair of Swift 804ED and a pair of Fujinon 6x30 FMTRSX but neither perform like the Nightowl. A fantastic item the likes of which will probably never be made again !! PS A pair appeared on EBAY recently but did not make their reserve - may be the owner still has them - do a search under completed items and see what comes up ??
I acquired a pair of these a few months ago and can vouch for both their superb optical performance and high build quality. Aside from their brightness it is possible to focus to an incredible sharpness and they are very wide angle at 8.6 degrees. Personally I think the fantastic optical performance outweighs the issue of weight. I understand they are the last of the generation of Zeiss bins which used Schott leaded glass (developed over 100years) and that everything since is lead free for environmental reasons which explains the weight. The bodywork weighs very little because it is made of a carbon type material reinforced with GRP so the lenses and prisms make up the bulk of the product. My collection of bins includes a pair of Swift 804ED and a pair of Fujinon 6x30 FMTRSX but neither perform like the Nightowl. A fantastic item the likes of which will probably never be made again !! PS A pair appeared on EBAY recently but did not make their reserve - may be the owner still has them - do a search under completed items and see what comes up ??
John M Robinson
Well-known member
Kevin, thanks for the tip on Cambridge Camera. I saw a really good price ($726.95) on the Leica 8x32BNs and used their price as leverage to get a killer deal from my local dealer, now I feel a little guilty. Not too guilty though.
John
John
Kevin Purcell
Well-known member
Brilliant, John. I'll have to remember that.
Omid
Well-known member
The last time I saw one of these fantastic binoculars was when I was visiting Switzerland in August 2005. It was in a camera shop in a small town (Zug or maybe Lucerne) on the way to Bern. I remeber there was a big flood all over the country and some roads were closed so we ended up taking a detour. Darn, I sould have bought them right away!!
OPTICSLUVER made an interesting point about using lead glass and I think its valid since the optical quality of the second generation of Nikon LX (HG in Canada) which uses lead-free glass seems to be slightly inferior compared to the original "heavy" ones as well.
Anyhow, as I said I am dissapointed that the new generation of both Leica (Ultravids) and Zeiss (victory) did not maintain the high standards of design and body construction as the previous models. Both companies switched from beautiful leather pouchs to ordinary looking synthetic material which tells you that they are "cutting costs" while charging you the same hefty sum...
Thanks everybody for your comments.
OPTICSLUVER made an interesting point about using lead glass and I think its valid since the optical quality of the second generation of Nikon LX (HG in Canada) which uses lead-free glass seems to be slightly inferior compared to the original "heavy" ones as well.
Anyhow, as I said I am dissapointed that the new generation of both Leica (Ultravids) and Zeiss (victory) did not maintain the high standards of design and body construction as the previous models. Both companies switched from beautiful leather pouchs to ordinary looking synthetic material which tells you that they are "cutting costs" while charging you the same hefty sum...
Thanks everybody for your comments.
Well I agree with everything that's been posted here, esp. the weight. One advantage I always felt was that if some noxious mammal accosted me from the bushes out yonder, they'd not stand a chance against an Owl 7by bolero.
I have the grey/black version of the 7X45 NOs, along with 7X FL's also, and have had a chance to do some off the cuff A-Bing of the two. While the FL seems a little more neutral in tone compared to the Owls, which seem a tad warm (greenish?) to me, the NO's have more of the periphery of the field in focus at the same time as the center, where the FL's go soft about maybe 80% of the way out. I wear specs, and had problems with the blackout issue, but just tacked the winged portion of the eyecup down with superglue and that solved the issue, works like a champ. I obtained an extra pair of eyecups as a spare just in case I change my style of glasses, or maybe get to where I can actually see one of these days... (struck sighted?). The eyecups also cracked w/in a short time, as I recall, but not to the point where they actually fell apart. I can still obtain eyecups, strap and case over the net. Incidentally, the Owls had the neatest strap arrangement for 'nocs ever developed, IMHO, and why Zeiss didn't carry them over to later lines I'll never know.
Resolution wise, there is little to choose between the NO's and FL's; although the FL's do seem less plagued by the dreaded chromatic abberator (speaking of noxious mammals...?), the NO's are not too bad, but do show (at least in my pair) some (is it?) lateral CA on high contrast targets, but not dead center. The Owls have an absolutely huge A/T FOV, and a right nice depth of field I belived it's referred to, although the FL's may be just a smidgen better in this regard.
They NO's really come into their own in close in, dark woodland birding where their slightly warm tone (which makes the greens of foliage really stand out), picture window like AFOV, steady view and good DOF make them virtually w/out peer.
Put them on a tripod with one of those Nikon sleeve attachment devices, and you will also have a killer astro glass.
kindest regards to you and yours this Holiday season,
UTC
I have the grey/black version of the 7X45 NOs, along with 7X FL's also, and have had a chance to do some off the cuff A-Bing of the two. While the FL seems a little more neutral in tone compared to the Owls, which seem a tad warm (greenish?) to me, the NO's have more of the periphery of the field in focus at the same time as the center, where the FL's go soft about maybe 80% of the way out. I wear specs, and had problems with the blackout issue, but just tacked the winged portion of the eyecup down with superglue and that solved the issue, works like a champ. I obtained an extra pair of eyecups as a spare just in case I change my style of glasses, or maybe get to where I can actually see one of these days... (struck sighted?). The eyecups also cracked w/in a short time, as I recall, but not to the point where they actually fell apart. I can still obtain eyecups, strap and case over the net. Incidentally, the Owls had the neatest strap arrangement for 'nocs ever developed, IMHO, and why Zeiss didn't carry them over to later lines I'll never know.
Resolution wise, there is little to choose between the NO's and FL's; although the FL's do seem less plagued by the dreaded chromatic abberator (speaking of noxious mammals...?), the NO's are not too bad, but do show (at least in my pair) some (is it?) lateral CA on high contrast targets, but not dead center. The Owls have an absolutely huge A/T FOV, and a right nice depth of field I belived it's referred to, although the FL's may be just a smidgen better in this regard.
They NO's really come into their own in close in, dark woodland birding where their slightly warm tone (which makes the greens of foliage really stand out), picture window like AFOV, steady view and good DOF make them virtually w/out peer.
Put them on a tripod with one of those Nikon sleeve attachment devices, and you will also have a killer astro glass.
kindest regards to you and yours this Holiday season,
UTC