The 8x43 ZEN ED is quite amazing. I had it for almost two years. It has gone through more than 6 hunting trips and numerous practice runs. It's holding up very well. They have a special of $295 with a discount coupon. I know it's not the latest ED2 version, but for the price, it's really hard to beat it.
+ 1 on the Theron Wapiti. I tried a pair of 8x42 ED - was so impressed I sold my, Leupold, Nikon, and my Minox binos. I use mine as a backup/truck set, so I don't have to leave my Leica Ultravids in the truck. The Wapiti is so nice I hardly miss my Leicas, there is a difference, but its not much. They are defiantly worth a try for $350.
"Do you want it "Right", or "Right now"? - always a good question.
I'm real interested in hearing about the 7x Zen ED2. I'd not seen them but from the specs they could have a lot going for them in the woods hunting I do... Anyone tried them?
Pentax,I have had years of great service from my 8x42 DCF WP's.
Me 3! I liked them so much I sbought the DCF SP's and for under $400 you will not be dissapointed. I really would like to try the Zen's but with all the Chineese crap out there, I just can not do it. I am sure they are great, but....
REI sells the Nikon X online I was thinking with my divedends and 20% coupon they might be worth a try.
The Leupold Mojave's are very nice in the price range and light.
I bought some Zen-Ray 8X43 from Cameraland and have been happy with them. I was pretty impressed when I compared them to mt Leica 8x32.
Can you tell me what you liked about them?I am not familar with these Hank
They are bright and clear, the depth of focus (don't know how else to put it) is not as deep as my leica but that is not that big of a deal to me. I think the resolution might even be a little better on the Zen-Ray than on the Leica. The Leica do "feel stouter" and better built, but the Zen-Ray do not feel cheap either. Not real good about putting things in writing but I hope this helps. The Zen-Ray kind of went against the "you get what you pay for" idea.
My Z-R ED binos hold up surprisingly well to my Leicas. My brother's Z-R ED2 could be better than the ED, but darn if I can tell. Another fave of mine is the Weaver Gland Slam because of the ergonomics, but the Z-R is a little better optically and a bit cheaper as well.
I'll add that my brother and I took our Z-R binos to northern Quebec in late September for caribou. The weather was mostly rainy and always windy. No problems with either glass.
I have only been using my Theron binos for about three months, mostly chasing yotes. We get 30-40 deg temp swings here, sub zero to around freezing, no problem. I can't say I've abused them enough to rate their toughness, but nothing stands out as being a weak point. They are about 4 oz heavier than my 8x42 Leica Ultravids. I can't say that I am real fussy about the ergonomics of binos, I seem to get used to most pairs I have owned w/o too much trouble. But I am VERY fussy about the optics. I get hate mail every time I say this (sorry Vortex lovers) but I sent back two Vortex Razor products, and kept the Theron Wapiti HD's.....because they were significantly better in the optics department, regardless of price.
You can also do a search for reviews on some of the "birding" sites - it seems they find the Theron binos worth a look as well.
"Do you want it "Right", or "Right now"? - always a good question.
First off, I am no optical specialist. I have good vision and have been happy with two pairs of Pentax DCF over the last 20 years or so. I have used leica, zeiss, and swarovski. They were definitely better than my Pentax, but never enough that I wanted to spend well over $1000 on them. I have used my Pentax extensively in Alaska and BC, and many other places as well.
When I first started using roof prisms, only the best and most expensive were phase corrected. Roof prisms were almost always a compromise compared to porro prisms. Not so any more. I have been surprised by the features on the mid priced binos that were only available on the top end just a few years ago.
Prior to starting this post, I had never heard of Theron. For the price (under $400), the binos have a pretty impressive list of features. Pat at Predator Optics was kind enough to send me a pair to look over. I was very impressed. Was I Zeiss or Leica impressed? No, but they were definitely better than what I expected.
The Wapitis were clearer, sharper and brighter than both pairs of Pentax. The Wapitis were not completely sharp edge to edge, but I've rarely seen a pair that was for under $1000. Field of view for the 8X was large enough that I don't think edge sharpness will be an issue. Both eyes were well collimated. For lack of correct terminology, I did not get the wave effect when panning the binos. The eye cups were easily adjusted but I do wish they were a bit stiffer or had a lock. They seem to want to adjust down to the lowest setting too easily. Only time will tell if this is an issue. The focus adjustment was slower than the Pentax, but the Therons had a good depth of field so little adjustment was needed at different distances.
Overall I was impressed enough to buy the Wapitis and will be taking them to BC this spring on a bear hunt. I will give them an extensive work out and report how well they do. If they hold up to the use and abuse that my Pentax binos have, I will be extremely happy.
Hello, Pat was kind enough to put me on the list to be next in line to receive one of the Theron Wapiti ED binoculars. I have to agree with other people's thoughts on how sharp this binocular is. I had the 8x42 Wapiti ED HD to try. I have a Swarovski 8x30SLC neu and a Nikon 8x32SE and compared the Wapiti to these 2 using resolution charts and with and without a 2 1/2x booster and found that the Nikon 8x32SE was a little ahead of the Wapiti and Swaro just a little back from the Wapiti. 2 1/2 power is really not enough power to get full boosted resolution readings. So I will not post readings. I have a field behind my place with pine trees starting about 125 yds. and it is a gradual grade away from my place. Looking through the Nikon 8x32SE and the Swaro 8x30SLC neu at the tree tops I have always felt a wow factor with both of these, like I am flying over the trees, the Theron binocular gave me that same feeling. It is best in the Nikon 8x32SE, the porro gives more of a 3D image. I have some other binoculars that don't give me that feeling, it is the sharpness of these other three that make the difference.
I liked the eyecups on the Theron ED HD very much, there were three stops and for me they would stay, in fact I could even put the eyecups anywhere in between and it stayed. I don't use glasses while using binoculars and found the eyecups worked good for me fully extended. I did try my glasses and could see the full field with eyecups fully retracted. I am not sure why OP had trouble with the eyecups on his sample. There were three stops on my sample.
I had all these binoculars out in cold weather, and the only one that the focuser got hard to turn was the Nikon 8SE, of which they are well known to do that. The LX/LXL Nikon series is a different story. Speaking of focuser all these except the Swarovski had the focuser in the wrong place it should be at the objective lens side so you don't have to move the bill of your hat to use it. Maybe it doesn't make a difference wearing a Cowboy hat.:)
I did try this Wapiti HD on the night sky and the Moon looked very nice with a lack of CA. I could get all three stars of the belt of Orion and M42 the Orion Nebula in the field of view. It was very cold out and didn't feel like staying out very long. Stars were pinpoint. My best estimate of sharp field was about 75%, during daytime you really don't notice much problem with the edges and the night sky is an extreme test IMO. From past use of the Nikon 8SE and the little Swaro they beat the Theron some for a sharp field looking at the night sky.
I really liked this binocular and would buy one if I didn't have the Swaro. I am conservative in nature and wish we could make binoculars and spotters in North America. I had a chance to check out the Theron 15-45x60mm Saker ED spotting scope and compare it my Nikon 20-45x60 non ED 60mm spotter both straight and will post sometime on here maybe.
>>> I forgot to mention and I have a picture showing the objective end covers. I found that they stayed when put into place, it did take a little time to push them in but once in they stayed. I liked the soft eyepiece cover as well.<<<<<
I am new to this site and will have to learn the photo part of it. One photo is a link and I had to keep resizing it and the other is a photo. ? I forgot to say I am a frequent reviewer and poster on Birdforum and found out about the Theron Wapiti from Steve's thread on Birdforum, and get on Cloudy Nights/ Cloudy Days and just like to check out optics. A few binoculars we were testing
Last edited by SteveWM; 03/10/11. Reason: wrong picture
Your a very knowledgeable guy who's been around the block, with many fine optics that you have actual field time/testing with. That's a good thing for all of us here.
It is irrelevant what you think. What matters is the TRUTH.
