Zeiss quitting the sport optic market

[Scuffy]

 

[Heym SR20]

View attachment 423226

So not giving up the Sports, Hunting market, just changing production and evolving. Warranties etc remain in force.

 

[Klenchblaize]

Looking on the brighter side of this sad and historic news, at least we'll be spared the bragging rights of the "Zeiss Pro Stalker" in 2027!

I'm only joshing.

K

 

[NP435]

Interesting indeed.

Some of us have the Zeiss Conquest MC scopes, from the US, that have a lifetime warranty (yes I know if registered/returned to US if necessary), intrigued where that leaves European users.......

L

Probably where Nikon left me a failed product and no repair. No refund just a mighty FU from the company

 

[1894]

Their downfall started just there with their budget priced optics like Duralyt and Conquest and then Terra. The logo was there but everybody knew their legendary best quality in the market just wasn't there anymore. Then they went all in a decade ago with their Victory HT series, which were great back then, had the best low light performance but a 4 times zoom. Which quite possibly was a strategic mistake as they were really expensive at the time but quickly became obsolete as other competitors had higher zoom rates and / or night optics became more and more common. Then they launched the V8 series, which were designed too futuristic and too bulky with their 34 mm tubes and they were probably not what a common traditional european hunter at the time was looking for. And probably a step back from what the Zeiss was really known for - best possible quality in a sleek, light, traditional design. Swarovski's Z8i is just sleeker, nicer, traditional European hunting aestetics is there, customer support is way better... And they have much better marketing... The last nail in the coffin was probably the chinese thermal optics...

Zoom rate is the enemy of optical excellence and light gathering.

 

[Klenchblaize]

A serious question:

How long before we will see consensus, backed by in-the-field product development, in which manufacturer/s of thermal/night vision optics can be considered to produce kit given of a quality and reliability that's on a par with the likes of Zeiss, Swarovski and S&B who currently produce conventional binoculars and scopes?

Nothing I'm seeing, in the many reviews and writeups in the use of thermal, suggests we are anywhere near achieving a standard of product reliability and quality that is to be found in the aforementioned conventional scope brands.

Put another way, how many years before we may confidently pronounce X thermal model is the equivalent of a Zeiss Diavari in terms of a;- viewing experience and b;- bomb-proof construction?

 K

 

[Burnies Boy]

They make a lot of products for metrology as well, I have witnessed a Zeiss T-scan Hawk 2 scanning a machined component
and building up a 3-D image on computer screen. The tolerances it can work too are pretty impressive, which i would have
expected for a piece of equipment that costs more than £60,000.

 

[nun_hunter]

A serious question:

How long before we will see consensus, backed by in-the-field product development, in which manufacturer/s of thermal/night vision optics can be considered to produce kit given of a quality and reliability that's on a par with the likes of Zeiss, Swarovski and S&B who currently produce conventional binoculars and scopes?

Nothing I'm seeing, in the many reviews and writeups in the use of thermal, suggests we are anywhere near achieving a standard of product reliability and quality that is to be found in the aforementioned conventional scope brands.

Put another way, how many years before we may confidently pronounce X thermal model is the equivalent of a Zeiss Diavari in terms of a;- viewing experience and b;- bomb-proof construction?

 K

I had (still do in fact) a Zeiss 8x26 laser range finder that once the 2 year electronics warranty ran out the electronics failed and Zeiss washed their hands of it. Even they can't make electronics to last and considering the size, price and uses I doubt many manufacturers could either.

Plenty of other optical scopes are as good or better than the German ones for robustness and longevity but I don't think we'll ever get long lasting electronics. Almost everything made in the last 20 or more years has built in planned obsolescence because why would a company that has to answer to shareholders make something that didn't need replacing.

 

[RescueMe0007]

I thought only thermal sights were a no-no?

Unfortunately, that's not the case. Pretty much anything (except red dot sights) electrical/digital has the status of a restricted firearm and requires all the bells and whistles to own.
So thermal, infra red and light enhancing are all in the same category provided it may be mounted on a firearm as a sight.
To be fair when it comes to stupid and idiotic legislation with respect to firearms the RoI are positively world class retards. This a result of an epidemic of uber liberal, ulta woke, gobshites being elected ad nauseum to the Dáil. The electorate in the RoI are impenetrably dim and myopic, still locked in to voting for parties based on outdated civil war positions. I despair for my country and the futures for my children and grand children. On other fronts I'm actually a shy and retiring sort.

 

[2Ll’s]

all the newest scopes are made in japan for zeiss so perhaps this will continue to be the case ?

The S5 is made in Germany and that’s one of the newest

 

[Foxyboy43]

“The electorate in the RoI are impenetrably dim and myopic, still locked in to voting for parties based on outdated civil war positions. I despair for my country and the futures for my children and grand children”.
Refreshing to note that the Irish electorate cast their votes on something so recent when compared to their neighbours up North who largely cast theirs on a local skirmish some 230 years earlier….
Can our despair be even worse if older than yours?
I expect not….

 

[mak]

A serious question:

How long before we will see consensus, backed by in-the-field product development, in which manufacturer/s of thermal/night vision optics can be considered to produce kit given of a quality and reliability that's on a par with the likes of Zeiss, Swarovski and S&B who currently produce conventional binoculars and scopes?

Nothing I'm seeing, in the many reviews and writeups in the use of thermal, suggests we are anywhere near achieving a standard of product reliability and quality that is to be found in the aforementioned conventional scope brands.

Put another way, how many years before we may confidently pronounce X thermal model is the equivalent of a Zeiss Diavari in terms of a;- viewing experience and b;- bomb-proof construction?

 K

I know I have a bias, but thermal / digital has a place, nowadays no doubt, but at this moment in time, for pure observation during stalking hours, conventional optics still offer a better, clearer and safer view ( depends on which brands). The Chinese have the technology and the capacity to produce low cost products and I know they want to “attack” the conventional optics manufacturers. The digital / thermal market ( all prices) in the UK is most probably larger than the premium optics market, certainly not bigger if you put all conventional optics market together ( low to high price). The purchasing public will determine successes, but that may not mean digital / thermal is better, just the market trends have changed.

 

[Foxyboy43]

Hmmm.
So here’s the thing as I see it…
Good (i.e. pricey) traditional glass is superb but realistically what has really changed with it in the last say, 10 years?
Digital/Thermal however has is changing every five minutes indeed perhaps revolutionised optics with relentless variations regularly coming out that in the same 10 years or so the average shooter could never have dreamed about - and at price points which make traditional glass look increasingly less of an option.
As ever the punter - i.e. us, will decide the future but if I were a gambling man I wouldn’t be buying shares in the mid to upper end of traditional glass scope manufacturers.
Just my threehappence worth - other “views” are of course available….

 

[RescueMe0007]

“The electorate in the RoI are impenetrably dim and myopic, still locked in to voting for parties based on outdated civil war positions. I despair for my country and the futures for my children and grand children”.
Refreshing to note that the Irish electorate cast their votes on something so recent when compared to their neighbours up North who largely cast theirs on a local skirmish some 230 years earlier….
Can our despair be even worse if older than yours?
I expect not….

I expect the difference will become moot if the governments in both jurisdictions continue to strive to have us displaced by foreign nationals of any stripe and hue.

 

[Foxyboy43]

I expect the difference will become moot if the governments in both jurisdictions continue to strive to have us displaced by foreign nationals of any stripe and hue.

Don’t start me…. Just don’t….

 

[little hawk]

I have heard of this too. It is very sad. I have shot with a Zeiss for many years and am attached to it still. I am now experimenting with a HIKmicro Alpex 4K that I am settling into slowly. Maybe the digital developments have made up Zeiss's mind?