Zeiss Victory RF Binocular Review, By Matt Cashell

[OutdoorAg]

OutdoorAg,
I'v had my set for 2 months.

I would say the glass is equal to my 10x42 Victory.
The range finder is really good out to 1700 yrds on elk & 1200 yrds on Deer.
The Ballistic calculator works good, but I have not tested it shooting more then 800 yrds yet.

The glass is way better then my set of leica hdb 2700 I sold.
I compared it to my buddy's EL range and el has a slighty bigger sweet
spot but its not as sharp as my Zeiss.

I don't know anything about there plans to connect with kestrel.

How are they in the hand? Good ergos? I probably need to find them at a Cabelas and see how they hold.

The read of yards + dial solution seems pretty damn nice to have. I can think of a few animals/chances I had to pass bc I couldn’t make the range and dial happen fast enough when going from Bino to RF to rifle.

 

[weatherbow21]

Is the fact that these don't give the windage correction not an issue for guys hoping to shoot past more than a few hundred yards? I find it extremely clumsy to have to keep looking at my phone to get all the data I need to make a shot, but maybe I'm missing something here.

 

[OutdoorAg]

Is the fact that these don't give the windage correction not an issue for guys hoping to shoot past more than a few hundred yards? I find it extremely clumsy to have to keep looking at my phone to get all the data I need to make a shot, but maybe I'm missing something here.

There's going to be some trade offs with any system choice. Right now there are 3 new things on the market:

New thing 1: Leica 2800.com and its bluetooth connectivity with the Kestrel. Thats a pretty sweet little system. For about $1600 total you get an 7x RF with very good glass, proven range finding, and in a tiny, light weight package. You pair it with the Kestrel and get a full ranging solution - distance, elevation requirement, and wind requirement. Read more here:

https://forum.snipershide.com/threa...-com-kestrel-with-applied-ballitsics.6929445/

Whats the trade off with the Leica + Kestrel? IMO - its more devices to take into the field. I'm not leaving behind binos. So now I'm packing binos, RF, and wind meter.

New thing 2: Zeiss Victory RF with bluetooth connectivity to Zeiss hunting app. No current support for connection to a Kestrel, but keep in mind - IT can implement additional connections to these systems. It wouldn't surprise me if that will be added. But for the sake of discussion, maybe it won't. The downside is that I don't get a wind solution in my binos. So if I want a wind solution, I need to pack the Kestrel. The binos are my glass and my elevation solution, the Kestrel my wind. Only 2 devices to bring in the field.

New thing 3: Sig Kilo binos. These seem to be the do-it-all with range, wind, etc. Basically everything the Victory RF does with a wind read out, and connectivity to Sig scopes if you have one on your rifle. Sig is swinging pretty big with this tech, and I like it. But I can't imagine the glass in their binos is going to compare to that of the Victory, or Geovid, or any alpha RF bino. I'm not willing to give up good glass for a extra tech.

One final thing to mention: You can learn to read the wind. Its much harder to learn to judge 600 vs 850 yards across a canyon. I'll take my wind reading skills over taking that extra device in the field. The Kestrel is cool, but IMO - its place is on the bench for LR plinking and LR competition. Under the conditions of shooting game when things happen fast, I want to rely on a quick elevation solution from my bino or RF, then reside on my wind reading skills to get it done.

 

[carter33]

OutdoorAg, that was a pretty good summation.

As of now nothing is a perfect solution to compensating for wind. Sig RF binos will give you a wind readout but to achieve this it has to be synched via Bluetooth to a kestrel, the kestrel needs to be on then you must capture shot direction and wind direction/speed in order to get an accurate readout. That is a lot of steps. At that point the kestrel can give you the ballistics without the bino making it seem somewhat redundant. Would be cool at the range but don’t think it’s awesome for standard hunting applications that require quicker shots.

I downloaded the Zeiss Hunting app and compared results from the ballistic feature to that of applied ballistics and Zeiss is spot on. Also I messaged outdoorsmans and verified they are making a stud for them.

I want to pull the the trigger and order a pair but damn they’re expensive.

 

[CLibka]

Zeiss warranty on these still 5 years? So if they fog does that mean they are not covered? Or is JUST the electronics that are covered under 5 year warranty?

 

[Anomaly101]

How are they in archery scenarios, any angle comp limitations?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Matt Cashell]

How are they in archery scenarios, any angle comp limitations?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Really great angle compensation mode for archers, right down to 15 yards.

 

[Outdoorsmans_Blake]

As far as attaching these binos to a tripod, you should check out the Zeiss RF Stud and Bino adapter from Outdoorsmans. Awesome product with no added weight and a minimalistic stud attached to your binos.

Link: https://outdoorsmans.com/products/zeiss-rf-binocular-stud

 

[Matt Cashell]

As far as attaching these binos to a tripod, you should check out the Zeiss RF Stud and Bino adapter from Outdoorsmans. Awesome product with no added weight and a minimalistic stud attached to your binos.

Link: https://outdoorsmans.com/products/zeiss-rf-binocular-stud

That is exactly the accessory the RFs needed.

 

[Lazzwarbird]

Thanks for the info!

 

[joelbiltz]

Just bought a pair with the Outdoorsmans stud. Looking forward to Wringing them out on a few mule deer hunts this fall. I also have the Field pro EL ranges to do a great side by side. I’ll do a little side by side review when I get a chance.

 

[Anomaly101]

As far as attaching these binos to a tripod, you should check out the Zeiss RF Stud and Bino adapter from Outdoorsmans. Awesome product with no added weight and a minimalistic stud attached to your binos.

Link: https://outdoorsmans.com/products/zeiss-rf-binocular-stud

Just received mine a few days ago, very solid and secure. Now time will tell .


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[cjparry2]

Hi Matt, Thanks for your review of the Zeiss Victory RF binos with ballistic capabilities. I know the new Leica range finder can bluetooth to a Kestrel, along with linking your smartphone for custom ballistic inputs. And I hear Leica is coming out this winter with a Geovid HD-B bino, rangefinder & ballistic calculator that can bluetooth to your smartphone and also to the Kestrel. This would be great to help solve for windage. Do you know if the Zeiss RF have a plan to be able to bluetooth with Kestrel for windage?
Thanks again for your reviews on these optics.

 

[xcrunner805]

Not sure if anyone agrees but sometimes getting on game quickly with a handheld monocular rangefinder can be tricky and awkward especially if you want a larger field of view and steadier view overall. This is a huge advantage to have ballistic solution in your bino when tracking game that’s moving in and out of cover. Or multiple animals for that matter. I recently struggled with this scenario using a Sig Kilo 2400 ABs and think this bino could be of benefit. But I love my Leica binos and love the kilo. Would have to sell both and pay the difference....

 

[cjparry2]

Not sure if anyone agrees but sometimes getting on game quickly with a handheld monocular rangefinder can be tricky and awkward especially if you want a larger field of view and steadier view overall. This is a huge advantage to have ballistic solution in your bino when tracking game that’s moving in and out of cover. Or multiple animals for that matter. I recently struggled with this scenario using a Sig Kilo 2400 ABs and think this bino could be of benefit. But I love my Leica binos and love the kilo. Would have to sell both and pay the difference....

Have you used the Sig Kilo BDX 3000 range-finding binos? These binos bluetooth to the sig app for custom loads and they also bluetooth with the Kestrel 5700 for super accurate barometric readings (at least that is what I hear). The cost is pretty good too at $1,200 retail. I'm hoping to test some of these out soon. Would love to hear if anyone has used these before.

 

[xcrunner805]

Have you used the Sig Kilo BDX 3000 range-finding binos? These binos bluetooth to the sig app for custom loads and they also bluetooth with the Kestrel 5700 for super accurate barometric readings (at least that is what I hear). The cost is pretty good too at $1,200 retail. I'm hoping to test some of these out soon. Would love to hear if anyone has used these before.

I have not looked into the Sig 3000 bdx, my guess is glass would be very inferior to my current set up. I’m not willing to sacrifice to step down on clarity. The zeiss though is excellent glass.

 

[cjparry2]

I have not looked into the Sig 3000 bdx, my guess is glass would be very inferior to my current set up. I’m not willing to sacrifice to step down on clarity. The zeiss though is excellent glass.

For sure. I'm not expecting super great quality with the Sig binos. But I am super interested to see how the unit combines the features of a rangefinder with the ability to connect with my Kestrel. Not doubt it will not be as good as your Leica glass quality. I'm currently running Zeiss Conquest glass, so I am interested to see what the difference is in quality. I hear several premier optics companies, like Leica, are expected to introduce bluetooth link to Kestrel at shot show 2020.

 

[Liu_YS]

Great review, this definitely sells me on the RF binos. But 3400 is a steep price. Are there any RF Binos cheaper that you would also recommend?

I’m just starting out and looking to get the most out of my gear without breaking the bank.

 

[mgebs311]

I’m just digging into the range finding binocular arena. It seems like the Victory RF’s are the top choice. My question is, for someone spending the money on a big purchase like this, can I expect a range finding bino like this to last long term or is there a shorter life to these type of bino’s (obviously the glass should last and remain constant) but do the electronics wear out and need worked on from time to time, and how expensive is that? I’ve never bought alpha glass but I’m just curious about that. Are they going to last me 30 years like I would expect from a non range finding bino like the EL’s or other high end bino’s. How is durability?

 

[28bang]

Leicas glass is at least equal to the zeiss and the laser sounds better on the Leica. That with the kestrel sounds like a win. I have heard the zeiss will get it but when is the question.