Zeiss Conquest vs Zeiss Victory ??

is there a difference in performance between the conquest and victory lines?

Yes, the Victory line is Zeiss' flagship binoculars.  Victory is noticeably better than Conquest optically. 

I assumed so, but was hoping the difference in price was based on egonomics, weight etc.

The Zeiss Conquest are a good binocular but not in the same glass as the Victory line.  The Victory series is going to be a much brighter pair of binoculars.  Personally, I think the Zeiss Victory series is the brightest out there to my eyes. I have a friend who hunts with Zeiss Victory's me with Swarovski and another friend with Leica.  The Zeiss are brighter then the Swaro or the Lecia.  The sweet spot is much bigger on the Leica and the Swaro's then the Victory The Conquest are not as bright but are still a very clear nice set of glass and a good buy

My take on the comparison between those 3 excellent binoculars...

the victory FL are the brightest with best resolution in the center. I have never "needed" anything brighter than my swarovski's though because they "see" later than my zeiss diavari scope. I dont need FL glass because I am not a birder and CA doesnt occur in hunting situations typically, for deer anyway. The swaro has the largest sweet spot or edge to edge sharpness with Meopta right there as well and the Nikon LXL, EDG and SE as well....  I prefer Swaro because i can break them 10 years from now and they will still be in business, repair for free or low cost and upgrade them if my bino is no longer available. Swaro is truly a lifetime purchase and i always get someone on the phone when i call them

m_freeman wrote: I assumed so, but was hoping the difference in price was based on egonomics, weight etc. The only reference I have is looking through cheap binos and I did look through the conquest and was very impressed. I do have the conquest scope on my rifle it seemed as though the binoculars were much better in clarity than my scope but that may be because of the diff between bino and scope.

conquest binos have stray light issues, excessive flare

I went to Cabelas and tryed both Swarovski Zeiss Victory and Zeiss Conquest, The Zeiss Conquest was the first I tryed and was OK, Then the Zeiss Victory and then the Swaro when I tryed Both Swaro EL and Zeiss Victory there was a HUGE difference against the Conquests, for me, the Conquest look darker (I was looking at some deer and antelope mounts) the impression I had with the swaros and victorys was like if suddenly would had turned on extra lights in the store! 

some months later after a deep investigation on the web forums I bought the Zeiss Victory 8x42, and I have use them in the night to look outdoors and they're impressive !

MY impression is that the swaros could have a better performance during daylight activities because they are more sharp and the zeiss have a better performance in low light conditions.  If I look far away with my zeiss I do perceive that I need a little more sharpnes to see details (900 -1000 yds) but havent tryed the swaros in this conditions .......

If you hunt very often and travel to remote places in hunting I suggest you to get the Victorys, if hunting isn't your madness then get the conquest....

Just my toughts.... good luck!

I would say the same.

I am genuinely surprised by some of the comments. From a physical perspective I find the Zeiss Conquest ABK to be very similar, physically, to the Zeiss Victory FL series of binoculars. The diopter adjustment is different but other than that I thought they were very similar physically.

I have went to Cabelas Buda yesterday and I don't know why but I feel the swarovsky EL has better image on iluminated places....

I was looking at some elk and sheep mounts in the center of the store and was very clear I said WOW....

Then I was looking at some prognhorns mounts in a dark section and I saw almost the same with both zeiss FL and swaro EL...

I'd like to compare them side by side outdoors in hunting codnitions like dusk to know the truth!!

I also tryed the leuppys switch power golden ring and they are very nice 10x-17x

Wow, i went to turners last night and looked at the swarvo 8x30, nikon 10x42 , and the zeiss 10x30 conquest bt and i have to say the zeiss seemed to me to resolve better on the leopold scope chart on the wall 20 yards away. it even seemed better and brighter then the 8x30 swarvo? it was crystal clear sharp and the best i have ever seen. and i am a swarvo 10x42 fan. but for the price the conquest seemed incredible. now it was at night and i was in the store looking at store objects up to 30 yards away under flourescent lighting. i guess i will try during daytime and see what it looks like. all i can say is i was amazed by the sharpness of conquest. for 699 thats a deal. its funny because  the 10x30 usually would be a "darker" combo but it was brighter then the 8x40 swarvo.

Now you guys really have me going to see through a pair of victory......er maybe i shouldnt.

i just want a nice pair of incredible binoculars thats razor sharp for hiking, birding, mountain long distance viewing, light astronomy (moon ,jupiter etc) is the conquset the right one?

I'm a birder, and in the military. It's funny, because I get to travel to exotic places (like in the last 3 years...Iraq, Horn of Africa, and now back in the middle east again..ok maybe not exotic but you get the drift) and look for birds on my free time.

You mention the 8x40 Swaro. I don't think there is such a thing.  For general use I would suggest something in the 8x42 range.  Probably the best overall size for your needs.

yes I meant 8x42 slc

Hmm.

how does the canon 10x42 l (ed glass) is compare to these others? These seem like an incredible bin, but who has compared them against the swar etc?

I think maybe there is some confusion between 2 different Conquest binoculars here -- the "regular" Conquest and the "Conquest ABK" (meaning it has Abbe Koenig prisms).  The "non-ABK" Conquest bins have S-P prisms.  I've not seen the Conquest ABK, but I was not all that impressed by the standard Conquest models.  It is certainly a good binocular, but compared to some other solid contenders in the $500 - $800 price range, I think it falls short.  The ones I've seen were certainly nowhere close to Victory FL optical performance.

Edited by RifleDude - October/22/2009 at 06:57

I would like to add one more thing which sometimes is forgotten when reviewing optics: the human factor.

John Barsness wrote: Hmm.   I have used the 10x42 Conquest considerably and it is OK, but nothing like the Victory FL. In fact I would rate it below some lower-priced binoculars. It isn't anything special in today's market, especially at the $1000+ price-point.

When you say that you've used the 10x42 Conquest...were they the regular conquest or the ones with ABK prisms?

I always read that Zeiss Conquests are underwhelming for the money...but I never see it specified as ABK or not. I compared a Pentax DCF ED, Vortex Razor, Minox HG, and Zeiss Conquest ABK tonight, all in 10x. Granted, they were all display models, but to me, the Conquest ABK was the brightest of the bunch, and had the most vibrant colors. I thought the Pentax DCF ED was next, then the Minox HG and last...the Vortex Razor.

I was very surprised, because I expected the Pentax and Razor to be quite a bit better than the others. I'm actually considering getting a pair of the Conquest ABKs, but I want to compare them side by side with a Meopta Meostar first.

I get confused when reading on forums because the Zeiss Conquests get less than stellar reviews, but I don't know if people are referring to the ABK or not. Is it safe to assume that unless ABK is stated that people are referring to the standard, non-ABK Conquests? (I know its never safe to assume)