12x50 RAZORs or NEW Sig ZULU 10?

[Colton3]

First post here. Tons of great info here! I’ve been doing some pretty serious research on upgrading my binos. Got it narrowed down to 12x50s I plan to carry on my chest but mainly use on a tripod. I’ve kinda narrowed it down to either the vortex razor UHD or HDs but I’d really like to see if anyone has any input on the new dog Sauer ZULU 10s?

All things considered they don’t seem too far off of the razors.

Any input is greatly appreciated, thanks in advanced and also thanks guys for such a great forum full of amazing info.

 

[JEWAN]

I have not found much info either on the zulu10 but i suspect same japan oem as the razor uhd and maven cause they look very much alike ,same specs. Euro optics has them at way less than anyewhere else. i did order me a pair of 10x42 at 1k. I'll give them a test and report.

 

[JEWAN]

So got the zig zulu10 10x42 this morning but only had very little time to test in my shop. Did the normal inspection and test I do in my shop at 10 yards. The inside looks super clean very little specs of dust Had a hard time focusing the left tube, could just be my eyes but seemed more difficult than many other binos I have. The focus knob is super fast but I was only testing at 10 yards In my shop. I usually focus on the bar code and read the #’s in the middle 4003599893 of this scope box by hand and that usually tells my if I can see it clearly and bright and steady they are usually very good In the field . It was difficult to steady them and read the #s but it was bright . It was easy to get the black shadow around I had to mess with them quite a bit to get them just right ,finicky to me.. the eye cups should extend more . I has a better sight picture just off the cups. The image is very clear to the edges. Here are some pics. One is zoomed in and it was held steady on a die box.

 

[LostWapiti]

@JEWAN any updates after field use?

 

[JEWAN]

@JEWAN any updates after field use?

Sorry hadn't been on rock slide in a while. No field use yet but they are basically the vortex uhds. the eye cups need to come out more IMHO. I suspect the same factory where they are built in japan. I picked me up some swaro nl pures while cabales had the cyber 15% off discount plus another discount code and got a good deal on those and they are the best i have ever looked through and i own like 10 plus pairs from nikon kowa to meoptas ziess etc. meoptas top tear are hard to beat for the price they are super clear ans solid.

 

[Hotmail]

I have a new 10x50 ZULU 10 I just tested and also own NL PURE 8x42s and 12x42s and Maven B5s and haven't owned a Vortex Razor UHD Binoculars yet.

All I can say is the ZULU 10 eyecups are shamefully unacceptable, pretty much just like the Maven B5 18x56s I have, they simply don't extend far enough to get perfect eye placement seated in the eye sockets if used without glasses however they're unbelievably sharp, bright and crystal clear especially compared to my NL Pures there really not that far behind in optical clarity believe it or not. I'd say they're extremely close to tier 1 Alpha glass if not may already be barely right there.

The SIG doesn't seem to be able to unscrew their eye cups completely off unlike the Maven B5s where I can at least unscrew them almost all the way off in order to get better almost but still not quite perfect proper eye relief.

In real life they don't appear to be pink as shown in their online pictures, they're more like light olive green kind of like toy army men color with two tone copper-ish blend. Oh like an avocado green the inside color. That's it.

Shame on Maven as well since it's their MOST EXPENSIVE top of the line $1600 Binoculars.

I'd highly recommend buying the ZULU 10 when they go on dirt cheap sale like Midway USA had the similar but older also Kamakura Japanese made ZULU 9s as cheap as $500-$600 before. I'd guess their Zulu 10 10x50 could possibly go down on sale to $700 and 12x50 $750 15x56 $800 my best guesstimate based on past ZULU 9 sales. Geezus the direct to consumer no middlemen to keep the prices down Mavens and Razor UHDs really sound excessively overinflatedly marked up after really thinking about it now.

Makes one REALLY WONDER actually how much Binoculars are really marked up. AND these are the high end Japan made ones while very few may even be actually worth paying their ridiculously marked up prices for and I can only imagine how much the Chinese made ones are seriously marked up such as Nikon Monarch M7s and Hawke Frontiers and Ritons and Alpens and a German brand selling made in China Binoculars at really expensive prices which can't think of their brand name at the moment. Looks like NL Pures have $500-$1000 cushion from dealers wiggle room and still earn a healthy profit after I inquired for best prices on brand spanking new 10x42 and 10x32 NL Pures I'm probably going to eventually buy since resellers here in the classifieds seem to like to sell their used ones for more expensive prices compared to buying brand new USA authorized ones from certain Swarovski USA authorized dealers.

I have previously avoided buying overpriced high end Vortex Binoculars since you're paying for other people's idiot proof warranty factored into the price you pay. However they are truly lifetime Binoculars that will theoretically never become obsolete and at least you never ever need to spend any out of pocket money for warranty since they pay your round trip shipping via prepaid return shipping label.

If I had to guess, I would guess the Razor UHDs could be third place in glass quality and toss upbbetween SIG and Maven tied for first and second place.

 

[Hotmail]

Forgot to mention I got solicited via private message several lower priced offers for the SIG ZULU 10 12x50s and 15x56s for $900 and $1150 respectively on eBay brand spanking new after adding them on my watchlist all from different sellers on ebay and also ZULU 9 11x45s $800 brand spanking new from yet another different eBay seller.

The Zulu 10s in 10x50 are noticeably clearer and sharper and brighter than the much cheaper discontinued ZULU 9s in 11x45 after owning both, the new SIGs are noticeably clearer and sharper and brighter in fact is the clearest 10x Binoculars I own above my KOWA Genesis Prominar XD with fluorite glass and Nikon Monarch HG and a hair behind nipping on the heels of both of my two Swarovski NL Pures.

Based on this knowing eBay gets their 13% cut off of the sellers' sales think about how cheap they could sell them for outside of eBay at least additional 13% off and no tax if out of State or the dealers selling then for way more money currently. I seen Optics Planet had them ZULU 10s and Vortex Razor UHD 12x50s for really dirt cheap couple just months ago too IIRC $900 ZULU 10 12x50 and $1100 15x56 and 11x45 Zulu 9 $800 and 15x56 $900 but I wasn't interested in heavyweight Binoculars at that time otherwise I would have bought the 11s, 12s and 15s at those sale prices.

I was even tempted to buy a brand spanking new Vortex Razor UHD 12x50 at their previous not that long ago $1050 sale price plus additional 10% off via easily obtainable discount coupon code bringing them to still less than $1000 delivered even after added taxes. I had to do a double and triple take and thought at first they were only the cheaper junker grossly overpriced plain Razor HDs but they were in fact the heavier UHDs abbe konigs. The Razor HDs in 12x50s probably only worth paying $600 or less for brand new IMHO by comparison to the sub $1000 UHD 12x50 version on sale.