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Zen 9x36 ED2 impressions (1 Viewer)

justabirdwatcher

Well-known member
I picked up a pair of used 9x36's a few weeks ago after having been curious about Zen Ray's for quite some time. I really like(d) the 9x36 format, and had high hopes for these. Zen Ray always seem to be well liked, except for a consistent undertone of poor QC. I guess I hoped that would just be a rumor or that I would get a good copy.

Unfortunately, I can only support this notion after having my pair of 9x36's for about a month now.

Immediately upon opening the box, I liked the handling, the weight and especially the eyecups. They had possibly the most comfortable eyecups of any binocular I've ever used.

And they were bright. Exceptionally bright - which is why I held onto them through the end of the deer season (I use my binocs for both birding and hunting, and often "bird" while I claim to be be hunting... LOL ).

But that's pretty much where the good news stops.

My copy of the 9x36's may have had the worst focus wheel I've ever used on any binocs in my life. Sloppy, squishy and lots of slack. I would pass by sharp focus and then try to come back over and over and over again. I probably overshot focus 9 times out of 10. Intially I realized the problem was the rubber "grip strips" just weren't tacky enough, and my fingers were slipping on the wheel. So I got "smart" and came up with a solution - a strip of rubber inner tube material over it that gave me good tacky response. That helped significantly but still didn't fix overshooting the focus. It just helped me move the wheel as many times as I needed to in order to achieve focus (which was a lot!).

The next issue was the edge-to-edge sharpness. Yes, the center portion or "sweet spot" was very sharp. Very. But the sharpness fell off sooner and more quickly than all but some of the sub-$100 binocs I've used. In fact, not even my Leupold Yosemite's fell off toward the edges so much. And the lower right half of the right barrel was so soft it was a constant distraction.

Finally, the glare was just too much. It took me a while to isolate it because at first I thought it was internal glare. But one day I shaded the area around the eyecups and realized it was glare from the light coming in the small space between my eye sockets and the eye cups. I "fixed" that by fabricating some rubber eye sheilds from that same used inner tube, and that did help. But compared to my Sightron Blue Sky II's which have zero glare from the sidelight, these things were downright annoying.

I sure wanted to like them a lot more than I did. As soon as the deer season ended, I sold them. Thankfully I didn't take more than a $40 hit on them, but I am going to find it hard to ever consider Zen Ray binocs again after that experience.

John
 
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Going to be traveling up to the Portland area soon, and I plan to stop for a visit if possible, or at the very least, look at all the Zen Ray models carried at the Portland Audubon store (a must see spot for my wife and I).

I hope to erase this negative first impression from my mind. I keep hearing so many good things about Zen's, and I do like their philosophy of producing top quality optics at a reasonable price.

Ready to have some good experiences. We'll see!
 
I'm sure that you will find a keeper, but such a choice. Will you still look for a good one in 9x36 format?
 
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The 9x36 was the binocular that was responsible for ZR's ultimate establishment of their OEM facility and the ED 3 series. I had two of the 9x36 and they both sucked. Essentially none of the 9x36's were ever right. I know Charles made multiple trips to the factory trying to get it right. They had lost some key people and were not able to replace them. So Charles moved on. The 7x36 is a different story.

They do have a pretty decent lineup and still are contenders in all of their price point offerings. That should be plain when you get to where you can look them over.

No offense is intended, but I tend to totally discount focus wheel gripes. It does not matter who the maker is, somebody is always complaining loudly.
 
The 9x36 was the binocular that was responsible for ZR's ultimate establishment of their OEM facility and the ED 3 series. I had two of the 9x36 and they both sucked. Essentially none of the 9x36's were ever right. I know Charles made multiple trips to the factory trying to get it right. They had lost some key people and were not able to replace them. So Charles moved on. The 7x36 is a different story.

They do have a pretty decent lineup and still are contenders in all of their price point offerings. That should be plain when you get to where you can look them over.

No offense is intended, but I tend to totally discount focus wheel gripes. It does not matter who the maker is, somebody is always complaining loudly.

Well I consider myself discounted then. :D

The focus wheel was probably my #1 gripe on those 9x36's. It was simply awful.

By comparison, my Sightron 8x32's just snap into place with zero slack. That's what I expect and frankly won't accept any less.

My Brunton's focus wheel is a little slippery but is also superbly precise.

I will try all the offerings they have at the Portland Audubon store, and more if I can figure out where the Zen Ray office is actually located (if they accept visitors, that is). I hope to. I'd like to try them all. I'm ready to add a 10x pair to my arsenal.

John
 
Well, sometimes I can be clear as mud. I discount focus wheel gripes as a general rule of thumb, yeah, it came off sounding like I was discounting yours. Since I had two bad 9x36 ED 2's, I know what you are talking about pretty precisely. I also think that the Epoch has the best focuser ever put on a binocular. I just have never gotten to the point where many ...what I consider minutia gripes over focus characteristics...have ever elevated themselves into deal breakers for me. People need to have what works for them.

The ZEN ED 2 9x36 is not a binocular to judge ZR by as a company.
 
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The ZEN ED 2 9x36 is not a binocular to judge ZR by as a company.

I've heard this a lot. I'll be in Portland in a few weeks where I can try multiple ZR offerings, and I'm looking forward to it. Hoping I like the ZRS 10x42 enough to add it as my 10x hunting optics for an upcoming elk hunt. They will have to replace my 8.5 Brunton's though, which is a tall order.
 
I've heard this a lot. I'll be in Portland in a few weeks where I can try multiple ZR offerings, and I'm looking forward to it. Hoping I like the ZRS 10x42 enough to add it as my 10x hunting optics for an upcoming elk hunt. They will have to replace my 8.5 Brunton's though, which is a tall order.


I doubt you will take to the focus of the ZRS HD. There is some slack which you won't like it seems. However they are good optics for a $250 class glass, but not as good as a good Epoch. Good luck and enjoy yourself. The new ED 4 may well be a different matter, the Prime certainly is.
 
Looking forward to trying them all. No, I cannot tolerate any focus wheel slack. Drives me absolutely batty. I am fortunate that I still have excellent vision, and I think I'm just real sensitive to out of focus areas. Nothing has snapped into focus as easily as my Sightron's, so I know it can be done in a sub-$200 optic.

I like the focus on my Epoch, but honestly, I'm not in love with it. I don't notice the variable speed so much. I actually think my Sightron's focus just as well.
 
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