ZEISS 10x42 Victory Rangefinder Binocular

Extremely clear optics as we’ve come to expect from Zeiss. Rangefinder works well out to about 440 yds. Longer ranges not so much. These units are too heavy for neck worn carrying straps, but I hunt from blinds so not an issue. Moderate 3 star rating is because eye relief cups seized up within first year. Somehow I also managed to ding the eye lens despite careful use. Sent back to Zeiss US in NY in January for repair. It’s April 11 and they still have them (sent to Germany for rework) and I’m being charged $456 to repair these units that cost ~$3500 and are less than 3 years old. If generous warranty treatment and quick turnaround on repairs are important to you when you spend this kind of money, then consider what I’m going through before buying.Update May 1- just received binoculars back today. They had been cleaned but dinged lens was not repaired. Worse, the lens caps and eye protector caps were not returned. So I’ve waited over 3 months to get my binocs back with issues only partially addressed and they kept my lens protectors which will cost over $55 to replace if they font step up when I have to contact them AGAIN for about the 5th time trying to get this repair done correctly.

I am coming from some low end budget binoculars from Bushnell so my POV isn’t going to be your typical high end to high end glass comparison. This is hopefully my first and last high end binocular purchase I will ever make in my lifetime and so far the comparison is literally night and day! Wow, I never imagined it would be this big of a difference in color contrast and glare resistance and OMG the amount of light with the exact same sized objective lens. Whatever this voodoo magic/tech Zeiss does with its glass it’s definitely works and allows me to feel like I got a steal of a deal with no buyers remorse for springing for some high end bino’s. I now can say I totally get it when people say “buy once, cry once” with high end glass.The reason I say I got a “steal of a deal” is I paid $3K for my pair on Amazon for a brand new factory sealed pair of the RF 10x42’s whereas the non “RF” version new currently goes for about $2700 as of writing this review so for $300 more out the door I have the added bonus of the range finder that I plan on using to load up some ballistic info for my 300WM and 308 rifles for some distance shooting and future large game hunts. So far comparing the range finder accuracy I haven’t had the chance to verify it’s accuracy but if anything is off I will be sure to return and edit this review. It seems to be accurate with short distances I’ve tested it with but the whole reason for going with these bino’s is for the RF and the ballistics data so I hope to push them out as far as I can in the near future.In conclusion these binoculars are just incredible from purely an optics point of view and the added bonus of an extra $300 for the range finder is just icing on the cake. If you can afford them then as the saying goes “buy once, cry once” and live without regrets.FYI - I am probably going to see if I can find some clear view screw in glass on the objective lenses to give me added protection from scratching them. My caliper says about 46mm should work and I hope they can be screwed into the rubberized cover easily as I don’t see any threads. Also, I hope this modification doesn’t effect the optics or the range finder functionality either. I just don’t want to be in a situation that’s similar to the other reviewer and end up with scratched glass.