Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics The new Zen Ray Vista and ZRS HD

I admit I had no initial intention of trying either of these two binoculars. I never did think much of the original non-phase corrected Vista and since I had the original ZRS HD, which I always thought was one of the best sub$200 binoculars I had seen, I was really tempted to just let these lie.

It turns out I had made arrangements to trade in a NIB ZEN ED 2 8x43 on a second 7x36. ZR was down on inventory a little and they asked if they could wait on sending me the other 7x36. During the course of the discussion, I wound up with a pair of each of the Vista and ZRS HD. We�ll wait and see how the money works between ZR and me.

This was just simple curiosity on my part and I really had no idea how the �new and improved� thing would shake out. Well, when ZR says new and improved, they mean it. These bear no resemblance to their predecessors, either physically or optically.

The Vista 8x42
These bear an astonishing resemblance to the Vortex Diamondback, both physically and optically. The Diamondback I have is the 7x36 version, but the interior assemblage of parts looks different. I believe the Vista and DB come from different manufacturers.

The Vista comes in a black armor. It uses a 1.5 turn focus travel. The first 1.0 turns take it from the close focus to 100�. The Vista is 5.0� by 6.1� with the eye cups extended and 5.8� retracted. It weighs 24 oz. There is an intermediate eye cup stop.

The focus travel is quite smooth, and somewhat easier than the ZRS, but a lot less stiff than the ZEN ED 2. The diopter is right barrel, non-locking. It shows no tendency to shift settings and seems stiff enough to stay where it is set. The IPD range is from 56-75mm.


The ZRS HD 8x42
I really expected to see a similar physical package with the new ZRS and the old ZRS. This is not the case. The new ZRS is quite a bit more compact, not very much larger than the Diamondback 7x36. It has the same rubber armor and thumb indents found in the ZEN ED. It is 5.4� retracted and 5.8� extended. The extended distance is the same as the Vista when retracted. The locking diopter is gone on this model. Like the Vista, it shows no shift and looks to be stiff enough to avoid unintentional movement. The eye cups, diopter, and focus knobs on both look identical. This has 1.75 turns of the focus wheel. Like the Vista, it uses one turn to go from close focus to 100�. The focus tension is a little stiffer than the Vista, but still less than the ZEN ED. This one has an IPD range from 54-75mm, better for closer set eyes. The case and accessories for each are identical. There are typical tethered objective covers that stay put, the rather typical soft rain guard, decent nylon case, and a just right length for around the neck wear black strap with the red and white Zen-Ray on the strap.


The Views

The first ZR binocular I unpacked was the Vista. So I set it up and started using it. It was a nice sunny day, and there has been enough of a string of nice days that quite a few birds have showed up, so lots of targets. We are just getting into calving season, so there are also mandatory multiple daily visual checks to see if anything requires attention.

The edge is a little fuzzy, there is a noticeable double ring of distortion, the inner ring being field curvature, as the distortion can be focused out. The outer ring is pincushion distortion. The on axis view is really quite good, and holds up to more than half of the 393� fov. There is a little more fall of before you get to the inner of the two noticeable rings mentioned above, but that fall of is slight. All in all, the field appears reasonably wide, and while the edge is not perfect, it is quite good enough to detect movement and color at the edge.

The CA in an inexpensive binocular is controlled a lot better than I thought it might be. I could get it to show up on the edges of distant snow drifts, or ridge tops in bright sunlight, but there was never very much. I am not really bothered by CA, so take that into account. There was more CA here than anything else except the Leupold @ 7x. It also does a very good job controlling stray light, but some can be made to show up panning in the general direction of the sun, or with the bright sun at an angle behind the viewer. The Vista has a slightly warm somewhat reddish color bias.

It is a pretty decent view for $130. I wish I still had the Atlas Radian to compare, but I don�t. I seem to recall the Radian as being a bit more compact. I recall no substantative difference in the view, other than I recall the Radian as having a better edge. I think if the Vista reduced the fov to the same 375�, the edge would improve. Either the Vista or the Radian would be probably two of the best field worthy entry level binoculars, certainly when the price is held to a maximum of $150 or so. I took these and did a day�s worth of birding around the house, the local lake and at the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge. The only game animals around close are a few Mule Deer does. The Vista was the only glass I had, and I never felt handicapped.


The ZRS was the next one out of the box. It took awhile, but I eventually came to the realization that the apparent image detail is every bit as good as the Promaster (which IIRC is specified at 3.6 arc seconds). I dug out the chart and confirmed that (the quick test I did showed them the same). I�m not saying the ZRS is at that level, I don�t know what the resolution spec is, but to the eye there is no difference. There was a difference with the Vista and Monarch. The fov is 393� @ 1000 yds, the same as the Promaster.

I have had these for about a week now. I really think I prefer the ZRS to the Promaster. A large part of this is the smaller size. The other part is the equally good image and wide field. While the magnifications of the ZEN ED 2�s I now have are different, the resolution/apparent image sharpness of the ZRS appears to be just about the same level.

Color fringing control is at least 98% as good as the ZEN ED. I had to really work in very extreme conditions to get CA to show up. It would show up where in would not in the ED 2. The Color bias of this ZRS is much more neutral than the original, which was on the warm, reddish side. Color bias is just about like the ZEN ED 2. In all the new ZRS appears quite a bit brighter than the original. Stray light control is very good, even a bit better than the ZEN ED. The color rendition is very good as is the contrast. It is not quite the same as the ZEN ED 2, but you will not notice if you don�t have both in hand. There is a bit of pincushion at the edge, but that is all. The edge is better than the Promaster. Overall the field is a lot flatter than the Vista. They are maybe a bit behind the ZEN ED 2�s, but certainly as good as the Promaster or the ED 1. Don�t bemoan the lack of ED glass; you won�t notice it�s not there.

These ZRS quite frankly took me by surprise. The compact size compared to the rest of the x42mm size binoculars, the improved fov, and the apparent image sharpness are pretty obvious features

The comparison line up of binoculars were; 7x36 Diamondback, 7x32 Leupold GR Switch Power, 7x36 ZEN ED 2 (my Swift Eaglets are gone at the moment) , 8x42 Promaster ELX ED, 8x42 Nikon Monarch, 10x42 original ZRS, and10x 43 ZEN ED 2.

In addition to the above comparisons, as to how these stand up to the rest of my crowd� Well, I�ll take either one over the Monarch. The Monarch is better at CA and stray light than the Vista, but the color and contrast is better in the Vista, as is the fov, and the depth of focus. The Monarch has always been too �focus fiddly� for my likes. While I can live with the fov of the Monarch, the narrowness is really apparent in the comparison. The Vista appears to have almost identical image characteristics to the Diamondback, the same level of tint, contrast and color, the same level of brightness, and just about identical edge characteristics. The Vista and Monarch take a back seat to the ZRS, which is a lot closer to the ZEN ED 2 than I was prepared to find. I suppose one way to look at the ZRS is the poor man�s ZEN ED 2. I thought the original ZRS was probably the best sub $200 binocular I had experience with. The new betters the old. Giving credit where it is due, one of the best descriptions comes from one of our frequent posters, FrankD. In his comments on the Vista on Bird Forum, he refers to the Vista as the Leupold Yosemite of the roof prism crowd. Frank, I second that motion.

So it looks like Zen Ray now has a very good low cost entry level binocular in the Vista and for some $70 more the ZRS will compete handily with anything between it and the ZEN ED 2, and with even more expensive glass like the Viper. I�ve about decided that the ZRS 8x42 makes a better fit for me than having two 7x36.

The Zen Ray optics have been chased around and around the bush, here and at other forums. I suppose the discussion will continue with the addition of these new binoculars. I�ve discussed the brand until I�m almost reluctant to post much more, but the Zen Ray line serves up value like few others and has raised the performance bar for the lower priced binoculars. I am glad to see Doug and CameralandNY being brand new dealers for ZR. Doug would not have signed on if he thought it was not a good deal for everybody.

Thanks for offering a review.

Does the ZRS HD have any type of water-resistant lens coatings?

Steve, as usual, your reviews are very informative, very easy to read and to the point.

Thanks

Sometimes the obvious can fall of the radar. Neither the Vista or ZRS HD have repellent coatings. I just got off the phone with their head guy. They apparently tried some on the ZRS, but to get a decent quality and quality control offering, they would have had to add significantly to the price, or wait until the bugs may or may not have been worked out of the process they tried. So they decided at $210 for the 8x42 they will leave it out for now.

There are a couple of differences from a practical standpoint that will separate the two via their coatings. Yesterday it got to 10*F here. I saw the forecast coming and left several binoculars in the pickup, so they were all at about 10* themselves. The Vista fogged externally on both the objective and ocular lenses when I put it to my face. It took it a couple of minutes to clear. After that the fogged again and still took several minutes to clear. After that, they were fine. The ZRS also fogged externally, just like the Vista, but only once and the fog cleared in way less than half of the time it took the Vista to clear. It was 24*F this morning and a repeat session showed no problems with either. The ZEN ED 2 did not fog up even at the 10* level.

The coating on the ZRS seems to be what I guess I'd call "partially repellent". While it is obvious the Vista has no water repellent properties, and the ZEN ED 2 has excellent repellent properties, the ZRS is somewhere in between.

The Vista really had a stiff focus wheel at 10*. It seemed a lot better at 20* and the fog problem was mostly a non issue by the time it did hit 20* several hours later when I tried it again. The ZRS stiffened up too, but not nearly to the degree of the Vista.

Thanks for the review. I may get a pair of ZRS HD after I get my tax money back from the big brother.

Good review. How would you compare the ZRS HD 10 x 42's and the Minox BD 10x44 BP's that Doug has a great deal on now for $229.99? I am looking for some 10x' in that price range for scouting/truck bino and archery 3D shoots ( don't mind a good set of porro's either).

Not an archer, but don't 3-D shoots have a 8.5x limit? Just curious.

I have no idea how to compare the ZRS and the Minox porro, as I have never had the Minox in hand. The reportedly very similar Leupold Cascade (which I have seen) had a real nice image, but to make the indirect comparison, the FOV difference will be obvious.

My local club allow's us to use 10x bino's, I have some canon 7x42's that I can use for other shoots. Just really looking for an excuse for a new pair of bino's. I realy like 7's or 8's,but could use the extra power for scouting in Kansas this summer/fall. Thanks again for the review, may have to give them a try.

A few buddies of mine who are into the 3-D archery told me that the 8.5x power limit has been lifted. They all look to upgrade their 8x to 10x.

Have the ZRS HD 10x42 and for the money they're great.

bought a pair of 8x42 ZRS for my wife so I can get a scope for the next season. This is very nice binoculars. Thanks for the review