Had a chance to test some Zeiss Victory LRF 8x56 binos.
The "bird" in my handle comes from my involvement in bird conservation, doing field surveys, leading groups, and just going birding, so I have the chance to see lots of binoculars.
In short, the glass is stunning, the best I have ever seen in binoculars and that comes after having owned Bausch & Lomb Elites, Leicas, and Swarovskis. Clarity is outstanding as is color fidelity.
In low light or night conditions, the 56mm really outperform the 45mm. The downside to the 56mm objective is that they are rather large and heavy, so the 45mm might be a better choice for birding and hunting where hiking is involved.
Having said that, the rangefinder is very, very weak to point that it is not reliable enough to be useful.
With a late afternoon (4:45 p.m.) sun behind me from the 6 o'clock position and fairly humid conditions, I tried ranging cows in a field.
Out of about ten attempts, the Zeiss LRF could only 1 cow at 117 yards, and NONE of the cows beyond that range regardless of the color or position of the cow.
My Swaro LRF quickly ranged every cow out to 1100 yards without a single miss or delay.
Bottom line, the Zeiss Victory binoculars are outstanding, and well worth the money, but skip buying the rangefinding model.
The "bird" in my handle comes from my involvement in bird conservation, doing field surveys, leading groups, and just going birding, so I have the chance to see lots of binoculars.
In short, the glass is stunning, the best I have ever seen in binoculars and that comes after having owned Bausch & Lomb Elites, Leicas, and Swarovskis. Clarity is outstanding as is color fidelity.
In low light or night conditions, the 56mm really outperform the 45mm. The downside to the 56mm objective is that they are rather large and heavy, so the 45mm might be a better choice for birding and hunting where hiking is involved.
Having said that, the rangefinder is very, very weak to point that it is not reliable enough to be useful.
With a late afternoon (4:45 p.m.) sun behind me from the 6 o'clock position and fairly humid conditions, I tried ranging cows in a field.
Out of about ten attempts, the Zeiss LRF could only 1 cow at 117 yards, and NONE of the cows beyond that range regardless of the color or position of the cow.
My Swaro LRF quickly ranged every cow out to 1100 yards without a single miss or delay.
Bottom line, the Zeiss Victory binoculars are outstanding, and well worth the money, but skip buying the rangefinding model.
