One of the inherent hazards of reviewing birding products is that you run the risk of getting something you don’t want to give back after the review. Almost 15 years ago I conducted a wide-ranging survey of binoculars that resulted in me switching to a pair of Zeiss Victory 10x32 binoculars. They have been my trusty birding companions ever since, performing flawlessly in all habitats from the tropics to Antarctica. The combination of brilliant optics in a compact, lightweight and rugged package is unbeatable. Or so I thought, until I was asked to review the new Zeiss SF 32-millimetre range.
Zeiss brought out the open-hinge design SF range to rave reviews in 2016, but only in the larger 42-millimetre objective models. I read the reviews with interest, but my days of lugging around ‘full-size’ binoculars are long past. However, it was inevitable that a 32-millimetre range would follow, and when asked to give them a test drive I was eager to see what Zeiss had delivered.
On opening the box, the most striking difference from the old Victory 10x32 is that the SF is appreciably longer. It also weighs a little more (653 compared to 630 grams, including the comfortable padded neck strap and rain guard). Throw in a slightly less impressive close focus distance (nominally 1.95 metres) and you might be wondering why Zeiss bothered to replace the Victory. But once you pick up the SF you know why. These are quite simply the most ergonomically lovely binoculars I have ever used.
Esta historia es de la edición November - December 2020 de African Birdlife.
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Esta historia es de la edición November - December 2020 de African Birdlife.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
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EXPLORING NEW HORIZONS
Keith Barnes, co-author of the new Field Guide to Birds of Greater Southern Africa, chats about the long-neglected birding regions just north of the Kunene and Zambezi, getting back to watching birds and the vulture that changed his life.
footloose IN FYNBOS
The Walker Bay Diversity Trail is a leisurely hike with a multitude of flowers, feathers and flavours along the way.
Living forwards
How photographing birds helps me face adversity
CAPE crusade
The Cape Bird Club/City of Cape Town Birding Big Year Challenge
water & WINGS
WATER IS LIFE. As wildlife photographer Greg du Toit knows better than most.
winter wanderer
as summer becomes a memory in the south, the skies are a little quieter as the migrants have returned to the warming north. But one bird endemic to the southern African region takes its own little winter journey.
when perfect isn't enough
Egg signatures and forgeries in the cuckoo-drongo arms race
Southern SIGHTINGS
The late summer period naturally started quietening down after the midsummer excitement, but there were still some classy rarities on offer for birders all over the subregion. As always, none of the records included here have been adjudicated by any of the subregion's Rarities Committees.
flood impact on wetland birds
One of the features of a warming planet is increasingly erratic rainfall; years of drought followed by devastating floods. Fortunately, many waterbirds are pre-adapted to cope with such extremes, especially in southern Africa where they have evolved to exploit episodic rainfall events in semi-arid and arid regions. But how do waterbirds respond to floods in areas where rainfall - and access to water - is more predictable? Peter Ryan explores the consequences of recent floods on the birds of the Western Cape's Olifants River valley.
a star is born
It’s every producer’s dream to plan a wildlife television series and pick the right characters before filming.
