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Zen Ray ZRS HD first impressions

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N7XW View Drop Down
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Joined: February/23/2012
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    Posted: March/13/2012 at 00:38
I ended up ordering two ZRS HD bins, one 8x42 and one 10x42.  Although I haven't had a chance (or the weather) to get them out and extensively test them, here are my first impressions:

I expected the 8x to blow away my 8x42 Nikon Monarch ATB bins.  This hasn't been the case at all.  Maybe I just got a really good pair of the Monarchs, I don't know for sure.  But between the two, they are too close to call.  Sometimes the ZRS has a slightly better view and the next time, the Monarchs have a little better view.  To my eyes, they seem identical.  

The objective lens coatings appear to be different on the two ZRS bins.  The 10x has a much darker green tint to the lens than the 8x.  The 8x has a lighter, blue tinted coating that looks much like my Monarchs.  I don't know if it is typical that the same line of binoculars would have different external coatings between two different powers, but these ZRS bins sure seem to.  I sent an email to Zen Ray customer support asking if this is normal, but haven't heard anything back yet.  Anyone here know for sure?

I'm looking forward to some decent weather to get out and find some game with these glasses - hopefully soon.


Jon

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Jumanji View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Jumanji Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March/20/2012 at 17:06
I just picked up my 8x42 Zen-Ray ZRS HD today.  Now let me qualify this by saying that I have never used a decent binocular before.  I deployed them from my car parked in my driveway and could clearly recognize a neighbor who was standing in his doorway from over a block away.  I was really amazed at how clear the image was, especially compared to the $30 10x25 Bushnell (cheap, easy to hide in a pocket but really crappy image).  I can't imagine needing a more expensive binocular for my purposes unless I discovered at some point that I needed additional magnification.

I guess it's good to be an optics newbie because I don't know what I'm missing.

Jeff
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N7XW View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote N7XW Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March/20/2012 at 18:12
Originally posted by Jumanji Jumanji wrote:


I guess it's good to be an optics newbie because I don't know what I'm missing.
Be careful, this could be dangerous Shocked  After looking through high end glass, you may become addicted.
 
I knew I shouldn't have looked through those EL's at Cabela's.  Sad  Oh well, what can you do but buy more binos?  My idea in getting the 8x and 10x ZRS HD's was to decide which power worked better for my type of hunting, then upgrade to some better glass.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote N7XW Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March/21/2012 at 17:39
After a few emails back and forth with Charles, I now know why the coatings look different on the 8x and 10x ZRS binos.  They do have the same coatings but because of the internal construction and different prisms they do appear to be different - a type of optical illusion.
 
 
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