Zen Ray question (1 Viewer)

[David Smith]

My present binoculars are Opticron 8x42 BGA WP. These are the first pair of 'good' binoculars I have ever owned and I think they are good.
I have someone visiting from China and have a chance to get some ZenRay brought over. So.....
1. How do the ZR ED2 compare ?
2. Are the ED2 their 'top of the range' ? (they make a range called Summit but I can't find a comparison)

I have trolled through the various threads and through the web sites but would appreciate specific comments (in very basic english please:t: as I am not technical)
Thanks

 

[falcondude]

My present binoculars are Opticron 8x42 BGA WP. These are the first pair of 'good' binoculars I have ever owned and I think they are good.
I have someone visiting from China and have a chance to get some ZenRay brought over. So.....
1. How do the ZR ED2 compare ?
2. Are the ED2 their 'top of the range' ? (they make a range called Summit but I can't find a comparison)

I have trolled through the various threads and through the web sites but would appreciate specific comments (in very basic english please:t: as I am not technical)
Thanks

AFAIK, Zen-ray is US based company. I don't know you can get their stuff directly in China, just like all other brands. You probably want to check with zen-ray to make sure you are not getting some fake ones. If so, that will be funny.

I have ZEN ED 8x43 for a while, which compares very well with my EL 8.5. Don't want to say they are as good as EL, but very close. But we are talking about $1500 price difference too. I just had my 7x36 ED2 for a few days. very impressed with that one so far. I don't have much time using it in the field yet, so I will reserve my comment to later.

 

[David Smith]

AFAIK, Zen-ray is US based company. I don't know you can get their stuff directly in China, just like all other brands. .

Well that kicks my idea into touch.....I really thought they were manufactured in China! Well-back to the drawing board-----thanks for the information.

 

[bruleke]

No no no!
You are confusing the things! Hahah!

They ARE manufactured in China, but they are SOLD in USA!
Understood?

The big question is: altought they are assembled in China and sold in USA, is there anyway to buy them in China?

Answer: Well, you can buy from their website and ship overseas.
Or, you can send an email to the Zen-Ray company. Their email is on the Zen-Ray support page!

 

[Steve C]

Well that kicks my idea into touch.....I really thought they were manufactured in China! Well-back to the drawing board-----thanks for the information.

They are manufactured in China, but for Zen Ray. As such, they are the property of Zen Ray and the factory cannot sell them. Maybe your friend can catch a plane on the way back that stops in Portland (PDX) and they can take a taxi to Ace Camera and Repair (local Zen Ray dealer) and buy a pair. That way you could save shipping time.

 

[JohnnyH]

David,

It would be far easier if you go to a dealer who stocks the Hawke Frontier ED which are almost identical to the Zen Ray bins. That way you can compare them to your Opticrons & decide for yourself if they are better for you. LCE definately stock Hawke & I'm sure they must have a branch close to you.

Cheers,

John.

 

[David Smith]

Thanks again for the well informed advice/information.
My idea was that this might be an opportunity to 'move up' in quality at an affordable (substitute 'cheap' price). I'm not in any way disatisfied with the Opticron.

As for Steves advice
Maybe your friend can catch a plane on the way back that stops in Portland (PDX) and they can take a taxi to Ace Camera and Repair (local Zen Ray dealer) and buy a pair. That way you could save shipping time.

I've just checked out the logisitcs i.e. flight times/cost etc. and it's marginally cheaper to by some new Swarro's

 

[kristoffer]

Why not just order it? They could ship to me in Northern Sweden so I am pretty sure they can ship to you

Thanks again for the well informed advice/information.
My idea was that this might be an opportunity to 'move up' in quality at an affordable (substitute 'cheap' price). I'm not in any way disatisfied with the Opticron.

As for Steves advice
Maybe your friend can catch a plane on the way back that stops in Portland (PDX) and they can take a taxi to Ace Camera and Repair (local Zen Ray dealer) and buy a pair. That way you could save shipping time.

I've just checked out the logisitcs i.e. flight times/cost etc. and it's marginally cheaper to by some new Swarro's

 

[RJM]

David,

It would be far easier if you go to a dealer who stocks the Hawke Frontier ED which are almost identical to the Zen Ray bins. That way you can compare them to your Opticrons & decide for yourself if they are better for you. LCE definately stock Hawke & I'm sure they must have a branch close to you.

Cheers,

John.

Probably that is the smart advise. Nothing unique about Zen Ray. They are just another rebrander/importer following the sports optics biz plan Swift layed out 60yrs ago and the current bino "flavor of the month." Just like Oberwerk, Garret, Vortex et all have been over the last few years. These bins are all made by the same group of factories from China's optical "heartland." You only need $5k and a couple of suitcases and ticket to Kunming to get started in sports optics biz now. If there is not a clone available in your location, just be patient as there probably will be in a few months.

cheers,
Rick

 

[Ardy]

Probably that is the smart advise. Nothing unique about Zen Ray. They are just another rebrander/importer following the sports optics biz plan Swift layed out 60yrs ago and the current bino "flavor of the month." Just like Oberwerk, Garret, Vortex et all have been over the last few years. These bins are all made by the same group of factories from China's optical "heartland." You only need $5k and a couple of suitcases and ticket to Kunming to get started in sports optics biz now. If there is not a clone available in your location, just be patient as there probably will be in a few months.

cheers,
Rick

Yep when I checked the site min, order 50 bins.About $200 a bin if you want all the extras,fl,all the newest coatings so it would run about $10,000 for a run.

 

[kristoffer]

the hawke is not a zen. The ed2 is superior in several aspects.

 

[spacepilot]

David, I'm not familiar with the Opticron line of binoculars, and I couldn't find any information about the Opticron 8x42 BGA WP you mentioned on the web. Are your current bins the the 8x42 HR WP porro bins? If so, they are the clones of the Leupold Cascades porro bins marketed in the US. There are people on this forum that have experience with both models and can offer advice. If your bins are not the HR WP porros, you can ignore what I said. Good luck!

Ning

 

[FrankD]

For you Zen Ray "junkies" out there...check this one out.....

http://www.holgermerlitz.de/zen7x36.html

I will post a new thread about it over in the "others" forum.

 

[Tero]

Interesting to compare to the Docters. Never managed to see a pair of Docters yet.

 

[FrankD]

I did in the local Cabelas bargain cave once. They were an impressive piece of glass from what I remember. Handling was quite good as well.