vichris

First, I want to apologize for taking so long to write this review. Life has a way of getting in the way of pleasure. I
have had to much life getting in my way lately and have not had the free time in need to spend the time I needed to
give these binos a good field test. I finally had the chance to take out several binos to really do some comparisons
And speaking of pleasure the Zen Ray ZENED binos are a real pleasure to use and look through. I want to address a
few of the non optical issues first.

To start with I've had several people ask about where the Zen Ray binosare made. They are made in China. I personally
have no problem with that but I'll leave that up to the individual.

The hard case is excellent. The strap is way too long but I don't care because I neverplanned on using it. Most of you wont care either.
You will need to cut it (unless you are 7'5") if you plan on using it and not a harness. I does have a very good, wide,padded area
for theneck. My advice for ANY bino....get a harness. The eyepiece covers and objective covers are good. I've seen better and worse.
And now................. for the good stuff.

These are a very attractive and ergonomically well designed. The fit and feel of the ZENED really stands out. The overalllength
of the ZENED is 7' with eyecups extended.Some will find that a bit on the bulky side but over all it tookvery little to get
used to the slightly longer barrel size.The rubber armor is as good as I've seen. The hinge is just stiff enough so that I don't constantly
have to readjust for my interpupillarydistancelike so many of the competition. The same goes with the eyepiece. Zen Rays specs
list the close focusdistance at 6 ft. Maybe its just my eyes but I was able to focus as close as 4'8". The coatings appear to be flawless.
The exit pupils at arms length are perfectly round with no flat edges or shadowy light or dark areas in the 5.4 mm dot of light. This is an
excellent indication of well matched optics.The one thing I found disappointing was the diopter indicator mark on the right eyepiece.
It is so small its really difficultto see.

There are several features that really stand out with the ZEN ED's. Thewide and almost absolutely flatfield of view (FOV) are outstanding.
Zen Rays specs list the FOV at an amazing426 ft /1000yds. The image is bright, very sharp, and I saw no indication of chromatic aberration.
I did a comparison of the edgeto edge sharpness with two of the "big three". The ZEN ED compared very well to both. They definitely outperform
everything I looked at in the $300- $800 range. The optical clarity gives you that feeling that you are where the subject is. Thatno doubt, is
due to the flatness of the field.The color rendition, depth of field, and resolution are excellent. Optically the ZEN ED is second to none.

I also want to speak to the VALUE of these optics. I have no hesitation in saying that the Zen Ray ZENEDare the best value in
binoculars on the market today. I did do quite a bit of price comparisons and have evaluated lots of binos that are similar in quality.
Quality wise the ZENED's stand out from the competition and come very close to the quality you will find from the "big three".
That's where the value comes in. For $359 these are tough tobeat and they out perform many that are hundredsof $$$ more.
You will notice that I refuse to mention the competing optics that I did price, quality, and performance comparisons with.
I prefer not to beat up the other Mfgs but would like to speak to the quality of the ZEN RAY brand.

The optical quality that most of the major optic companiesdeliver these day is astonishing.
That the ZEN ED stands out from many of these speaks to the manufacturing and optical qualitythat these possess. I have
already seen that a couple of the competing brands have lowered their price and trumpeted their warranty in responds to
the ZEN RAY brand. This is a good thing,but personally I will choose the better optical quality over warranty every time. Can you buy
a bino that performsoptically better? Yes,.............but you WILL pay at least a $1000 more and the difference is so minimal
I doubt most will be able to detect it. If you are planning on purchasing a pair of binos in the near future and don't plan on spending
$1200 + ....................get the Zen Rays. I highly recommend them. They are....... "that" good.

Welcome to the binocular wars……………………………..

hardcorehunter

Chris, excellent review. And coming from you, the guru of binoculars, I know it is a very educated review. Thanks for the phone call a couple of weeks ago. Gr8 talking to you. I will look u up next time in NM. take care until then.
P.S. I was a thunderchicken slaying beast with my bows this spring, tagged out on my 2 bird limit; you have a chance to go?

vichris

Thanks HCH. Theres also a pretty good discussion going on about these excellent binos in the optics section here.

And "Atta boy" on the Turkeys. I'm chasing rainbows and browns these days.