Zeiss Victory SF review: 10x vs. 8x

[SecretSpot]

Seems like there is not much of a benefit of having an 8x32 vs 8x42 or 10x32 vs 10x42. How much more light is caught be the extra 10 mm objective? Sorry I having this debate and cannot get my hands on all 4 to look through. Any difference in looking in the shadows or is does the difference tend to be only early and last light.

I'd put my 8x32 victory SF's against any mid tier 42mm bino (as far as brightness goes). The view is gorgeous especially in thick timber when still hunting. Have no problem finding elk/identifying bulls from cows at over a mile in blowdown and thick timber, all off hand mind you. My new favorite peice out of my collection (el 10x42, el 12x50) also I must say a buddy has the el 8x32 and i used them quite a bit side by side during archery. I would not trade him, the field of view in the sf is noticably larger and more natural feeling. The black space between the image and your eyes natural blackout is thinner and more comfortable. You could not take these from me unless you left me the nl 8x32

The weight savings is around 7-10oz, and the size savings is also about 30%. These binos are so smooth, beautiful to view thru. Everytime I look through them I think to myself, "I wish everyone could see what I'm seeing right now!"

 

[DrewskiMT]

Seems like there is not much of a benefit of having an 8x32 vs 8x42 or 10x32 vs 10x42. How much more light is caught be the extra 10 mm objective? Sorry I having this debate and cannot get my hands on all 4 to look through. Any difference in looking in the shadows or is does the difference tend to be only early and last light.

Well, this is, and is not, a bit of a tricky one to answer. Twilight Factor and Relative brightness (exit pupil squared) don't provide me with anything useful. Calculating the Light Gathering Power: comparing a human eye (with a pupil dilated at 5mm) to 32mm and 42mm objective lenses gives us a LGP score of 41 for 32mm and 70 for the 42mm. A 40 to 70 ratio seems about right to me after the sun has set below the horizon.

I hunt to the end of legal shooting light with 8x32 Conquest HDs just fine. I like the reduced weight of 32s vs 42s. If I am just trying to see stuff in low light, 42mm hands down. There is a significant amount of detail to see in shadows with a 42 that a 32 cant resolve after sunset. And it becomes more pronounced the closer you get to the end of legal light.

If you click the setting "gear" icon you can get youtube to auto translate into english.

Go to 14:00. At 14:20 ish the video jumps, and it gets a lot darker and he explains that the pockets and 32mm's are out performed by the full size optics.

Hope this all helps.

 

[Matt G.]

Another comment/ question is that all these calculations are based on the numbers of the glass size, exit pupils etc. However we know that prisms and coatings can also influence the overall brightness. So how do we differentiate that without actually sitting down and doing these tests. Thats the part where I think everyone goes crazy and we keep reading articles, critiques because very seldom do we find these optics together at a big box store. Thank you Rokslide for all these reviews. These are all great conversations and I have officially fallen down the rabbit hole.... My poor wallet.

 

[robby denning]

Another comment/ question is that all these calculations are based on the numbers of the glass size, exit pupils etc. However we know that prisms and coatings can also influence the overall brightness. So how do we differentiate that without actually sitting down and doing these tests. Thats the part where I think everyone goes crazy and we keep reading articles, critiques because very seldom do we find these optics together at a big box store. Thank you Rokslide for all these reviews. These are all great conversations and I have officially fallen down the rabbit hole.... My poor wallet.

Hahaha. And you are correct, we just start the conversation, I’m far from an optics expert, but I like to give people a feel at least for what I see when using an optic.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[B_Reynolds_AK]

Bumping this thread back up as I just purchased a pair of 8x32 SF’s again for the second time. After having 10x32, and now 10x42 NL Pure’s, re visiting these SF’s is an absolute pleasure.

I’ve stated before that I think there are no better 8x32’s on the market and will stand by that now. The glare control, field of view, sharpness and ergonomics put these ahead of the 32 NL’s in my mind.

They are going to be a great compliment to my larger NL’s and will be going to Kodiak next week for blacktail.

 

[willfrye027]

Bumping this thread back up as I just purchased a pair of 8x32 SF’s again for the second time. After having 10x32, and now 10x42 NL Pure’s, re visiting these SF’s is an absolute pleasure.

I’ve stated before that I think there are no better 8x32’s on the market and will stand by that now. The glare control, field of view, sharpness and ergonomics put these ahead of the 32 NL’s in my mind.

They are going to be a great compliment to my larger NL’s and will be going to Kodiak next week for blacktail.

I only owned that pair for a short while but it sold me on alpha 8x32s..except I decided I “need” a combo RF bino

But absolutely the glass and ergonomics were excellent.

 

[robby denning]

Bumping this thread back up as I just purchased a pair of 8x32 SF’s again for the second time. After having 10x32, and now 10x42 NL Pure’s, re visiting these SF’s is an absolute pleasure.

I’ve stated before that I think there are no better 8x32’s on the market and will stand by that now. The glare control, field of view, sharpness and ergonomics put these ahead of the 32 NL’s in my mind.

They are going to be a great compliment to my larger NL’s and will be going to Kodiak next week for blacktail.

good to hear man.

I ran mine for two seasons and only sold them because they launched the 40mm SFL and I felt it was a minor penalty for the benefits of a bigger objective. Still running them! Like Matt says, backpack hunters have never had it so good

 

[Highlands Hunter]

good to hear man.

I ran mine for two seasons and only sold them because they launched the 40mm SFL and I felt it was a minor penalty for the benefits of a bigger objective. Still running them! Like Matt says, backpack hunters have never had it so good

Robby, optically how do the 40mm SFLs stack up against the 32mm SFs?

 

[B_Reynolds_AK]

Robby, optically how do the 40mm SFLs stack up against the 32mm SFs?

I've had both. The color rendition of the SFL's is second to none. Its right there with NL Pures. The SF's have a slightly green tint to them. However the SF's immersive view is unmatched. The edge to edge clarity also beats out the SFL's by a small margin. With used SF's matching SFL new prices, I'd have a hard time deciding. The form factor and focuser of the little SF's is superior in my opinion.

 

[MT_Wyatt]

Bumping this thread back up as I just purchased a pair of 8x32 SF’s again for the second time. After having 10x32, and now 10x42 NL Pure’s, re visiting these SF’s is an absolute pleasure.

I’ve stated before that I think there are no better 8x32’s on the market and will stand by that now. The glare control, field of view, sharpness and ergonomics put these ahead of the 32 NL’s in my mind.

They are going to be a great compliment to my larger NL’s and will be going to Kodiak next week for blacktail.

I’d be really interested to hear “why” with the compacts, especially how you mix in with the spotters. Are you taking compacts for applications where you aren’t tripod glassing with binos a ton?

I’ve toyed with getting higher end compacts for summer months but end up just toting my 42 ELs everywhere. Was looking at 32 NLs but the feedback on Zeiss SFs (and SFLs) seems to be universally positive.

And ditto on RF Binos @willfrye027 …….if I was going to have a 2nd set of Binos, would be hard not to have RF ones. Also hard to loose the view of regular alpha Binos though.

 

[robby denning]

Robby, optically how do the 40mm SFLs stack up against the 32mm SFs?

Less by a margin. I did a head-to-head on these here:

Zeiss SFL 10x40 vs. SF 10x32 Binocular Review

Zeiss has recently released two models of compact binoculars, the Zeiss SFL and SF. Both raise the performance to weight ratio, but which one is best for you?

www.rokslide.com

 

[B_Reynolds_AK]

I’d be really interested to hear “why” with the compacts, especially how you mix in with the spotters. Are you taking compacts for applications where you aren’t tripod glassing with binos a ton?

I’ve toyed with getting higher end compacts for summer months but end up just toting my 42 ELs everywhere. Was looking at 32 NLs but the feedback on Zeiss SFs (and SFLs) seems to be universally positive.

And ditto on RF Binos @willfrye027 …….if I was going to have a 2nd set of Binos, would be hard not to have RF ones. Also hard to loose the view of regular alpha Binos though.

I have the 10x42 NL’s for serious time spent glassing, tripod use, sheep etc.

The 8x32 SF’s are a great compliment to those when I am deer hunting, archery or any time I want alpha glass in a light package. I do prefer them over the SFL’s by a small margin. However if someone was going for 10x, the SFL’s would definitely be a better choice. The 10x32 SF’s were the most finicky binos I’ve ever used. Very bad blackouts and difficult to get diopter set right.

For Ultralight glassing and when running, hiking, splitboarding or on my boat, I’ll take the Zeiss Victory Pocket 8x25’s.

 

[willfrye027]

I have the 10x42 NL’s for serious time spent glassing, tripod use, sheep etc.

The 8x32 SF’s are a great compliment to those when I am deer hunting, archery or any time I want alpha glass in a light package. I do prefer them over the SFL’s by a small margin. However if someone was going for 10x, the SFL’s would definitely be a better choice. The 10x32 SF’s were the most finicky binos I’ve ever used. Very bad blackouts and difficult to get diopter set right.

For Ultralight glassing and when running, hiking, splitboarding or on my boat, I’ll take the Zeiss Victory Pocket 8x25’s.

I really want to get another pair of those victory pockets. Impressive for how tiny they are. Had a pair for a week but at the time could only afford one, and felt like I needed better low light for whitetails.

Last night I went for a quick hike/scout and glassed up a blacktail buck at 550 yards with the swaro 8x32 range. I could tell, freehand, that he was legal with nice forked horns (a California trophy).

I also brought my nl pure 12x42s just to compare..definitely more detail was visible on that deer but handholding them sucked in comparison, and that glass really overpowered the 300-900 yard stuff I was hiking through and glassing. They really need a tripod to shine, and you risk missing a deer popping in and out of brush with less FOV to work with.

I’ve been a 12s on the chest guy for MOST hunts the past few years unless it’s still hunting/timber stuff..but I’m really not seeing much downside to the 8s unless it’s really wide open country/long distance.

 

[robby denning]

...
I’ve been a 12s on the chest guy for MOST hunts the past few years unless it’s still hunting/timber stuff..but I’m really not seeing much downside to the 8s unless it’s really wide open country/long distance.

there's a reason I still use 8x for hunting.