Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Zen_Ray 8x43 ED Just Arrived - 1st review Observations

Ouch, that is a mite long. Zen must have some like yours that are too long and some like I have which have the disconnect in the middle. Mine adjust up just fine. But I also prefer a harness.

The mailman dropped off a set of Zen-Ray 8x43 ED this evening. Didn't have alot of time before the sun went down.... but my initial impression and observation is that for $359 I'm impressed.

You are probably referring to wider depth of focus. I noticed that too. More stuff can be seen clearly even though they are not even at the same focal distance. It is definitely better than the Bushnell Legend I have compared in this regard.

Can anyone tell me how this model does compare to the ProMaster ED?

If this bino is truely 95% + of a Zeiss FL then I'm amazed, some of you say it's better than that. Looking at my new Cabelas book that came yesterday they had the 10x42 FL's in there for $2299 . . . wow! At that price I can buy 6 Zen's - should be covered for future breakdowns!

cfran,

I have both. They are too close to call. About the only way to separate them is that the Promaster has a 393' fov and has the water and oil repellent coatings. Those coatings do work BTW. The ZEN has a 426'fov and does not have the repellent coatings. The ZEN image looks a tad brighter, but put them on tripods side by side and there is no difference in what detail one will resolve over the other. The ZENhas somewhat more streamlined and rounded eyecups which some people will prefer. The Promaster is a smooth covering and the Zen is stippled.

Yes, they really are that close optically to the alpha glass. Not equal certainly as the comparison is to silver coated prisms to the current dielectric mirror, the glass is probably technically better and the broadband coatings on the lenses is probably better in the alpha. The construction appears closer to the Vortex Razor-Pentax SP build quality.

The resolution specs for these binoculars is 3.2 arc seconds for the ZEN and 3.9 for the Promaster. From discussions on other forums, both are technically beyond the limits of the eye, and beyond my limits to comment any further than that. I have seen reviews of expensive glass that tested with resolution of >4 arc seconds, so the resolution is on par with the top.

You really have to take a look through these and see for yourself. They are a heck of a backup, pickup, loaner, or learner binocular even if you are a dyed in the wool alpha glass user. Optically they "look" to fall right in the middle of the $750 to $2,000 binoculars. Pretty darned good company considering their cost.

That's what I was looking for, thank you very much. The confusing part to me is I hear many people claim the Pentax SP are similar to Alpha glass - I've got a set of them at home and I'm not too impressed. Yes Pentax are decent but they are not Alpha binos, not that close in my opinion. I don't want to put down $359 for the Zens and find out they are just like SP's. But you make it sound like they are better than the SP's, is that correct?

Well, we sort of get into what two different eyes see. I bought Vortex Vipers because I liked them a little better than the SP. My 8x Viper did not survive the Promaster, and the 10x Viper probably won't survive the 10x ZEN. To MY eyes the Promaster/ZEN looks to have about the same optical improvement over the Viper as do the Alphas. For, ME, I doubt if somebody put a pre focused for me Swaro EL and a Promaster/ZEN side by side on a tripod, and I didn't' know which was which, I don't think I could tell one from the other(maybe now, but not without considerable time behind both). After looking several times, I suppose the EL does have a bit better image, but darned little better.

Do the deal with Doug and you can send 'em back if you decide I' full of beans.

Doug sells the Zens?

Thanks again Steve - your info. is very helpful!

No Zen Ray pretty much sells direct. Doug probably does not want to deal with the which is better question either. I doubt you will think your money has been mis-spent. The optics world would have barely cracked a yawn if the price was $600, it would still be a good deal.

Understood, thank you sir.

Check this thread, someone mentioned the comparison of ZEN with Pentax SP. I have this babe for a few days. They are impressive. The wide FOV definitely blew away my Legend, which itself is very good in every regard. I will take mine to sportsman's warehouse this weekend to compare.

The Zen Ray bins are in a class (like the other Chinese ED bins: Promaster and Hawke) which is clearly above the Pentax SP (I have a SP 8x32 and all of the Chinese ED bins). The color is better; brighter and sharper (that little bit of CA that you don't really see as stray color but as lowered sharpness is gone).

They are closer to the current alpha bins than to the mid-range bins like the SP. They even beat my older Zeiss Victory 8x40 ... even though I do like my one!

A couple of things about the SP's. The current models have some sort of Rain Guard coatings. That will degrade them a hair as previously noted.
The other is rugged constuction. They, the SP's, have been around for a while and have established a rep for being tough. This, in spite of the fact that they are made with magnesium frames. A material which is much harder to seal well than the aluminium alloy frames.
I wouldn't call the comparision of a 32mm SP to a 42mm class binocular fair unless I knew for a fact that the 32mm SP were every bit as good as the 43mm models. Usually they aren't. The 32mm size being much tougher to get right tahn the larger 42/43mm sizes. E

I missed alot of the SP vs. Zen comments here on the thread until now. In my experience I would agree that the Zen are definitely a step up optically from the SPs. The image is brighter, sharper, more contrasty (is that a word?)and, obviously, wider while still not giving up anything to flatness of field of edge sharpness.

At the time they were introduced the SPs were most certainly comparable to Alpha glass (again, at that time) but only in that their direct competitors in and about that price class were not.

Did that make sense?

Let me put it more simply. If the Alphas of the early part of this decade (SLC, Trivovid, early ELs) were an 8 or 9 on a scale of 1 to 10 and most mid-priced roofs were a 4 or 5 then the Pentaxs were in the 7 to 8 range.

Agreed. I've found if I work at it for a while, I can see a very small difference between my 8X43 Pentax SP's and either my 8X42 Leica BA or my Nikon LX 8X32.
I might rate it 1/2 point, rather than a full point under them. They, in turn, might be a 1/2 pt. below the very best of the alpha's out there now. E

But none of them have ED glass, E. And that makes a difference.

I note that all my ED glass bins are a step above the non-ED ones (even comparing in the same class: Zeiss FL to Zeiss Victory or Chinese ODM to Chinese ODM).

You can see the difference.

This thread will sell a lot of Zen bino's.

Now, If there were a riflescope in this bargain range that could compete with the $1000 stuff...

From what I have heard the threads on this forum and other forums have spurred some decent sales for these folks...as I am sure threads on other manufacturers do as well. More power to them. They are putting out top end optics at very reasonable prices. I wish it was the same way for every other product out there I want and/or "need".

I would also agree that the ED glass makes a substantial difference. I have seen non-ED roofs that display reasonably low levels of CA but usually at a compromise to field of view, edge sharpness or some other criteria. To find one that handles everything well usually requires the use of some form of extra low dispersion glass.

Man, as picky as guys here get about their scopes............. Use what you like, like what you use. I have more stringent requirements for my binoculars, less so for the rifle scope. Not sure I want to even go there.