Great job. One of the best, most practical reviews I've seen.

Great video. I’ve just got the conquest HD 8x42 for deer stalking. I’ve upgraded from vortex diamondback HD. Zeiss blows vortex out of the water!! Super happy with my new binos

3:15 - I've never had a problem with my 8x32 Conquest eyecups coming off. The fact they they do, enables cleaning, separate to cleaning of the optics (but this might be true of many other makes of bins).

Mirrors my own experience. I have some more info too, especially about the Conquest HD eyecups. One, you're not alone, quite a few people have a problem with those. It's not insurmountable though! Those eyecups are different - softer, and there's an extended version that offers a little more space between eye and ocular. But they are also a little tricky out of the box. As an aside, Zeiss has real customer service where you can talk to live people who actually know what they are talking about! And if you own a Zeiss optic and any of your accessories (eyecups, neck straps, lens caps, etc.) gives up the ghost, you can call them and they will send you a replacement. May not ALL be free - a new carrying case may cost you $20 or so - but I believe eyecups are indeed free. Used to be anyway, these days everything seems to be more expensive, so who knows... So let's say you despaired over your old eyecups and got them stuck. or unstuck, or plain old broken. They send you new ones. What do you do? One, take the old eyecups off. Unscrew and remove them as you would the lid of a jar. Two, screw on the new eyecup as far as it will easily go, then add one little twist with some extra force. No need to crank it to the max, you just want to get it stuck firmly enough so it doesn't immediately unscrew on you when you try to extend it. Three: here is where the magic happens. You need to wear in your new eyecup first! Grab the eyecup near the top (if you grab it near the bottom, its flexible lower lip will rub against the housing and you'll make your job harder). Twist it out and back in as far as it will go without forcing anything. The eyecup will probably only extend one stop at first. But repeat the in and out a bunch of times, and soon you'll get to the second click stop, and finally to the third one. Once it's worn in, it will work well. It's beyond me why Zeiss doesn''t invest the few seconds this takes. Hope this helps!

One thing about the highest end binoculars they are an investment, you will be satisfied longer. They may be the last pair you ever buy. I am still using a pair of Leica 8 X 42 Ultravids. They subsequently came out with Ultravid Plus and then the Noctivid. I am still very happy with my Ultravids. I am in the market for a pair of 10 X 42 so this video was of great interest. No more $2000+ binoculars for me. I like the open bridge designs. The weight of the binocs is of major interest to me.

I have two pairs of Conquest 10x42 HD's. Zeiss sent me new eyecups for the ones that cracked and malfunctioned.....free of charge. There are two different eyecups you can get, a two position cup and a three position cup. The inner plastic of the eyecup assembly seems brittle and maybe that's why they are cracking on installation. There may be a trick to installing a new set of cups. Just warm the new eyecups up in hot water before immediately screwing them on to the binocular tube. Squeeze the new and hot eyecup firmly and screw them on finger tight. That warmth may allow the new cups to flex a bit on install, keeping the inner plastic from cracking. My latest set of eyecups haven't failed in three years +.

Eye relief is so important to me. I'm so pleased you wear glasses. I've been looking for the best binoculars as I need eye relief due to my glasses. On the strength of this vlog, I'm purchasing the Zeiss Victory 10x42. Thank you for this incredible vlog. Loved it.

Very clear comparison, thank you very much!

I am glad I found your channel - I find your videos great and down to earth - looking forward to seeing what you do when you buy your ZEISS VICTORY RF BINOCULARS next (as you stated next level up) - that will be a good review

Nice review, find your candor refreshing (Too many advertiser or sponsored reviews). Unfortunately for a lot of folks, we're not able to do a side-by-side field test before buying, so I really enjoyed your observations. Great glass is a wonderful thing, but sometimes the cost makes you have to compromise for less. Your review influenced my purchase of a pair of Conquest HD 8x32's for general purpose traveling optics. Thanks.

I've compared the Zeiss Victory 8x42 binos with my two pairs of Zeiss 10x42 Conquest binos and the clarity seems equal in both models. Maybe a longer use period would have flushed out the benefits of the Victory binos?

Thank you for being the only video I have found who compared the zeiss conquest HDs glass to the razor hds I’ve been debating the difference both are almost the same price. You may have convinced me to go with the zeiss.

Hi great honest straight forward review. Thanks. I’m considering victory 10/42s and wondering how you mounted yours to tripods, I see zeiss makes a +200 Bino mount I just can’t seem to justify spending so much money on, will any universal adapter work as well you think? Thanks. Oh ps I’m also interested in a bigger +20 power down to road for Astro viewing if you have any thoughts I’m interested too. Thanks!

Very good no BS review. AND you're one of the very few that notice the slightly forward weight bias of the Victory SF. One reason Zeiss stayed with the shorter Schmidt Pechan prism. I have the newest Victory SF and the eye cups do get some time to understand

Have the eye cups been improved on the victory sf compared to a few years ago? I think they were cheaper quality? Thanks

Very good hands on review that fully covers the practical aspects of these products and provides a sound basis to make up my mind as I'm in the process of buying binoculars other than for hunting but I'm same type of person who likes to get the best product. I have a very old one from my grandfather that needs to be replaced. Thanks! ==> ==> Finally I allowed myself to replace the old Zeiss binoculars with new ones and funny enough I did it in a very spontaneous way during a visit in my favourite photo gear shop where the Zeiss were on display. I had waited for soooo long and I couldn't resist. Research during the last few month made it clear that the Zeiss brand won't let me down and the price point had been fixed in advance - around USD 1000 - the specs needed to be around 8-10x/40 so the 10x42 Conquest HD seemed just right for me. I'm not using it on a level that would justify the extra 1500 although I I tend to be the "buy the best" kind of shopper. Not this time! Back in my mind I probably still had your review that I'm now revisiting a few days later for confirmation. I punched in the specs here on YT and realized with great pleasure that it's been YOU how did a good review and I even commented it 9 month ago! You rated the product favourably (except for one thing) which I can more than confirm when measuring against my very old glass from my grand father. Mission accomplished! Thank you again.

Great review. The eye cup info is great. I don’t need a lot of eye relief, but that would piss me off if I did.

Fantastic practical review sir!!! Well done

Would you go with the conquests paired with an sig kilo 5k rangefinder, or go with the vortex fury AB’s? I think i want to go the conquest route for the better glass, but im not sure!

A good, honest review. I own a pair of the first gen 10x30 Conquest which I bought new in 2004. For a 10 times 30mm binocular they are superb and I never thought I would ever use anything better. I thought I had optical perfection with these. That is until I recently bought a pair of 10x42 Victory FL. The increased brightness and clarity is real as is the lack of colour fringing. They are the very best binos I have ever used. I know today's Zeiss's Victory SF are better. (I've never looked through a pair!) Point being that top end glass is expensive for reasons in that you are getting the best and the best costs more. Sometimes these improvements are not always immediately obvious and some may not perceive any difference optically between mid and high end under certain conditions but under others the difference glaringly obvious! Many thanks for a staight-up, honest, no holds barred review.

Hi should i ad an 10x32/30 Bino if i already have a 8x42 NL Pure? And a Zeiss Victory Pocket 8x25? Or better go for a 12x42 NL?

Do you have an option on Zeiss conquest hd 15x56 vs Swarovski slc 15x56?

wanting the best isn't a bad thing, we all cant have a ferrari but we can get things like designer clothes, laptops and bino's

Well said, Buddy ! Thx !

big help. thank you

I have the Conquest 10x42 for around 5 years now. When I bought them I did direct comparison with Victory’s for an hour or so as the light started to fall. I could tell absolutely no difference whatsoever so bought the Conquests. If I could have seen any advantage with the victory’s I would have paid the extra. I’m 55 now and my eyes are not as good as they were when I was 40. I am on my second set of eyecups though which have broken twice in that they split lengthways. Both times the eyecups were replaced by my Zeiss dealer free of charge. The replacement eyecups however have been improved over the first ones.

Victory SF are probably the best binoculars I ever looked through Bloody Excellent Swarovski NL Pure Lieca Noctivids Carl Z victory All three are the best I’ve ever looked through but Victory’s just had a touch more bang Pop images.. Any of the above will do the job but EVERYONE to themselves..

Excellent review 👍👍

Great review. I retired last year and treated myself to an alpha glass as an upgrade on my Zeiss Terra ED. I’m not a fan of field flatterers so that ruled out the Swarovski and a choice between the Victory SF and the Noctivids. Choose the Leica as I got them for £400 less than the Zeiss, both are fantastic and would have been happy with either.

I heard about those annoying eyecups so many times it put me off, I was so close to buying them too.... Now I have to save even more money for those Victory's Nice to see the comparison, Thanks

Great comparison. Wish there was wider selection of brands compared like this. Real target for the highest end binos are European hunters who can leagally hunt at night. With high quality binoculars you can count points in poorer light and the differences are much more dramatic than in daylight. On a dark night it might mean you can make the ID 5 or 15 minutes later after sunset, but in the wintertime with snow on ground, it can mean you can sit in moonlight 2 days later into vaning moon. Obviously that requires then high quality optics on rifle to make the shot but if you can ID the animal with binoculars, as you always should, then rifle scope doesn't need to provide all the detail to make the shot.

Outstanding & I feel the same way! If an alternative exists that is better, it will bug me!!

Am I the only one that prefers my eye cups turned all the way in to get the widest FOV? I anchor the eye piece into my brow and get a steady, wide FOV. I’ve owned both. Sold the Victorys to pocket the $1500 and build a Tikka 6.5 PRC. I don’t feel like I lose much going back to the Conquest.

what experience do you have with Swaro and Leica to justify that they are just as good as zeiss? ( they most likely are). My question is do you own all three and use them?

In addition to a Bausch and Lomb, a Leica, and a Nikon , I bought a Conquest 10x42 from a German online shop. As you say, optical quality ‘s great “value for money” ( € 650 ) , but : both eyecups were very stiff just at the beginning, in a few hours of careful use une got stuck, and BROKE while twisting it!! The Italian Official Zeiss importer , to my complaint, immediately sent a couple of sealed eycups, for free . Nevertheless, they both were torn - vertically divided - and ineffective in a few weeks. In my opinion, this means : extremely poor project and mechanical design, bloody recycled plastic for a crucial component. Eventually, I decided to fix the cups by two thin nylon ties…. NOW it works… the end of my story : no more Zeiss …

Excellent review. How do these compare to Swaro EL?

Great review, thanks for the honest appraisal of both binos, even though you have a preference. I just made a major upgrade from low-mid end Burris optics to the Conquest, which should be arriving shortly. I was most concerned about chromatic aberrations - that purple color fringing you discussed - it drives me nuts on less expensive binos and I was happy to hear that it wasn't an issue with either the Conquest or the Victory. Your review is the only one I've seen that specifically addresses that.

Interesting.. Thanks... What experience do you have with Bushnell..? I'm thinking to buy the FORGE 10X42. 😇 ✌🏼

what do you think of sworwaski nl pure.?

What do u think of the zeiss quality are the eye cups a little cheap? Thanks

Image stabilised bins outperform any non I S binoculars in detail perception (thus identification) and relaxed viewing .

There is also a durability issue that can be important.

Not a fan of swaro as zeiss and leica suits me better but all i can say is the NL Pure's are nice. For people looking to buy do not get caught up in brand but more so what suits your eyes

SF looks even bigger than the HD, it’s huge

Very good review, greetings from Germany

Those eyecups drive some people just absolutely crazy. I didnt find them to be a problem personally. But yea a lot of people complain, why wont they just fix it?!

Ur southern neighbor down in Bellingham could really use an ebike review

Zeiss Conquest is made by Kamakura Japan. It’s a good bino, like all brands in this price range made by Kamakura. It’s not comparable with the Alpha binoculars from Zeiss, Swarovski, Leica. Just another league. If you use bino’s daily or every week, buy the expensive ones. For most of us the Conquest is a very nice binocular, eye cups are no problem.

yes it is

Oh my, now what do you do? That Beatle must be digging the hole in the back of your head because of a thing called NL Pure!

I'm wondering if you just got a bad pair of Conquest Binoculars? I have a pair and the eyecups are really good. Now, I agree with you that the quality isn't as good. But! I'm like you. I have to have the best. A curse to my bank account.

Dang I thought 200 bucks was alot for binoculars

Yes, x2.5 priced binos from the same manufacturer are better.

The Swarovski NL's are the best if that what you are looking for

‘At noon, a $500 pair of binoculars look as good as a $2,500 pair of binoculars’.....if you have no idea what actual quality binoculars are. Maybe to the average hunter, yes....but to anyone who knows what to look for, you are so wrong. Build quality, weight, glass quality, optical performance....not even close....and if you go one step further with chromatic abboration(or how ever you spell that), edge to edge clarity, depth of field, larger eye box...there are SO MANY differences in high end glass. Once you get past the 1000-1500 range, as you step up in price range, you are going to see less difference...because those slight 10% differences, are so hard to achieve. Light transmission, ect...is super hard to achieve once you get to a certain level. I think where you see the biggest difference, is going from say a $300 pair, to a $1000 pair. I tried Zeiss, don’t like them at all. Look down the front side of the barrels, and you can see dings and tool marks from the assembly process. Tried Leica too, better than Zeiss in the top end....Swarovski smokes both of the other two ‘alpha’ glass makers. Swarovski wins in almost every category. And the new NL Pure, Swarovkis are on another level all together, nothing on the market is even close...not even Swaro’s ELs....expensive, but what do you expect the best to cost. Zeiss are decent, but Swarovski smokes them, in my opinion. All three of the top optics companies have their rabid fanboys....I tried all three and got what I feel, hands down, are the best. I know good optics, and what to look for...and how to test them, and Swaro are the best in my opinion.

So you're buying these with the express intent to return one? That is a real kick in the nuts to the retailer you bought them from. There is a person behind that business trying to make a living. You abusing their return policy is a total dick move. What exactly do you expect them to do with the used pair of Conquest you have created?

FIRST WORLD ISSUES / PROBLEMS. Seriously ,just buy a modest priced Binoculars and be content with them.