zeiss diafuns??

[youngtrout]

Hello everybody, I was wondering if anybody out there has used the diafuns much? I'm tired of cheap optics but cannt really afford the $1000 pricetag of what I really want!! I've looked through a few pairs and so far I'm impressed but have not had any low light testing yet. The price is pretty hard to beat for zeiss, I'd love any feedback from anyone who has experience with them, for that mater any other binocs in the same price range and quality, thanks

 

[Kernhuntr]

youngtrout, what is the price range you are looking at? What kind of a price are the Ziess going for?

I am a firm believer in the expenseve glass, but I just looked through a pair of Pentax 10x42's that were exceptionaly good glass for the price. Right now there is a rebate ($100.00) so he ended up getting his for $259.00 from a mail order joint.

 

[youngtrout]

You can get the zeiss diafuns 10x30's for 350$ through cabelas. I was looking around this amount. I know about the pentax rebate, I just was not very inpressed when I was looking through them, (pentax dcf's??) I will give them a second look, thanks

 

[Raully]

I just got the Zeiss Diafuns about a month ago and they are great. I haven't used them in low level light yet. I did use them at night looking at an apartment complex about 500 yards away and the light from the street lamps and porches were enough to see alot of detail. I was very impressed by that. I did use them at a ranch were we spotted 23 deer and 5 coyotes and they were crystal clear. By far the best clarity out of the 4 sets of Binos I went through this year. I really wanted the 10x42 classics, but the price was to much for me right now. The Diafuns are perfect not to big not to heavy and they come with a cool pouch so you can carry your binos on your belt instead of on your neck. If they work at night then they got to have good low light visibility.

 

[Holmes]

Greetings,

I am a died-in-the-wool Zeiss fan, but the Diafuns did not impress me as much as the 8x42 Pentax DCF-WP eyeballs did. I used both at low light, bright light, and other conditions for a two day period. In all fairness, the 10x42 Pentax binoculars did not seem to perform near as well as the 8x version.

It seems to me that various optics perform differently for many people. This seems to be an area where the propective brand and model must be tried in conditions as real as possible.

We certainly see diverse opinions when it comes to rifle scope brands with regard to clarity and brightness. Perhaps one standard of light transmission does not fit everyone!

Good luck to you.

~Holmes

 

[Kernhuntr]

Originally posted by Holmes@Dec 20 2002, 10:12 PM
It seems to me that various optics perform differently for many people.  This seems to be an area where the propective brand and model must be tried in conditions as real as possible.

Holmes, welcome to Jesse's. You have found a great place to hang out.

I think your'e right about trying different optics. But I'll take it a step farther and say that you should try as many of the "same brand, style, power, etc.", as you can. The difference between sets can be significant. I know that it's not possible in most cases, but IF you can it's worth the effort.

I also used to be a Ziess diehard, until I found my Lieca's......

I'm wondering....what were the major differences between the 8x and the 10x Pentex's that you looked through?

 

[songdog]

I use Swarovski binocs but I hunted this morning with a friend who has the new 8x30 Zeiss bincos. Best way I can describe it is that as the "low end of the high end binocs" they compare quite well to the "high end of the low end binocs". If that isn't as clear as mud here's another try...

They're not comparable to the Swarovski ELs or the older Zeiss Night Owls but they're right up there with the high end Pentax, Nikon, etc. which are pretty close to the same price. For the money, I think that they're a good deal... just don't look through a pair of $1400 ELs.

 

[Holmes]

Kernhuntr,

Thank you for the welcome. I began looking around at different sites lately as my long time favourite, Accurate Reloading, has evolved in a direction I do not care for. As I seem to be in the minority regarding that opinion, it is time for me to move on. This site seems to have a lot of excellent information and great participants. I found it, quite frankly, while researching map and GPS dissertations.

The 10x42 Pentax delivered a darker image which is to be expected with an increase in power utilising the same objective diametre as the 8x. The fault that I saw was the visual edge clarity was definitely not as sharp as the 8x42s. I was able to try only one set of the 10x whereas I had three sets of the 8s to play with.

After reading your comments, I really wish I had paid more attention to variations among the 8x models themselves. Nevertheless, I am very pleased with the 8x42 Pentax. I think they are one of the best "poor man" binoculars available. The Pentax replaced my well used Steiner 8x30 Predators. The Steiners treated me well and delivered performance commensurate with their cost years ago, but the Pentax have really been a joy for my aging eyeballs!

My next set of lookers will be either Zeiss or Leica. That is a couple of years away though. In the meantime, I will continue to be insanely jealous of those who have them. I am no fool, however, I'll not be asking for a peek through those incredible optics. Sometimes its best not to know what you're missing!

Regards,

~Holmes