The Binocular Site

Zeiss Binoculars

Overview

Zeiss was started in 1846 by Carl Zeiss in Jena and became one of the major companies in the optics manufacturing business. The company split after World War II because of the enforced partition in Germany, which set the stage for competition, but the companies reunited in 1990. This combined the resources of two companies, who for a while were competitors, making it even stronger than before.

Their standards focus on their customers and it drives the direction they take toward products design and manufacturing. Their determination, in addition to their customer oriented standards, keeps them moving forward as they continue to be a high quality producer. It is their goal to become the best in everything they pursue.

Zeiss binoculars are no exception to their customer driven standards. They include all the quality and detail found in all their products across their two families of binoculars. The first family, the Victory series, offers amazing performance with great views and handling. The second family, the Conquest series, offers the best performance and value for its class.


Ranges:

Zeiss binoculars are broken up into two series of binoculars, the Victory and Conquest. They both have their lists of binoculars, but they are only broken down further by the size. The Victory has two to three compact, mid sized, full size, and extended use models. The Conquest has the same two to three models in those four sizes, with an additional couple models in a high power series.

Magnification:

They have five levels of magnifications available on their binoculars ranging from 7X to 15X. Both ends of the range have only one model. The only model that has the 15X magnification is the Conquest High Power 15X45 B T, and the only model with the 7X is the Victory FL 7X42 T. Aside from the Conquest High Power 12X45 B T with a 12X magnification, the other 16 have either an 8X or 10X.

Objective Lens:

The minimum range on Zeiss binoculars is 20mm and the maximum range is 56. Only the Victory FL extended use 8X and 10X models have the 56mm, but both the Victory and Conquest families have a compact 20mm objective lens model available. Generally, the size of the objective lens increases with the size of the binoculars from the compact to mid sized to full size to high power and extended use.

Field Of View (F.O.V.):

Zeiss binoculars have an F.O.V. range of 192 to 450 ft. at 1000 yd., but 14 of the 19 models have a view of over 300 ft. The full-sized Victory 7X42 T FL has the product line high 450 ft. with the full size Victory 8X42 T FL and the mid size Victory 8X32 T* FL having the only other over 400 ft F.O.V. The Conquest High Power 15X45 B T has the lowest F.O.V., with the Victory 10X25 T Compact having a few feet more.

Product Offering:

The binoculars are not the only product Zeiss manufactures nor are they the best product Zeiss has to offer, but they do offer 19 models of binoculars grouped into one of two families in various sizes, like the Victory compact or the Conquest full-size.

Additional sport optic products include rifle scopes, spotting scopes, red dot reflex sights, and Rapid Z ballistic reticles, but they don't stop there. They also manufacture other optical devices like camera lenses, microscopes, and eyeglass lenses.

Price Range:

Zeiss has very high quality binoculars and they range from $400 to $3,000. The least expensive model, the Zeiss Conquest 8X20 B T, is one of their compact models. It can be purchased for $399.99. The most expensive model is the $2,999.00 Zeiss Victory RF 10X45, and it comes with a Laser Rangefinder.

Warranty:

All Zeiss binoculars come with a Limited Lifetime Transferable Warranty on binoculars purchased in North America from an authorized dealer. The warranty protects against manufacturing and other factory problems, not misuse or self repair attempts.

The warranty starts on the day the binoculars were purchased and it's highly recommended that the product is registered within 60 days. This will make it easier for Zeiss to provide warranty service. You can register on their website or send in the warranty card. The warranty is only provided through Zeiss, not the vendor.

Popular Binoculars:

The Zeiss Victory FL 10X42 may not be one of the less expensive models, priced at $1,899.99, but customers find it's worth the price even if it's more than they hoped to spend. This makes it one of the more popular models made by Zeiss. They are a full size model of binoculars with a field of view of 330 ft. at 100 yd. It makes use of the roof prism and the lenses are environmentally friendly thin, fully multi-coated and have the best light transmission of similar binoculars.

They are waterproof and have the Zeiss LotuTec coating, a special coating that repels water, and are filled with nitrogen to prevent fogging. The eyepieces have a high eye-point and a wide lens with a 16mm eye relief, making it good even for eyeglass wearers. It comes with adjustable eye cups, a carrying case, a neck strap and an eyepiece rainguard.



Banner ad