ZEN Prime HD 10x42 - 06/01/12
Well, I have had this ordered for over six months now, having done so before this was much more than an idea on the CAD screen.
ZR has pretty well met their goal of flattening the field and sharpening the edges of their ED series binoculars. This is probably going to reignite the alpha view vs the less $$$ than alpha view argument, but it is what it is. As far as I can see there is not very much room (if there even is any) left in here to add much more useable stuff in the image. The sweet spot is noticeably larger than the ED series making the fov seem a lot bigger with the Prime.
This is a very bright binocular. Enough brighter the difference with the ED 3 just about has to be due to a higher light transmission percentage. The color balance and contrast are just about the same, leaving that out as a possible difference I think.
There seems to be a significant increase in apparrent "feel and quality" with the Prime as well. The focus is as slick and smooth as any binocular I have ever tried.
It is a shorter binocular (with conventional piano hinge style) than the ED series. It is also greater in cross section through the barrels. I can wrap my thumb and middle finger around the barrels of the ED 2-3, but not the Prime.
One possible downside is that the oculars (due to eye piece design) are pretty large in diameter, transferring that to the diameter of the eye cup. Some people with small or deep set eyes may find that problematic.
I'll post some more as I get to use this more. It appears that ZR has got a very good, even excellent binocular here and I can see about as much difference with the Prime over the ED 2-3 series as I could see with any of the alphas I tried over the same ED 2-3 binoculars. This is very easily the optical equal of the RTazor HD which is over 2x the money. The Razor is the only more expensive glass I have on hand right now, so I'll have to bend some effort over the next few days to see what side by sides I can scare up.
ZR has pretty well met their goal of flattening the field and sharpening the edges of their ED series binoculars. This is probably going to reignite the alpha view vs the less $$$ than alpha view argument, but it is what it is. As far as I can see there is not very much room (if there even is any) left in here to add much more useable stuff in the image. The sweet spot is noticeably larger than the ED series making the fov seem a lot bigger with the Prime.
This is a very bright binocular. Enough brighter the difference with the ED 3 just about has to be due to a higher light transmission percentage. The color balance and contrast are just about the same, leaving that out as a possible difference I think.
There seems to be a significant increase in apparrent "feel and quality" with the Prime as well. The focus is as slick and smooth as any binocular I have ever tried.
It is a shorter binocular (with conventional piano hinge style) than the ED series. It is also greater in cross section through the barrels. I can wrap my thumb and middle finger around the barrels of the ED 2-3, but not the Prime.
One possible downside is that the oculars (due to eye piece design) are pretty large in diameter, transferring that to the diameter of the eye cup. Some people with small or deep set eyes may find that problematic.
I'll post some more as I get to use this more. It appears that ZR has got a very good, even excellent binocular here and I can see about as much difference with the Prime over the ED 2-3 series as I could see with any of the alphas I tried over the same ED 2-3 binoculars. This is very easily the optical equal of the RTazor HD which is over 2x the money. The Razor is the only more expensive glass I have on hand right now, so I'll have to bend some effort over the next few days to see what side by sides I can scare up.