Zeiss Victory RF Binoculars Review

ZEISS Victory RF 8×54 Binoculars Review

The long-awaited review of ZEISS’ Victory RF binoculars finally came to fruition this summer. For months I was badgering ZEISS to loan me a set so I could see for myself what the hype was about, but each time it came round to my turn to be able to get my grubby hands on a set someone else whisked it away! However, the bino’s finally landed on my door step just in perfect timing for the review of the ZEISS Victory V8 scope review (that I wrote about last month) and most importantly the start of the red stag season. Thanks to ZEISS, I was able to hold onto the bino’s for a lot longer than normal, which means I have had them for the best part of two months.

Thank you again to ZEISS for supporting my recent reviews by supplying me with the bino’s and scopes. Over the last two months I have had the best part of £5000 worth of ZEISS equipment going through some of the toughest tests that the Highland hills and forest stalking can throw at it – the adventure has been phenomenal! The 11 guests who accompanied me were very impressed on how well the optics performed and enjoyed their experience all the more because of the equipment ZEISS had sent.

Anyway, before we get into the nitty gritty of the field performance of this product let me get the geeky stuff out of the way.

Specifications:

Before we start on the review and the things we went through with the ZEISS Victory RF bino’s, I have to say, my experiences over the past 2 months were almost constant! For fairness of your reading eyes, I have slimmed this review to some of the highlights, but even then, I struggled to pick which ones to write about as there were so many! So, like the song says, “Let’s start at the very beginning”

Unpacking and Checking out the Features

While waiting for the Bino’s to arrive, I did some research. I specifically asked for the 8×54 RF’s because they appealed to everything I would need from a set of bino’s in a hunting scenario. I already knew what these bino’s claimed to do and had read through all the paperwork and instructions manuals and the more I read the more excited and impatient I got. So I should possibly apologise to the guys at ZEISS for my eager emails of anticipation ha-ha!

As the items I get are usually passed about between ambassadors, reviewers, shows and shops, before they land with me for testing, it is not a surprise to see the bino’s arriving with all of its attachments in place. The Zeiss Victory RF 8×54 still felt very new and fresh to me though, the first time I held them in my hands felt comfortable and the soft-touch exterior of the body felt like I was holding something quite special indeed. Already attached were the adjustable eye-cups and the strap.

The strap felt very good quality with a wide, albeit soft neck padding, giving you the security of knowing it won’t fall apart, snap or worst of all, cause a rash on the back of your neck. The strap was long enough and easily adjustable and could be suited to anybody no matter their size, shape or frame.

The eye-cups were also made of good quality materials, fitting very neatly, but tightly onto both the eyepiece and objective, again, ensuring you don’t have to worry about removing and replacing them while on the hunt or in fact losing them.

The bino’s were housed in a sturdy carry case and although very good quality I only ever used the case while in the truck or in transit. The case was pretty much left behind on each actual stalk or set up, but one thing I did like is how even with the strap and everything on the bino’s fit in – snug but comfortable.

The next step was playing with the digital features. I have to reiterate something here, with the digital features the app is very important, mainly if you want to use the Bullet Drop function with it. The app is free to sign up to with ZEISS and on it you can store all of your products, serial numbers, Bluetooth connect to your BT connect devises (such as these ZEISS Victory RF bino’s), set your ballistic profiles, check your ballistic graphs, store your hunting grounds locations and boundaries as well as write your hunting stories to share later with others or keep for your own memories. The App is packed full of features and is really easy to use.

Connecting the ZEISS Victory RF binoculars is very easy to do, but, following the instructions is always your best bet. The bino’s have two function buttons, one is for using the RF and the other is a menu button. Using the menu button you can set your digital display brightness, ballistic profile (which there are 10 options), measurements of range (metres, yards etc), measurement of bullet drop (clicks or MOA) and button usage. Most of these actions you will do on the bino’s themselves and not on the app. Where the app comes into play will be whenever you want to sort your ballistic drops for your rifle.

Using the ballistic measurements through the app so you can see it with every click on your range finder needs extra information that only you will know. You need to know the speed your bullets are going and the only way you can know this is by chrono graphing your rifle, so you know the exact speeds your bullets are flying at. You need to know the BC of your bullet and finally you need to know your calibre. If you use factory ammo, then the app has a lot of this information on it, with hundreds of preinstalled bullet setups from all your leading manufacturers. Another cool feature of the app is that it calculates current environment climate which can be very useful. You can set up to 10 profiles for different rifles, so you can use every rifle with the ZEISS Victory RF bino’s without worrying about having to go through set up every time.

Field Testing

After playing with the settings I was very eager to get the RF’s in the real world and beyond the 100yrds that my garden offers. So, I jumped in the pickup and headed off to see if I could spy myself some Sika.

Light was fading but there is a place a few miles from my house that I know Sika graze on all the time. It was also a chance to test what the bino’s were like in low light before I started to rely on them in the field.

Usually I cheat, usually I scan with my thermal first to see what is about and then spy in to see what I am spotting. This time however, I rushed out the door, eager as a beaver and forgot my thermal unit, so I was spying OLD SKOOL.

Within a few minutes of spying I saw a distinctive flick of white from a tail in long grass, setting the focus on my weaker right eye and the main wheel in the middle I could see clear as day a beautiful Sika hind with her calf. A quick touch of the Rangefinder and it told me 224m and 10 clicks. This all happened within a second of each other.

It was very lowlight at this point, a time where many binoculars struggle but the ZEISS Victory RF coped fantastically. In fact, the world seemed brighter through the bino’s than it did with the naked eye!

This initial test was fantastic, not only did I see what I was looking for very quickly, but the feel of the bino’s in my hand, the position of the buttons and the focus was very easy to use.

Hunting Application

Before I get into the hunts, I will make you aware that I have had to slim line this review because from the minute I had the Victory RF bino’s delivered they were in daily use and accounted for dozens of moments.

The first hunt with the bino’s was probably the most memorable.

Spying is one of the most important parts of stalking, you cannot stalk what you cannot see. Whether you’re stalking deer, boar or predators the rules are the same, and if you can’t see what you want to shoot then you’re not moving until you can.

My first proper time out with these was in the morning. I was looking over a croft I have permission on, it was early in the stag season and I had just got home from our annual family holiday. For two weeks the ZEISS Victory RF bino’s had been sitting in its box waiting to be used and this was their chance.

The morning was warm, and the sun was up at just after 3.30am but it had been light for almost an hour. I was watching a fence line between the croft and the neighbouring forest.  I was determined not to use my thermal to scan because I wanted to properly test the ZEISS Victory RF’s using the old methods.

When I was younger, and first got into hunting, I was taught that spying was a bit of an art. The way to spy determines how successful you will be. You start with your own eyes, scanning the location you want to look over, you map out in your head a kind of grid and then you systematically work that grid through the bino’s with occasional looking up. This way you’re not overlooking in one area. Like looking through any scope or glass enhancement you look with the naked eye first and bring the glass to your eyes not your eyes to the glass.

Using this system I could easily spot some pheasants in the long heather and randomly calling, deep in the long grass a Roe Doe just bobbing her head up and down watching the world around her in the early morning heat. Scanning back and forward for what seemed an age, I saw what looked like two sticks moving deep in the grassy area not far from the Doe. I watched that spot more intensively, keeping an eye on the movement of the sticks I swapped to my spotting scope to see if it was clearer but unfortunately it was no easier to tell what it was lying in the grass. Back to the ZEISS Victory RF bino’s again and just relentlessly watched the grass, my breathing was soft and controlled even though the bino’s focus was very stable and the image through them was bright and clear. The two parallel sticks I was looking at clearly moved together, I could only see the tips of the antlers but now I could easily tell they were in fact red stag antlers. The clarity through the bino’s was fantastic, I sat and watched for a little longer, and as the sun was creeping up behind me it began to light up the patch of ground I was so intently looking at. My heart jumped a little as the stag stood up, he was a young stag, still in velvet. I could see his condition was good and his summer coat was bright and vibrant.

After watching the stag for a minute or two to try and ascertain what his movement would be, I started to prepare myself for the stalk. Using the ZEISS Victory RF Range finding function I could see he was 430m, that was 27 clicks of the ZEISS V8 scope, which was clearly too far to shoot even on a beautiful calm morning like this one.

Rifle, sticks and the ZEISS Victory RF bino’s in hand, I started my stalk. I needed to close the gap by at least 200m and in doing so I would have to cross 1 river and two small burns to get to the right position I wanted to be in. The wind was barely existent as the midges started nipping at my face, every small swarm of flies and midges greeted me as I crawled through the long grass coated with the morning dew. The smell of the grass and the peat below my crawling body was an experience in itself. As I moved through the undergrowth every 10 metres or so popping my head up just enough to use the ZEISS Victory RF to range my prey.

After around 15 minutes of crawling and belly rubbing the Highland heath and wet grass I had finally managed to get to my firing position. The red Stag had moved somewhat but not enough to change the range, just the direction. A quick glance and the range from the bino’s told me I was at 150m from the stag, which the bino’s also told me was 2 clicks, although knowing my rifle I decided to ignore the bullet drop advice and started to aim at the beast. Supported securely with the bipod on a raised mound of heather I looked through the scope. I could clearly see the dew glistening on the soft velvet coating of the 6-pointer stag, his coat was in great condition but looked a little thin on the rear end. This was deep into July, so I would have expected him to be a little stranger than he looked. He was feeding contently, standing broadside facing right. I let the round go and down he went, at no point did he run, move or even know what was happening. I waited for a little time, head away from the scope now but glassing the surrounding area with the Victory RF bino’s to make sure there were no other deer about. I scanned back to the stag I had just shot before walking towards to inspect the deer.

What a morning.

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Range Testing

Range testing the ZEISS Victory RF binoculars seemed, for me, an important test to do. Normally when I test binoculars it is mainly in the field because all I need to do is test the clarity of the bino’s in various conditions. The ZEISS Victory RF binoculars however, are not just one product, they are with all intent and purposes, 3 products in one.

Product one, the bino’s, I have already ascertained how clear the optics are in the field by this point, and in a number of conditions none the less. Whether it was fog or lowlight or even in the rain, they had already told me everything I needed to know! It was now time to test the other two products within this one unit, the LRF (Laser Range Finder) and the BDC (Bullet Drop Compensator).

Product two: The Laser Range Finder

Having already tested this in the field showed quite how easy it was to use. I had set the LRF to meters, but you could easily set it to yards if you prefer that calculation. In the field it was a quick press of a button and the red display would magically come up and tell me how far the object I was looking at was. Brilliant as it was, I needed to know how accurate the range finder was, in a more controlled environment before I could fully trust it in the field.

To do this, I set up three targets and ran it alongside another LRF as well as Google Earth app to see if there was much difference between them.

As I was testing a scope at the same time I took this as a good opportunity to test the ZEISS Victory RF bino’s too.

I set one target at 100m (zero distance for all my centrefire rifles), another at 500m and another at 700m. Now I know that ZEISS claim that the Victory RF will range beyond 2000m, but for a hunting application in the UK that far out ranges any shot made, so I decided to keep it within the parameters of spot and stalk shooting.

On Google Earth I “pinpointed” the three targets,

1^st target all three devices measured the 100m with no issue at all.

2^nd target the ZEISS Victory RF bino’s were spot on at 500 but my Bresser LRF was 2 meters out.

3^rd target, again the Zeiss Victory RF was spot on but the Bresser LRF was again 2 meters out.

Google Earth seemed to be off by a meter or so with the longer ranges but that could be due to my fat fingers!

So the ZEISS Victory RF LRF function seems to work perfectly, meaning that I can now fully trust it in the fields.

One thing I must add, is that while using the bino’s in the vehicle to spy over grounds I have used the LRF function through the windscreen as well as the door window and it works very well also.

BDC Test

The BDC (Bullet Drop) function is a very important function for fast calculations in the field, if you like to dial out to those longer ranges, so it is important that this is accurate.

I have to say, much of this is also determined to how accurate your own information is that you input into the app before connecting the ZEISS Victory RF to your phone via Bluetooth.

I tested this alongside both the Strelok Pro app (an app used by many long-range enthusiasts) my Kestrel Sportsman (which is phenomenal) as well as the ZEISS Victory RF bino’s.

I know my ammo loads and speeds as I reload my own ammo for each of my centrefire rifles and I know how the rifles perform.

I was now using the Tikka T3x CTR 6.5 Creedmoor for this testing, this is a fantastic rifle and fires 140gr Sierra Gameking bullets at 2750fps with a deviation between each round of 2. For the geeks out there the BC (ballistic Co-efficiency) of the bullet is 0.495, my load is 43gr of Alliant RE 19 housed in Norma brass with a CCI 200 Large primer.

The 100m target is zero and genuinely this rifle shoots sub quarter MOA (minute of Angle) at 100m so that was just basic zero test and it was spot on,

500m showed on all three devices 35 clicks and 12 MOA (I set the ZEISS Victory RF bino’s to tell me both clicks and MOA)

700m showed on all 3 devices 62 clicks and 21.2 MOA

So all three devices worked well but most importantly as an all in one unit the ZEISS Victory RF data was correct after range finding.

When shooting I was able to hit consistently the two further targets, weather was an issue on the day and the Kestrel was very useful in calculating wind – something that the Zeiss Victory RF’s or the Strelok app has not got as a feature.

Conclusion

As I said before, the time I had with the ZEISS Victory RF’s was vast. I have had to slimline this review, somewhat, as even now I have reached 3328 words, which for a written review is, many will agree, a bit of an essay.

Nevertheless, as I had the ZEISS Victory RF binoculars for a considerable length of time it is only fair to give them the thorough review that they deserve.

Over the period of having these I have found many instances where the binoculars have proved to me more useful than my current setup.

In addition to the tests highlighted in this review the bino’s have been my companion on many hunts, 28 to be exact, and accompanied me on just as many successful stalks. They have seen the hands of guests and friends alike, all commenting on how good these binoculars really are. I have truly put these binoculars through its paces, and for a good reason – their cost.

The price of the ZEISS Victory RF 8×54 binoculars is £2500, so when you are investing in that kind of money on this kind of tech you need to know that they work. Investing in these will be a long-term investment purchase, something that you will have and use for a long time. So you need to know that they will do the job.

I have put everything I have into getting all the answer you need about these, as I said before what you’re paying for here is not just a pair of good quality binoculars, you are paying for an accurate laser range finder and a bullet drop calculator all in one unit. A laser range finder in good quality like this one that can range beyond 2000m can and will cost close to £1000 in its own right, and the quality of the glass in the Zeiss Victory Range could be as much as £1900 so you are really getting what you pay for here.

I tried the ZEISS Victory RF’s alongside the Swarovski Range finding bino’s and I have to say, in my opinion, the Zeiss Victory RF bino’s felt more comfortable in the hand, the buttons were easier to get too, and the lowlight quality was a touch better.

Don’t get me wrong when I say this, the Zeiss Victory RF optically is not as good as the ZEISS Victory HT model. So, if you have no need for LRF function or ballistic information in your bino’s and only wanted a spotting set of bino’s, the Victory HT that I tested months back are a better suit for you. However, with all the functions that are available between the two, the Zeiss Victory RF 8×54, for what I do, would be the choice I’d make.

I have to say, I often tell people when I give stuff back that I wish I could keep it but recently ZEISS has given me a few products to play with that I wish I did not need to give back, and the ZEISS Victory RF bino’s is definitely one of these products. It has been nearly two weeks since I gave them back to Zeiss and I am truly missing them, as I have had to go back to three separate devices to do one job and I am seeing it is a bit of a pain.

If you can invest in these I do very much recommend them, they are robust, hardwearing, waterproof, fog proof, hugely accurate and the clarity is amazing. 3 products in 1 with very little compromise.

Struggling to think what I can review for you guys next, any ideas drop me a line.