ZEISS SF 32

Unbeatable optics in a perfectly balanced package

More performance than ever in a smaller package – that’s what you can expect from the newest addition to ZEISS’s SF binocular range, the 32s. Like the 8x42 and 10x42 models, which have become firm favourites with birders over the last few years, the 8x32s and 10x32s boast the superb optical performance you’d expect from ZEISS, but they’re also designed with comfort in mind, making them the sort of binoculars you won’t want to put down.

Features include:

● A very wide field of view (155m@1000m for the 8x, 130m@1000m for the 10x), which is up to 20% more than in some similarly sized bins, enabling you to find birds in the wider landscape more easily.

● The unique SmartFocus system, which uses a perfectly positioned focus wheel that takes no more than 1.8 turns from close focus to infinity, helping you focus on birds in a split-second.

● Schott fluoride lenses which give 90% light transmission; combined with the ZEISS T* coating these provide brilliant, high-contrast images even in low light, and superbly true-to-life colour.

● The unique ErgoBalance concept, which makes them perfectly balanced in the hand. They weigh in at just 600g anyway.

So, optically, they do the job better than ever, and they’re perfect if you’re carrying lots of other gear, if you’re cycling, or travelling, or if you find a full-size binocular tiring. Try them, and you’ll see that a smaller size doesn’t mean sacrificing any optical quality.

FURTHER INFO

SF 32 Product Page: www.zeiss.ly/victory-sf32

Find your nearest dealer: www.zeiss.ly/sf32-dealers

Roger Riddington, editor, British Birds

Most birders can measure their birding life by the binoculars they’ve used. Recently, ZEISS’s very own Gerold Dobler outlined his binocular life-history in BB ( https:// bit.ly/2JhTOUX).

Just like Gerry, I started out with a pair of cheap Japanese 8x30 porros ( purchased from Boots, by Santa), and lasted two or three years. After that, a better- quality pair of Japanese porros, Hilkinson 10x50, saw me through school and the first two years of university.

Then, just before my 21st birthday, I went to In Focus in Barnet and after an hour of weighing up the options parted with enough cash for my first top-quality bins, the ZEISS

10x40 BGAT*.

Those bins were sensational. I loved them. They lasted the best part of a decade, before the Shetland weather and salt got to them. I tried three or four pairs before settling on the next long-term fixture, the Leica 8x32 BA (and then BN). I still have the BNs, and still use them, although in around 2007 I moved to my current firstchoice, the ZEISS 8x42 FL. I’ve tried various alternatives to those ZEISS 8x since 2007, but have never been fully convinced by any of them. I’ve tried hard to love the newer, more beautiful ZEISS 10x42 SF, but have had to conclude that, ultimately, 8x outperforms 10x in most birding situations.

The SFs have been the flagship ZEISS binoculars for around five years; they’ve been widely lauded, and rightly so. In 2016, I was again tempted to write a review ( https:// bit. ly/3qmWDV4).

But finally, finally, ZEISS have released the x32s – in 10x and 8x magnification. Effectively I could do this review in moments and say ‘see my earlier summary of the x42s – now you have the same item in a more petite package’.

So why would I go back to 8x32s? For me, and I suspect very many birders, the optical quality available in a modern 8x32 means the benefits of a more compact and lightweight binocular outweigh the marginally better performance of a larger model.

These days, we all want everything from our binoculars – exceptional optics are taken for granted, but we also want a wide field of view, close focussing, fast focussing and preferably something that weighs almost nothing.

Ultimately, despite all the design progress, you have to compromise somewhere. For my kind of birding, which involves a fair amount of walking and biking, a lightweight and compact binocular is top of my list of wants, level with optical quality and a wide field of view. And fast focusing is important: that warbler in the thistles at the end of the Quendale Burn might give me only a second and a half before it’s off down the beach; and if it looks like a Blyth’s Reed I’ll make the effort to walk half a mile after it. If it takes me a second and a half to focus on the bird, that’s no use. And so, after 40 years I am at last clear that an 8x32 binocular is the best bet to deliver the compromise that’s right for me.

So – these new ZEISS 8x32 SF – do they cut it? Happily, the answer is yes. They came out of the box and just felt right in my hands. Straightaway. They’re light; the optics they deliver for their size are brilliant; the field of view, the speed of the focusing – I’m very happy with both.

I’ve had these bins just a week. I’ve biked and walked a lot around my local patch, they’ve been with me to a ringing session in the reedbed and for a long day’s birding on a hot August day. At the end of that day, I realised I had never been conscious of the weight of the bins around my neck – and that is something I usually do find when I’m using a heavier pair. Whether I can persuade those nice people at ZEISS that this pair really ought to live in Shetland is another matter entirely, but I think that once I do eventually get a pair I can keep they’ll probably be my no.1 pair for the next 10 years.

“Light weight with great field of view. The narrow barrel makes it ideal for all hand sizes and the eye relief works perfectly for people with or without specs.”

Steve Rogers (South West Optics)

“The feature that stands out the first time you pick up an SF 32mm is the huge field of view. Even the 10x32 has a real wrap-around VR feel to the image. Coupled with the low weight, superb ergonomics and the blistering sharpness, these are amongst the very best binoculars money can buy.”

Tim Strivens (Cley Spy)

“The new ZEISS SF32 binoculars are incredibly light, superbly balanced and ergonomically as good as one could hope for, with a well-positioned focus wheel. The optical quality is second to none and coupled with the incredibly wide field of view, they are a real joy to use.” Brian Stretch (The Birders Store)

“The beauty of the 32x ZEISS Victory SF is the weight and size, giving superb clarity and colour rendition, making them a pleasure to use.”

Yvonne Longley (Focal Point Optics)

”I’ve found the 10x32 ZEISS Victory SF outstanding, the field of view is superb and the brightness is very good even in low light conditions “

Customer

Don’t just take our word for it, though. Here’s what some of the experts in the field of birdwatching, and birdwatching optics, have said: