Daniel Mounsey
Vendor - Woodland Hils
Reged: 06/12/02
Posts: 2889
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This is just a mini review. Yes, they are $4,500 but they are incredible. They don't weigh that much. Images edge to edge are pin point. I was surprised that even at 20x, there was not a trace of astigmatism and for the price there better not be. Some people get concerned about heavy weight, but don't forget that a heavier binocular will be more steady in your hands. The image stabilizer is completely mechanical and doesn't run on batteries. Over all, the images knocked my socks off. I could actually see Saturns rings, granted that isn't what these are for, but it was interesting. What really blew me away was M44. I was completely engulfed in it and felt like I was falling through it. Contrast at this magnification is superb. During the day, images snap right into focus with good contrast. Well, there you have it. 
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Rich N
Post Laureate
Reged: 09/22/04
Posts: 5314
Loc: San Francisco Bay Area, Calif...
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Hi Daniel,
Thanks very much for your review.
How much eye relief do they have?
The Zeiss website says this binocular has "enough" eye relief for
people wearing glasses but I don't like that "trust me" type of advertising.
What type of batteries does it use? How easy is it to change them?
Thanks,
Rich
Edited by Rich N (02/20/05 07:34 PM)
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Paul G
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 05/08/03
Posts: 1767
Loc: Freedonia
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No batteries. I played with them at Company 7 a couple of times and they are excellent binos. When you push down the image stabilization button there is a quiet "clunk" and the stabilization kicks in -- completely mechanical, very effective.
With the Canon IS binos I see a jitter in the image that drives me nuts, wouldn't own them for that reason. No such jitter with the Zeiss.
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Gus
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Rich N
Post Laureate
Reged: 09/22/04
Posts: 5314
Loc: San Francisco Bay Area, Calif...
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Thank Gus!
No battery. That's interesting. Why have a button to "turn it on"? Why not have the stabilization feature on all the time?
I've seen the jitter with the older Canon IS. I've not seen it with my relatively new Canon 15x50IS.
Did you notice the eye relief?
Thanks,
Rich
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Rich N
Post Laureate
Reged: 09/22/04
Posts: 5314
Loc: San Francisco Bay Area, Calif...
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You can tell it is a cloudy night, I'll try and answer my own question. Why not have the IS "on" all the time? Maybe the IS is too delicate to handle situations like shipping if it was always "on"?
Rich
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11steve
super member
Reged: 07/13/04
Posts: 109
Loc: Hamburg, Germany
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Hi Rich,
Zeiss told me that the reason why the stabilisation mechanism canīt be "on" all the time is to protect its special mechanics. Note: we have here a pure mechanical solution of a gimbal-mounted optical system. There are also some russian binoculars with mechanical IS solutions available and also one made by Fujinon for professional purposes that can combined with night vison devices which costs more than 10000,- Euro.
The angle of stabilisated movements is about 2 degrees (0,8° with the Canon 15 and 18x50 IS and with the Fujinon Techno-Stabi 14x40 5°) if my memory is right. I assume that the jitter with Canonīs IS comes from the vary-angle prism when itīs in work. That prism contains an optical liquid that enables changings of its shape to compensate the movements of the hands. I think itīs still impossible to calculate the optical properties of an optical liquid that is exactly as it should be with glasses but I also believe that this is a field where the development of optics can go for in the future.
I agree with Daniel that the 20x60 S is an outstanding instrument. If you compare it for example with a 18x50 Canon IS youīll notice that the Zeiss is much brighter and its optical resolution is better especially when the IS is "on". There is no rest of shaking and no jitter like with the big Canons and their is no delay in working of the IS mechanism like with the Fujinon Techno-Stabi. Otherwise the randsome sharpness of the Canon seems to be unbeatable due to flatfield lenses. Together with the ClassiC 7x50 B/GA T* the 20x60S is the last porro prism binocular of Zeiss available in their program in recent times. There is also a monocular available called the Zeiss Mono 20x60S. The optics of the 20x60S are very similar to that of the famous and unfortunately discontinued 15x60 B/GA T*. I would estimate its eye relief of about 15 mm. The eyecups are of the old fashioned foldable rubber shape.
Steve
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Daniel Mounsey
Vendor - Woodland Hils
Reged: 06/12/02
Posts: 2889
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Yes,
eye relief is good enough for eye glass wearers. You just need to roll the eye cups down.
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Anonymous
Unregistered
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Those binoculars must be quite nice. I hope they perform like $4500 binoculars! When you finally have a chance to write a review, I'll be very interested!
Quote:
Some people get concerned about heavy weight, but don't forget that a heavier binocular will be more steady in your hands.
Not to get off the topic, but this doesn't quite make sense to me. As your arms get tired from the weight, in combination with 20x magnification, these binoculars would be, by most standards I think, unacceptable for hand held use. How well, or how much, can IS technology compensate for shaking?
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Daniel Mounsey
Vendor - Woodland Hils
Reged: 06/12/02
Posts: 2889
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Often, people are into the light weight thing, but there are always trade offs. Some people tend to have somewhat shakey hands or they tend to buzz a little bit. When the binocular is too light, it's more susceptible to to tranfering the vibration. The heavier it is, the more steady it is, but the less you can hold it up for longer periods of time. It's like planes. The smaller they are, the more they bump around because of turbulance. The bigger they are, the more steady they fly.
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Rich N
Post Laureate
Reged: 09/22/04
Posts: 5314
Loc: San Francisco Bay Area, Calif...
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Thanks very much Steve and Daniel! The Zeiss 20x60S sounds absolutely outstanding.
Rich
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BarrySimon615
scholastic sledgehammer
Reged: 03/01/04
Posts: 924
Loc: New Orleans, LA
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Quote:
It's like planes. The smaller they are, the more they bump around because of turbulance. The bigger they are, the more steady they fly.
And the faster they fall! 
Note - I tend to like binoculars on the heavy side too!
Barry Simon
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craig_oz_land
sage
Reged: 01/21/04
Posts: 343
Loc: Sydney, Australia
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Hi Daniel,
I would be interested to know how the Zeiss compare to the Takahashi Astronomers for on axis sharpness and chromatic abberation.
I would have to say though that the IS would be a blessing for a 20x binocular. Though I have found I get a bit of motion sickness when looking through them sometimes. Does anyone else notice this and is it something that one adapts to?
Regards, Craig
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Takahashi FS-102
Fujinon FMT-SX2 7x50
Takahashi Astronomer 22x60
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Erik D
Carpal Tunnel
Reged: 04/28/03
Posts: 2575
Loc: Central New Jersey, USA
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Quote:
I would have to say though that the IS would be a blessing for a 20x binocular. Though I have found I get a bit of motion sickness when looking through them sometimes. Does anyone else notice this and is it something that one adapts to?
Regards, Craig
Check the "Canon IS Jitter" thread started by btschumy on 2/25/05. It's near the top of page 2 in this forum right now.
Erik D
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craig_oz_land
sage
Reged: 01/21/04
Posts: 343
Loc: Sydney, Australia
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Thanks Erik
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