Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Has anybody tried the Zen-Ray binocs

I may have over looked the thresd ,i just wondered if any body has used these and are they good glass? http://www.zen-ray.com/

i had my fill of chinese optics a few years ago. i stay away from new brands and let others test them

I just got a pair of the 8x42 ZRS and I really like them. Seem like they are very well made. With my eyes I find they work just great.

they are pretty good from my use of 8x43 ZEN ED. There was a good discussion on this previously.

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/2786786/page/0/fpart/1

That stupid thread had me buying a pair. I still love them and they are superb binos. They helped me get a decent turkey yesterday.

Aside from the thread here at the campfire posted above (do a search here, there is probably more than one thread here), go look at the binocular sub-forum at Bird Forum. There must be several thousand posts about them over there. Some at Optics Talk too.

The ZEN ED is not topped by anything at its price point, and can easily play several price points higher. Easily the best bang for the buck. It's new and from a Chinese manufacturer, however that will factor in to your decision, regardless it's damned good optics.

I have to echo Steve99s observations. I just bought a pair and compared them to Some alpha binos head to head. My eyes could not tell the difference. I'm sure it's there but at my age if they last 5-7 years only my kids will have to worry about how good they are.

There definitely has been some good discussions about both the Zen ED and the ZRS. As Steve mentioned both bins perform well above their price points ($400 and $200 respectively). The Zen ED's optical performance rivals that of the $1500-$2000 European models. Don't believe it? Well they have a 30 day refund policy... no questions asked. Somehow though I don't think most folks end up sending them back.

I am testing a Zen Ray 8x43 right now and totally agree with that statement--and I have the $1500-$2500 Euro-optics to compare to the ZR's. Simply fantastic glass. Next I am going to take them hunting and see how well they hold up.

John,

Will you be testing/reviewing the ED's also?

Chris

If I am not mistaken it is the 8x43 Zen ED that he has now.

Yep, that is what I have.

Thanks. I am looking forward to reading your review.

Chris

Frank,
If you had to choose between the Zen-Ray Zen ED 8x43, the Promaster Infinity EL.X 8x42 or the Hawke Frontier ED 8x43 for a gereral purpose hunting binouclar, which would you go with?

Well, I'm not Frank, but since I own the Promaster and Zen, I'll chip in.

The resolutions specifications of all are alpha level (or near enough) and are high enough to give your eye all of the resolving power you can likely use. Since these are the same basic binocular design, they are more similar than different.

For me, I can not pick one image as better than another. The Promaster has a bit smaller fov, but that probably is an aid in minimal edge distortion. The Promaster has both water and oil repellent coatings that the ZEN does not. The ZEN is water proof and both will take a serious dunking. I have used my Promaster through a cold, wet, and stormy deer season, and the coatings seem to work. Those coatings also seem to give the Promaster image a slightly more yellowish tint than the ZEN has. The tint is slight, you almost need to hold a sheet of photo paper close to the ocular and look back through the objective to see it. It is a far less visible yellow tint than exists in the Meopta, or the early Swarovski, for example.

The ZEN appears to be a bit brighter, probably due to a more neutral color bias (again you almost have to use the photo paper). The fov of the ZEN (Hawke too) is a bit wider, but may not be of much consequence to most users.

The Promaster has somewhat thicker armor coating. giving a bit less room between the barrels than in the ZEN. The ZEN has slimmer, more refined eye cups than the Promaster and will fit people with closer set, or deeper set eyes better than the Promaster.

Any of the three will provide all the optical power in producing the image that will ever be needed in any hunting situation.

For now the Promaster is my truck binocular, largely because my hands are often far from clean when I need to grab the binocular, so I take advantage of the coatings there. Also the old retro-looking WW II sort of case they come with doesn't give much indication that there is a decent binocular inside, and is big enough to get the binocular in and out pretty easily.

I did not want to bias myself by reading Steve's post this time...

..;)

Out of the three I would choose the Zen ED though, as Steve probably posted, they are significantly more alike than they are different. My reasoning for the choice is simple, of the issues that they share differences in the Zen ED has the edge. In the case of the field of view the Zen is slightly wider without resorting to having the field curvature that is noticeable in the Hawke. The Zen has the same flat field of the Promaster but I believe the fit and finish of the Zen ED to be better than that of the Promasters I handled.

Customer service on all of them has been very good from my experience but I have had continued good discussions with the gentleman from Zen Ray. I can only see better things coming from them in the future....and if you own an 8x43 Zen ED then that is truly a significant statement.

Another me too as I have all three bins. I pretty much concur with all of the Steve's and Frank's comments.

I've ben finding I've been using the Hawke most recently even though it shows a small ring of reflected light (EP lenses need edge blackening?) because the focus action is rather lighter.

The ZRs are brighter and slightly flatter image and no ring.

Promasters have a narrow FOV (but not that much) and repellant coatings.

All are roughly the same size though the ZR has thinner armor so an easier grip.

For price/value its between the discounted Promaster from Doug (is that $350ish?) and the ZR say from Agena Astro for $360 shipped so it depends on your own trade offs between those too.