ZEISS SFL Binoculars Lightweight, Compact, Waterproof, Ultra-High Definition Coated Glass for Bird Watching, and Hunting for Twilight and Low Light Wildlife Observation with SmartFocus, Black (10x40)

Bought these looking for an upgrade to my 5-yr-old Nikon Monarch 7 based on reviews. They are indeed brilliant, lightweight and nearly flawless. But still not enough incremental value to throw away my still working Nikons, so I returned them. If, god forbid, my Nikons were to disappear, I would reach for these in a heartbeat.Image was excellent, build quality likewise. Ergonomics would take a little getting used to, but not a problem - maybe a tiny bit small for my large hands. I've looked through high-end Zeiss binoculars, and these are getting close at maybe 2/3. the price.

Very clear, and lightweight, which is the reason I bought them. I had (and still own) Leica 8X42 BN Trinovid for 23 years. Very good optic and tremendous sturdy construction of the whole thing. Used them for 21 years before sending them for maintenance and were sent back new without even charging a penny for the job. I was hoping these type of sturdiness in the Zeiss, but they are a little delicate, you have to be very careful when dealing with the eyecups.For the second time in 6 months of use I will have to send them for repair. The first time the Zeiss people were fast and resolved the problem. Lets see what happen this second time.

These SFL 10X40's are indeed well constructed, relatively compact, and razor sharp as I had read on numerous reviews before purchasing. They do have a shallow DOF as I had also read on some forums as opposed to models like the Swar****** 10X42 SLC's but when fine focus is achieved they seem comparable to about any alpha model. No false color or other aberrations detectable that I can see.

Best binoculars I've ever had.