When you need quality performance, but can’t spend a fortune on top tier glass, the Sig Zulu 7 binoculars are worth a serious look. This Sig Zulu 7 review is a product of our recent massive side by side binocular review where we tested and ranked these Zulu 7s next to 25 others in many different lighting conditions. Check out that review to see how they ranked in our testing!
When you jump past the $500 price point to where these land at around $700, you can really start to see some additional quality performance and features. How much more do you get with the Sig Zulu 7s? That’s what we are going to dive into in this review.
The Sig Sauer Zulu series of binoculars come in a number of variations depending on your needs. The Zulu series of binoculars starts at the Sig Zulu5, which is the least expensive, then goes to the Zulu7 which is a step up in optical performance, followed by the Zulu9, which is their highest performing binocular. They also offer an image stabilizing model, the Zulu6, which is quite unique. Each of these comes in a couple of magnifications.
Love optics? We certainly do here at Backwoods Pursuit, so make sure to check out our MONSTER 26 BINOCULAR REVIEW, as well as our massive 19 SPOTTING SCOPE REVIEW. For both of those reviews, we lined up the optics and tested them side by side!
If you are in the market for some top tier binoculars, make sure to check out our review comparing the Swarovski NL Pure vs Zeiss Victory SF vs Leica Noctivid binoculars. We dive deep into the performance differences of those three pairs of binoculars.
The Specs: Sig Sauer Zulu7 Binoculars
The Sig Sauer Zulu7 10×42 binoculars are a nice compact pair of high quality binoculars that feature a unique dual hinge design, not common in binoculars at this price point. Because of that dual hinge design, they are exceptionally comfortable in the hand, lightweight, and offer a great field of view. Here are the specs the Zulu7 10×42 offer:
| Sig Zulu7 10x42 Specs | |
|---|---|
| Weight | 26.7oz |
| Length | 6in |
| Armor Coating | Rubber Armour |
| Eye Cups | 4 Position Twist-up |
| Eye Relief | 17mm |
| Diopter | Non-locking |
| Focus Wheel | Smooth, fast focus |
| Tripod Mountable | Yes |
| Field of View | 341.2ft/1000yds |
| Frame Material | Polymer |
Eye cups: Sig Zulu 7 Review
The eye cups on the Sig Zulu7 binoculars offer some great eye relief at 17 mm. Plenty of adjustment for most folks. They are comfortable and fit well on your face while not being overly bulky or awkward. Each of the four stops has a defined stop to help keep them at your desired position. I did notice that they are a bit on the loose side, and move a little too freely for my liking. I’d like to see them have more resistance to help them stay where you left them when taking them in and out of your bino harness.
I also noticed some play in the eye cups that was a bit of a bummer. While not a big deal functionally, I always like to see the eye cups be tight and offer enough resistance to require an intentional effort to move the eye cups.
Tripod Adaptability: Sig Zulu7 Review
The Sig Zulu7 binoculars give you the ability to put them on a tripod to provide extra stability while glassing. I’m a huge fan of glassing from a tripod, and any pair of binoculars I use has to have the ability to attach to a tripod. During testing for this Sig Zulu 7 review, I wasn’t a huge fan of the location of the tripod adapter threads.
A large part of this is due to the Sig Zulu7 being a dual hinge, open bridge design. Because of this, the threads are further out towards the objective lens, which adds a little flex to whatever adapter you are using. A thread location that is more central to the binoculars provides much better stability, but typically you can’t have it both ways with an open bridge design. Because of this, an adapter like the Aziak Bino Clamp is a good choice, which can be mounted in the center of the binoculars, providing better stability than using the threads.
Check Our Video Review of these 4 Great Tripod Adapters
We’ve tested a number of other tripod adapters as well, so take a look at our comprehensive binocular tripod adapter review for additional options!
Focus Mechanism: Sig Zulu 7 Review
The focus mechanism of the Sig Sauer Zulu7 binoculars is silky smooth and doesn’t have any play whatsoever. This is impressive for a binocular in this price class, but I’m not surprised coming from Sig Sauer. The focus wheel moves pretty freely, but not so much so that it’s a problem. With the focus wheel moving as freely as it does, it makes fine tuning the image much easier at longer distances. The downside to this is that it also allows for the focus wheel to potentially move while putting them in or taking them out of your bino harness. Personally, if I were to be picky, I’d like to see a little bit more resistance in the focus wheel.
Diopter Adjustment: Sig Zulu 7 Review
Unfortunately, the diopter adjustment on the Sig Zulu7 10×42 binoculars does not lock. It does, however, offer substantial resistance to accidentally being moved, so it works just fine. However, for a pair of binoculars at this price point, I’ve come to expect a locking diopter.
During our extensive testing for our huge 26 binocular review we noted that even some of the binoculars in the $1000 and above price category didn’t have a locking diopter, so it’s not unheard of, but certainly would be an improvement for these Zulu7 binoculars. I always prefer a locking diopter so it’s a “set it and forget it” kind of thing.
Feel/Rubber Armor: Sig Zulu 7 Review
The Sig Zulu binoculars are protected by a rubber armor that have a great, non-slip feel to them. The dual hinge design makes them very comfortable, and they feel very stable in hand. The hinge offers nice resistance, but could benefit from being a little stiffer to make sure the interpupilary distance doesn’t change while in your bino harness. Not a huge deal, but something I noted during testing. The Sig Sauer Zulu7 binoculars have a nice thumb cutout on the underside of the barrels making them feel really nice in your hands. Everything about their feel says they are well-built and sturdy.
Field of View: Sig Zulu 7 Review
During this Sig Zulu 7 review we enjoyed the wide field of view they offer. At a substantial 341.2 feet at 1000 yards, they are right there with other 10×42 binoculars, even at much higher price points. While comparing all the 10×42 binoculars in our huge 26 binocular side by side comparison, the typical field of view we saw was around 330-340 feet at 1000 yards. So, the 341.2 feet these Zulu7s offer exceeds the average.
Color and Clarity: Sig Zulu 7 Review
The color and clarity of the Sig Zulu 7 10×42 binoculars is excellent and plays ball with the next price category up. While they weren’t the best in edge-to-edge clarity (we’ll cover more on that below), the crisp image they provide put them above some of the more expensive $1000 range binoculars.
While they weren’t the top performers in their respective price category during our big review, they were very impressive and certainly no slouch. They provide nice, vibrant colors and very good clarity at the center of the image.
Edge-to-Edge Clarity: Sig Zulu 7 Review
One of the trademark features of a really good pair of binoculars is how they perform in the edge-to-edge clarity department. While the Sig Zulu7 10×42 binoculars were amazing in a lot of areas, the edge-to-edge clarity wasn’t fantastic. During our testing we noted that roughly the outer 40% of the field of view lost some clarity vs. the center of the image.
The center of the image offers a nice crisp, well-contrasted image, but as your eyes move to the edges, you start to notice the image gets increasingly less clear. Now to be fair, this is far from uncommon for binoculars in this price class. Great edge-to-edge clarity is one of those things that typically only comes with high end binoculars, and we even noticed loss of edge-to-edge clarity in binoculars priced well over $2,000. If the Sig Zulu7 binoculars were a little better in this area, they’d be a real contender in the next price category up from them.
Low Light Performance: Sig Zulu 7 Review
During our testing for this Sig Zulu 7 review, we had the opportunity to put them to the test in low light situations and monitor how they performed as light faded into the evening. While the Sig Zulu 7 binoculars weren’t the best in their class, they were very, very close. Detail became a little bit more difficult to make out once it got to about 15 minutes past sunset, and became much less clear at about 30 minutes past sunset. In a hunting situation, this will usually be more than sufficient unless you are someone who glasses before and after legal shooting light and really need that extra low light performance that an Alpha binocular gives you.
Check out the full review of that 26 binocular comparison here!
Eye Strain: Sig Zulu 7 Review
Another big factor in our testing during this Sig Zulu 7 review was looking for any eye strain. The Sig Zulu7 binoculars are excellent in this department and provide a nice relaxed viewing experience. Long periods of glassing will certainly cause eye fatigue if you are experiencing eye strain with binoculars, but the Sig Zulu7s are amazing in this regard, making long glassing sessions a breeze.
What I liked: Sig Zulu 7 Review
There is A LOT to love about these Sig Zulu 7 binoculars. They offer a great rubber armor coating, a durable, well-built housing, great ergonomic feel, super smooth focus wheel, tripod adaptability, robust eye cups, and a nice clear image. The functionality of the focus mechanism is very impressive, and they seem built to last.
- Image clarity
- Dual hinge design
- Long eye relief
- Smooth focus mechanism
- Comfortable eye cups
- Light weight
- Compact size
- Good color contrast
- Great rubber armor and housing
The Sig Zulu7 10×42 binoculars are a nice, lightweight and compact binocular that are easy to carry around and are very pleasant to use.
What i didn’t like: Sig Zulu 7 Review
The Sig Zulu7 10×42 binoculars have a few things I feel could be better. Their edge-to-edge clarity isn’t great, and the eye cups and hinge are a little loose for my liking. I always prefer to have a locking diopter as well.
- Not great edge-to-edge clarity
- Eye cups have some play
- No locking diopter
Sig Sauer Warranty
Sig Sauer covers their optics with their “Infinite Guarantee” which is a fantastic unlimited lifetime guarantee that doesn’t require any registration or receipt, is fully transferable, and covers your optics against pretty much everything except loss, cosmetic damage, or intentional damage. When it comes to optics, it’s nice to know that you are covered if something happens to your expensive optics, and the very limited experience our team has had using the Sig Sauer warranty was very good (We didn’t use it for these Zulu 7 binos, but another Sig Sauer product). You can’t ask for much more in a warranty on your optics!
Sig Zulu 7 Review Conclusion
At the end of the day, not everyone can afford to drop thousands of dollars on a high end pair of binoculars, which is where the Sig Zulu 7 binoculars come in. If you are in that boat, consider looking at the Sig Sauer Zulu 7 binoculars. While they don’t have quite the edge-to-edge clarity or low light performance like the Swarovski NL Pure or Zeiss Victory SF, or Leica Noctivid (check out that comparison review here), they do offer you a fantastic value at a fraction of the cost.
We had the distinct pleasure of being able to extensively test these Sig Sauer Zulu7 binoculars against 25 others, so we were certainly spoiled in that regard. Doing that massive optics review project ruined us all for life when it comes to analyzing glass, but at the same time, we gained invaluable knowledge with a majority of the binoculars we use and learned how they all perform in various conditions.
During that review, we all saw first hand the difference between a $300 pair of binoculars and a higher end pair of binoculars (as much as $3000), and the difference is absolutely undeniable. With that being said, it certainly doesn’t take high end binoculars to be successful in the field or effectively glass a basin thousands of yards away. If top tier binoculars are not quite in the budget for you, but you still need good quality glass, give the Sig Sauer Zulu7 binoculars a good hard look, and you might be surprised how well they perform. They’ll do almost everything most of us need when on a hunt or pursuing the backwoods.
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Wow, the Zulu 7 review on Backwoods Pursuit has me tempted! Lightweight, bright views, and clear edges? My clunky Sig Sauer Binoculars might be getting replaced! Just wondering, how do they handle low-light? Dawn/dusk hunts are my jam, and glasses make eye-relief crucial. Any insights from Zulu 7 users with specs? Thanks!
Hello! Yeah, those Sig Sauer Zulu 7 were very nice! Thanks for reading!