Zeiss Victory HT 10×54 Binoculars.

Zeiss Victory HT 10×54 Review.

Courtesy of Zeiss UK and Zeiss Hunting EU, I am proudly bringing to you the review of one of the most amazing sets of binos I possibly have had the pleasure to use.

Firstly I will get the Tech Spec over and done with before delving into the ins and out, or should I say, the ups and downs of these amazing pair of binoculars.

Zeiss Victory HT 10×54  price is around between £1700 and £2100 depending where you buy them from.

Performance:

Nitrogen Filling: Yes

Pupil Distance: 58 – 76 mm

Lens Coating: LotuTec

Water Resistance: 500 mbar

Close Focus: 3.5 m

Field of View at 1000 m: 110 m

Eye Relief: 16 mm

Exit Pupil Diameter: 5.4 mm

Twilight Factors: 23.2

Functional Temperature: -30 | +63 °C

Effective Lens Diameter: 54 mm

Magnification: 10x

Apparent Field of View: 63°

Lens Type: FL, HT

Diopter Adjustment Range: +3 | -3 dpt

Physical Details

Weight in Use: 1050 g

Exit Pupil Diameter: 5.4 mm

Height: 193 mm

Now the geeky stuff is over and done with I can start with the review.

I have been using these binoculars now for over a month along with the victory HT 2.5-10×50 rifle scope and I have to say the capabilities of both are just amazing.

From day one I started to test the 10×54 HT binos in all the conditions that the documentation said that it thrived in and I must say from the start it surprised me.

Testing

I live in the Highlands and as anyone can tell you at this time of year the hours of darkness are far longer than our hours of light, when you’re in the field it is vital to know the equipment you use can keep you working for as long as possible, test one was exactly about this.

I needed to see for myself the difference between these Victory HT binoculars and my trusty Barr & Stroud’ that I have tested against £500 and £600 binos such as Vortex HD’ and Hawke HD’, along with that I wanted to answer the question that I have been given many times before “do high end binos really warrant the money they demand?”.

I took the Zeiss Victory HT 10×54’s to the Viewpoint a few miles from my home, the height of the of the viewpoint is around 1600ft and the weather was far from clear and to top it all off it was also getting dark as it was around 1600hrs. At this time of year sunset is at 1530hrs.

The viewpoint has unrestricted vision for miles including, on a clear day, full vision of the whole Strath that I live in.

Straight away I could tell how useful these binos were, from where I sat to the adjacent ridge across the valley is around 2 miles and the clarity through the Victory HT was crystal clear compared to my Barr & Stroud 10×50’s, I could pick out sheep clear as day across the valley and deer down deep in the valley also. The light was fading and very quickly it was getting dark and although the camera on my phone was able to cope with the low light objects I was viewing, to the naked eye were now quickly becoming shadows and the rain that was now coming sideways in high wind did not help the issue, this was  a perfect time to test the Victory HTs capabilities. Over this period the Zeiss Victory HT was beating my regular binos by at least 1000yrds and that to me was just awesome.

Second test was to have them out in the field.

Glen the MD of Game Management Scotland Ltd and I headed to the hills of north Sutherland for some stalking and forest management, for me this was an ideal situation to be able to see how the Zeiss Victory HTs performed in a work situation. By the time we were on location it was around midday and the weather was far from clear, however, clarity distance was a lot further than expected.

Rain showers were coming and going as we were spying over our hill area at times hindering  us to spy deep into the valley where GMS grounds lay. Spotting long distance was easy and picking out deer and sheep from a long way away was not a hard task, do not get me wrong none of the binos we had with us could have topped the spotting scope for this job but the Victory HTs really did impress me greatly.

Unfortunately, stalking was not going to happen this day but it gave us a chance to recce the woods and check ride clearance.

The good thing about Glen being with me was that it gave me a chance to test the Zeiss binos against his Swarovski SLC range finding binos that he owns, arguably I was able to test these two rivals at the exact same time and also get the opinion of a well-respected stalker at the same time.

We stopped over one of the clear fells in the forest just as it was getting dark, I asked Glen to try out the Victory HT and I was very surprised at his analysis over comparing both side by side. Now his Swarovski binoculars retail at around £2300 and  in comparison the Zeiss Victory HT 10×54 are as low as £1700 so I expected Glens binos to come out on top, so when Glen gave me his feedback I was taken aback.

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Glen had said “Do you know what I think these (meaning the Zeiss Victory HT’) have the edge over the Swaro in low light”

It was completely unexpected for him to come to that conclusion as he is a strong advocate of Swarovski products.

Next test was on a stalk for Roe deer in heavy bracken.

Again, the Zeiss performed spectacularly against difficult undergrowth of heavy bracken and heather.

After a while of spying I spotted two sets of Roe Does with kids, 4 deer in total. They were hard to see with the naked eye and to be frank and honest at 450yrds in thick bracken I really struggled to see them with the Barr and Strouds but with the Zeiss Victory HTs it was no issue at all.

It is obvious within reading this that I am impressed 100% by these binoculars so finding bad points on them is difficult, or maybe more like blinkered. The Zeiss Victory HT 10×54 are phenomenal optics, and because it pretty much does what it is says it does, I have to say finding faults can only be found by nit picking at the basic size of the unit.

The Zeiss Victory HT 10×54 are no heavier than any other high-end binoculars on the market, however, if I was having to nick-pick on the design a little it would be that I find them too long and too bulky in size for stalking. This is an important aspect that is often overlooked, many who will buy these and use them will be hill walkers, stalkers and Ornithologists of whom will often walk and travel long distances with much more equipment on them. As a stalker myself and with back up thoughts from, friend and colleague as well as boss, Glen, we both agree that if you had to crawl into a beast with them tucked in your jacket you could find some problems.

Other than size I really did not find any fault with the Zeiss Victory HT 10×54 and they performed far better than even their more expensive competitors.

What can I say?

Clarity – amazing

Quality – very strong and robust.

Over all performance in low light – outstanding.

Final thoughts

For those that have been following my review updates over the last few weeks I have started using a phrase I have coined “On the edge of darkness Zeiss has the edge” and I have to say that rings 100% true to me.

For me these binos would be a great “jeep” binoculars, allowing me to spot the deer I want to stalk and in return allowing me to plan my stalks from a distance, however, for Game counting such as pheasants and Grouse these are perfect with the outstanding optics picking out birds even in the most enclosed cover.

For getting close up views of what you are wanting to see with edge to edge clarity I cannot believe there is better out there after the tests I have put them through.

The HT part of the name means “High Transmission” which means it has 95% light retention, the SF models only have 92% which in real terms it has an extra 15-30 minutes extra shooting time and you can really tell this when you are looking through and does make a difference if you want that extra time for a successful hunt.

For me though price is a big thing and financially the Zeiss Victory HT is at a lower cost than it’s competitors which makes it complete value for money even at a £1700 price range. The refined clarity is worth every penny and for the professional market I honestly believe that you cannot get better.

Zeiss has really excelled and shown with this product that they are at the top of the sector in regards to optics not just with the binoculars or the clarity but the quality of the accessories that come with it also showing what you are buying and what you are getting for your money is a very premium professional product.

I have to say Zeiss has really opened my eyes when it has come to the premium market in regards to optics, I am blown away with the Zeiss Victory HT 10×54 binoculars I truly am and I do not think anyone would be disappointed if they purchased these.

Thank you for reading this review on the Zeiss Victory HT 10×54 Binoculars, our next review is on the Zeiss Victory HT 2.5-10×50 rifle scope.