ams
WKR
I went ahead and purchased a pair of Zeiss Victory HT's 10x42. I went into a local store and spent about an hour looking through just about everything from Swarovski, Leica, Zeiss, Vortex, Leupold, and Nikon. I'm no optics guy so bare with my lacking terminology. I simply liked the way the HT's felt. Specifically they felt slightly heavier which I liked and the focusing functions were both accessible with either hand and I did not have to move my eyes of the picture to focus both eyes. ( My eyes 20/40 have their days when I need to adjust both mechanism throughout the day). I mainly compared the Zeiss to the Swarovski El and Slc. All were great but to me the picture through the zeiss was just a bit brighter. I did not care for the EL's as much as I thought I would which suprised me so after a few minutes it was just the HT's and the SLC's. The pictures were just as clear and detailed (in a store) with the HT's being just a bit brighter. There was a slight difference in color it seemed but I won't even try to describe it. Overall the Zeiss just fit my hands and face better and felt better to me. Swarovski also put there diopter on the eyepiece which is what I have used before but I much preferred Zeiss' center diopter for adjustments.
So I purchased the Zeiss and took them out the next week to a wildlife preserve full of birds, bunnies, and coyotes. I compared them to a much less expensive Bushnell Legend HD's. First off, I know these are not in the same class. That being said, the Bushnell's are pretty awesome binos. Yes the zeiss were just a small bit clearer and better color/contrast but I don't think I would be missing any game for most of the daytime hours (I'll find out this season). Now that half hour of dawn/dusk is a different story. The Zeiss really could pick apart details the Bushnell couldn't. I could see birds through both at distances of 50 to 200 yards as I glanced about but with the Zeiss I could faintly see the bugs the birds we're trying to catch.
From about 8:45 pm to 9:15pm I began my official bunny test. Basically I was looking around trying to spot bunnies in tall yellow grass. I could see bunnies through both binos for the first 15 minutes or so but I began to notice that with the Zeiss I was also picking out bunnies I hadn't seen before. Like a bunny behind a bunny or a dark spot another 50 yards off through the Bushnells became a more detailed obvious bunny through the Zeiss. I could see more detail in the fur and they did seem to stand out more through the Zeiss. I look forward to using them in some actual hunting conditions to see what they can do.
I am glad I bought some top tier binos as I feel like there is no upgrade in the near future. I also feel like for others out there thinking they are missing out with lower end glass, nope! Ya these are great but plenty of stuff were spied and died with the bushnells. Now if you're bunny spotting........
So I purchased the Zeiss and took them out the next week to a wildlife preserve full of birds, bunnies, and coyotes. I compared them to a much less expensive Bushnell Legend HD's. First off, I know these are not in the same class. That being said, the Bushnell's are pretty awesome binos. Yes the zeiss were just a small bit clearer and better color/contrast but I don't think I would be missing any game for most of the daytime hours (I'll find out this season). Now that half hour of dawn/dusk is a different story. The Zeiss really could pick apart details the Bushnell couldn't. I could see birds through both at distances of 50 to 200 yards as I glanced about but with the Zeiss I could faintly see the bugs the birds we're trying to catch.
From about 8:45 pm to 9:15pm I began my official bunny test. Basically I was looking around trying to spot bunnies in tall yellow grass. I could see bunnies through both binos for the first 15 minutes or so but I began to notice that with the Zeiss I was also picking out bunnies I hadn't seen before. Like a bunny behind a bunny or a dark spot another 50 yards off through the Bushnells became a more detailed obvious bunny through the Zeiss. I could see more detail in the fur and they did seem to stand out more through the Zeiss. I look forward to using them in some actual hunting conditions to see what they can do.
I am glad I bought some top tier binos as I feel like there is no upgrade in the near future. I also feel like for others out there thinking they are missing out with lower end glass, nope! Ya these are great but plenty of stuff were spied and died with the bushnells. Now if you're bunny spotting........
