With up to 95 percent more light transmission, Zeiss’ new Victory HT Binocular offers its users the chance to view nature in a whole new way. The company calls the new line groundbreaking and state that it’s the brightest super-premium binocular globally. This is definitely a huge claim to make after the success of the already-great Victory FL binoculars that were made.
Bright When it Counts
When light travels along a binocular, sometimes the light is lost by way of reflection and absorption in the prism system or in an air-to-glass surface. By the time the light exits the piece, the amount of light that remains will differ depending on the binocular. The best ones have greater transmittance percentages, allowing brighter and better images.
Like others in the premium optics industry, Zeiss uses several coatings to ensure that the majority of the light used can reach your eyes, but it is accepted as inevitable that a tiny amount of light can be lost.
The great and most interesting thing about the Victory HT is that the new lenses are able to transmit more than 95 percent of the light captured in a set of binoculars.
There are obvious advantages in these binoculars; there is greater transmittance, especially with the blue violet spectrum, meaning better mesopic vision. It comes with a reduced lensing effect thanks to the higher brightness, giving a better image quality overall.
Feature-Loaded
There are also a number of other exciting features on the Victory HT, including the following:
- T* coatings: With multi-layer Carl Zeiss T* coatings, there is plenty of anti-reflecting coating available for the lenses.
- Fluoride lenses: These also have fluoride ions means to correct colors and improve sharpness.
- LotuTec coating: In addition to the T*, there are Zeiss LotuTec coatings available with hydrophobic qualities. These are applied on the outside of the Victory HT binoculars by Zeiss, ensuring that if you get water on the glass, it will roll down immediately without leaving watery residue. You also won’t get oily fingerprints stuck on your lens.
- Abbe-König-prism System: This set of binoculars has a big Abbe-König prism, which means it can work without an additional mirror. It is actually the best and brightest system currently available.
- Ergonomics: The striking appearance of the Victory HT binoculars are said to help with ergonomics, making them more accessible and easier to use. The lens barrels has a great grip on them, which make them easy to use and feel natural in your hands. It also has a focus wheel that is further forward on the bridge than you might be used to.
- Double-Link-Bridge: This is made of ultra-light magnesium to ensure the Victory HT remains durable but lightweight.
According to Zeiss, the focus mechanism also includes a rather long ratio of gear to help make focusing the lenses precise and fast. In other words, it will take you a few turns of the wheel to start from near focus and end up on longer, farther focus. You’ll get the option for a precise view, but it’ll take you a little longer to swap between the two extreme views.
The 10×42 in particular is a bit heavier than the 8×42 counterpart, though this one is great for view objects at longer distances without losing much on the field of view; it still manages to look great at the bigger zoom without sacrificing anything on quality. If you are in need of premium binoculars and want to have the extra distance advantage, we highly recommend the 10×42.
If you want to see a video overview of this incredible line of high end binoculars, here is an excellent one done by Sportsman’s News: