Zeiss Conquest 8x56 HD
Review
The traditional choice for a low-light binocular with 7mm
exit pupils – the widest most eyes can accommodate – was always 7x50; but Zeiss
pioneered an alternative, designed for low-light hunting, the 8x56 Dialyts. The higher power confers obvious advantages for
terrestrial use and cuts through sky glow better for astronomy too.
I have never reviewed an 8x56, so it’s high time I did. And
where better to start than the successor to those Dialyts,
Zeiss 8x56 Conquest HDs?
8x56s are dusk specialists.
At A Glance
|
Magnification |
8x |
|
Objective Size |
15mm |
|
Eye Relief |
18 claimed, 20mm measured |
|
Actual Field of View |
~7.3° (125m/1000m) |
|
Apparent field of view |
57° |
|
Close focus |
~2.5m measured |
|
Transmissivity |
90% |
|
Length |
210mm |
|
Weight |
1275g |
Data from Zeiss/Me.
What’s in the Box?
The glossy box with a wrap-around
scene is standard Zeiss.
Design and Build
Conquest is Zeiss’ everyman binocular, with a huge range of
models from 8x32 to 15x56, all with a similar no-nonsense look and ethos. I’ve
now reviewed and really liked all of them, finding a great view, quality build
and good value every time.
I’m pleased to see that it still says ‘Made in Germany’ on
the Conquests’ focuser knob. Why pleased? Because German manufacture is good
for Europe, good for repairability and helps set the most famous brand in
optics apart from others – Vortex comes to mind – that outsource their premium
optics.
The smaller Conquests (especially the 32mm models) are very
competitively priced; but though these are cheaper than the Swarovski
equivalents, they are still an expensive binocular.
The Competition
Alternatives at this size? 8x56 is not as widely available as
some formats, but Swarovski make an 8x56 in their excellent SLC HD range and
Nikon an 8x56 Monarch 5 at a lower price. Others options include a Steiner and
a Vortex.
The original Zeiss 8x56 Dialyts
have a great reputation, but they are very long, their field is narrow and
they’re not waterproof.
Body
The 56mm Zeiss Conquest HDs look very similar to the smaller
models, but larger… much larger. They are longer (210mm vs 193mm) and heavier
(1275g VS 1050g) than Zeiss’ 54mm HTs and larger than Swarovski’s 8x56mm SLC
HDs too.
The Conquests have a more conventional design than the HTs, with
an armoured hinge and the focuser at the back, rather than a double-link bridge
and huge central focuser.
Confusingly, the design and size of the 56mm Conquests is
very similar to the older Swarovski SLC Neu, rather than the more compact (and
newer!) HD model compared in this review.
Zeiss don’t sculpt the back for thumb cut-outs, unlike the
SLC HDs which now get a two-stage cut-out that really makes for a snug fit in
the hand.
Focuser
Like other models in the Conquest range, the focuser is
excellent - smooth and precise and quite light in feel. It is fast too, just
like a premium birding bino’. These focus down to about 2.5m, close for a
big-eye bino’. Merge is excellent at that distance too.
Unfortunately, the dioptre adjustment is less good. It’s in
the old-fashioned place as a ring under the right ocular. It’s smooth and
well-weighted here (unlike some earlier Conquests’), but lacks even a mid-point
click-stop.
Optics - Prisms
Like the current Swarovski 56mm SLC HDs, the 56mm Conquests
get the Abbe-König prisms that Zeiss pioneered. These prisms give a slimmer
profile, but more importantly they transmit more light because they don’t need
lossy mirror coatings like the ‘normal’ Schmidt-Pechan
roof prisms that the 42mm and 32mm models make do with.
Transmission is quoted at 90%, which is less than the SLC HDs
on paper; but as we will see these are subjectively a very bright binocular, as
were the Abbe-König prism equipped Zeiss FLs and Dialyts
before them.
Optics - Objectives
Zeiss claim ED (i.e. high-fluoride) glass in these latest
Conquests – hence the ‘HD’ label. Though they do still suffer from a little
chromatic aberration, it’s much better controlled than on the higher-powered
models.
The Zeiss Victory HTs use a complex four element design with
two ED elements. Which system the Conquests use isn’t stated by Zeiss, but from
a laser inspection of the objectives and the level of false colour I suspect
they are triplets with one ED element.
The T* objective coatings on these 8x56mm Zeiss Conquests are
of very high quality - much the same as the dark-pink T* coatings on the SFs
and the Victory FLs before them, different from the smaller Conquest models’
I’ve tested. They also have the latest dirt-shedding “LotuTec”
feature, same as the premium models.
Interior quality and baffling looks exceptional: two
knife-edge baffles behind the objectives and ridge baffles in the focuser
carriage. The objective retaining rings are ridged to help curb flare.
Pink T* objective coatings are like other premium Zeiss’
(here Victory FLs).
Swarovski
SLC HD and Zeiss Conquest coatings compared.
Ridge
and knife-edge baffles behind the objectives.
Optics - Eyepieces
The eyepieces have large (25mm), flat eye lenses. As with
other Conquest models, the eyepieces don’t have Zeiss’ signature dark-pink T*
coatings like the objectives, though the SFs (and Victory FLs before them) do.
Large objectives and a low power permit long focal length
eyepieces which naturally have high eye relief, so the Conquest 8x56s have
plenty, despite very deeply recessed eye lenses. Zeiss claim 18mm, but I
measured slightly more. So, in contrast to the higher powered (10x and 15x) models,
I can comfortably see the whole field with my specs on.
The exit pupils are sharply defined, round and the correct
size (i.e. unvignetted). Blackouts (spherical aberration of the exit pupil)
aren’t an issue either, really adding to comfort.
Apparent field of view is good for an 8x56 at 57° giving ~7.3°
(125m/1000m) true, but a
little narrow compared to the latest birding models. For context, that’s just
0.1° (3m/1000m) less than the 8x42 model, 0.3° less than Swarovski’s 8x56 SLC HD, but over a degree less
than the wide-field 8x42 SFs.
The adjustable eye-cups have only three positions (many
premium examples have four). The action is better than previous Conquests – a
little stiff, but solid and positive.
Eyepiece
coatings are different from Victory FL, SF and other premium Zeiss models.
Eye cups have
just three positions.
Accessories
The semi-rigid Cordura case and
thinly-padded strap are standard Zeiss items, supplied with most models apart
from the 42mm SFs. Nothin’ fancy, but the case is
durable and protective.
These get push-in objective caps and a rubber stay-on
eyepiece cap, both secured by little lanyards. Push-in caps can be a pain,
but here they are easy to fit and stay
put thereafter.
In Use – Daytime
Ergonomics and Handling
These are a large binocular – larger than the Swarovski’s
8x56 SLC HDs, but just 40g heavier. There are no cut-outs or sculpting of the
barrels to help with the hold, but they don’t need them because you’ll hold
them around the barrel ends most of the time.
Focus action is very smooth and precise, with no backlash,
play or variation of focus point when changing focus direction. No, it’s not as
fast, nor quite as fluid as the SFs’, but in keeping with the Conquest range
ethos it’s as good as it needs to be.
I prefer dioptre adjustment on the focuser, but here the
basic eyepiece ring is precise and has just enough resistance to avoid shifting
it by mistake.
Eyepiece comfort is really excellent, with plenty of eye
relief to see the whole field and no blackouts with my glasses on. I’d like
an intermediate eye cup position for use without glasses, although with care
you can find intermediate positions between the click-stops.
Super-sharp
centre-field, blurred towards the edge.
The View
First impressions matter, with bino’s too. With these it was,
‘wow, that’s a great view!’
Later, I’d realise that the view is a little narrower than
the best (usual with 8x56s), with a lot more off-axis blur. But that first
reaction holds – it’s a great view, sharp, ultra-bright and very easy and
comfy. Colour rendition has that signature Zeiss cool tone and I like it. These
had me just wanting to view and not review – always a sign of a great bino’.
As usual, I need to point out here that big objectives don’t
improve brightness in full daylight: your pupil contracts and stops down the
aperture, so daytime brightness is a function of transmissivity.
Counterintuitively, this means some cheaper big-eye bino’s seem dim by day, but
not these.
On paper these may not have the highest transmission at 90%,
but subjectively the daytime view seems especially bright. Compared with my
8x32 Victory FLs, these surprised me by proving
significantly brighter by day. The reason is likely those Abbe-König
prisms (the 32m FLs have conventional roof prisms for compactness).
These are a great reminder that lower power means more depth
of field and less focusing. Along with the naturally steady view you get with
lower powers, it makes them easier and more relaxing to use, especially when
tired. The wide-set objectives give a stunning three-D effect too.
Optical quality is supreme in both barrels, with perfect
sharpness and focus snap. Subjectively, resolution seems outstanding. Looking
across the bay at Blackpool on a clear day, I made out details in the
rollercoaster and tower I don’t recall seeing before. In the other direction, the
Conquests showed extreme detail on a service rig and ship at the wind farm out
to the west.
As expected, these work into very low light. I watched a
flock of Skylarks at dusk up on the fell in very low contrast conditions. A
frosty bay at dawn, still full of deep shadows, was easy to search for waders.
Flat field?
For
terrestrial use the field seems well corrected, but that’s an illusion because
you concentrate centre field, which is indeed super-sharp. The snap taken
through them below shows the truth – these have a lot of blur from 50% field
width or less.
Chromatic Aberration
The
other 56mm Conquests suffer from false colour fringing on high-contrast parts
of the view, but this lowest-power model to a much lesser extent and mostly
from the eyepieces off-axis. Centre field you can minimise it with careful eye
positioning and there’s not much from the HD objectives when focusing through.
Stray Light and Ghosting
Stray
light resistance is top-class. I couldn’t get significant veiling flare under a
bright dusk sky. A bright streetlight in-field produced no spikes or flare,
just a few very faint off-axis ghosts.
In Use – Dusk
The section of bay-front promenade near my house is very
dark: even fully adapted my eyes can’t penetrate it on a moonless night. But
these 8x56s gave a real light-intensifier effect, showing all the major
features of the prom’ and salt-marsh in silvery starlight. And that’s even
though they are likely vignetted by my older pupils to more like an 8x50 than
an 8x56. Younger eyes would get even better night-vision performance.
As expected, these would be great for owling and other nature
viewing at night, twilight hunting or surveillance too.
In Use – Observing the Night Sky
The 8x56 Conquests were wonderful for terrestrial use, rather
less so for astronomy. Handling and focusing are great – focus once, then hold
them steady around the long barrel ends. Centre-field stars are very pinpoint
given the high optical quality. The problem lies off-axis.
Like other Zeiss bino’s, these distort off-axis stars from as
little as 50% field width, severely so by the stop. This is astigmatism, not
field curvature: you can’t focus it away.
This means that, though you can get the whole of Orion’s belt
and sword in the field, both Nair-Al-Saif and Mintaka
are then quite distorted. Viewing a rich star field like the one between the
Double Cluster and Stock 2, the faint stars in a ~30% ring around the edge are
smeared into extinction, giving the tunnel effect I dislike.
The Moon
A
last-quarter Moon hanging low over a pink and frosty bay dawn looked great through
these: sharp and detailed, with crater Longomontanus prominent on the
terminator. I noted just a little false colour on the very limb when focusing
through.
Planets
Jupiter’s
Galilean moons were very easy to spot given the bright optics and big objectives.
The planetary disk showed just a little flare and short spikes. Bright Venus in
a dusk sky produced rather more short spikes in focus – not the best
performance.
Deep Sky
The 8x56
format has a strong reputation for deep sky and the Conquests largely
delivered.
The
Auriga clusters M36-38 just about fitted in one field. All were resolved into
masses of faint stars, with only M37 needing averted vision and M36 really
showing off its sweeping Starfish arms. M35 was richly populated too. This is
unusual in a low-powered bino’ and due to those big objectives.
The
Orion Nebula was small compared to the higher powers I’m used to, but again
these showed lots of nebulosity, including a trace in NGC 1975 above it. Was it
my imagination or could I make out a hint of nebulosity in the Rosette Nebula
too?
These
deliver the richest star fields and I easily found lots of little clusters in
the Milky Way below Cassiopeia. The Double Cluster region looked wonderful
centre field, but the off-axis astigmatism did mar the view (see above).
I easily
found comet ZTF (2022) E3, a fuzzy region between Mars and Aldebaran with a
definite core and hint of its forked tail.
Zeiss 8x56 Conquest HD
vs Swarovski 8x56 SLC HD
I haven’t done a full review of the
8x56 Swarovski SLC HDs yet, but I have spent time with them and their
higher-mag’ siblings, so I can compare their main features with the Conquests’.
·
Both
employ Abbe-König prisms for maximum brightness
·
Field
of view is very similar, as is eyepiece comfort
·
On
this pair, build quality is similar too
·
The
Conquests are longer and slightly heavier
·
The
Conquests have just a touch more false colour, but significantly more off-axis
blur
·
Terrestrial
view and overall performance seems very similar
·
The
better corrected field makes the Swarovski better for astronomy
·
The
Conquests are currently a not-insignificant 30% cheaper
More than the higher-magnification models which are
compromised by too much off-axis false colour, I’d choose the 8x56 Conquests
for terrestrial use just because they’re cheaper and performance is similar.
For astronomy, try to stretch to the Swarovskis.
Summary
This is one of those reviews in two
halves.
Build quality is flawless on this
pair and some of my minor gripes with earlier Conquests – like sloppy eye cups
and stiff dioptre adjustment - seem quietly fixed.
For terrestrial use the Conquest
8x56s are outstanding. Exceptional eyepiece comfort is the icing on a cake
which includes the best optical quality I’ve seen in a while, extreme
resolution, great colour rendition and a very bright view under all conditions.
Focus is smooth, precise and ultra-snappy. False colour is low. True, there is
quite a lot of off-axis blur, but you rarely notice it by day.
Dusk and night performance for terrestrial
use is superb too, with the strong light intensifier effect that the 7mm exit
pupil and big objectives confer. These are easy to focus even in very low
light. Veiling flare at dusk and ghosting on bright lights at night aren’t a
problem.
For astronomy, I didn’t find them
as compelling. The main issue is distorted stars off-axis: it spoils star
fields with a tunnel effect and mars the wide views of constellations that
these should be great for. Meanwhile, the low power gives less involving views of
DSOs (and the Moon) than 10x or 15x.
For terrestrial use these get my highest recommendation – the
view is superb, the focuser excellent, ditto eyepiece comfort. For astronomy
I’d prefer a better corrected field off-axis.
Buy Zeiss 10x56 Conquest from Wex here:
