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Zen Ray 7x43 ED3 (2 Viewers)

Steve,

Very nicely done. I love the eyecup extensions. Maybe some Armor-all on them will get rid of the white discoloration.

;-)

I agree with your assessment of the bin. I don't have the eye relief issues because of my facial dimensions but can see where it would be a problem for some.

Definitely a step forward in the ED3 lineup. I am glad to see the addition.
 
Frank and Steve,

thank you for sharing. The 7x43 sounds really, really good and I'm tempted to give it a try (after aquiring a Nikon ED82A, that is ;)).
But I want a great eye relief and prefer a greater FOV over maximum edge sharpness, so the FL 7x42 has become sort of a long-term dream.

The ED3's AFOV is quite close to the Fury 6.5x32 and I'm not perfectly convinced it will be worth the expense when I love the Fury so much. Especially as its weight is about 5 oz heavier.

Comments, anyone?
 
Great review, Steve, and very innovative fix. I had the same problem with a Swaro 8 x 50 SLC, and the resulting blackouts drove me nuts until Land Sea and Sky here in Houston suggested having Nikon old timey fold back rubber eyecups installed over the Swaro eyecups at full extension. The final result was truly amazing. Frankly, I'm reluctant to buy the Zen 7 x 43 until the too short eyecup problem is addressed.
 
Great review, Steve, and very innovative fix. I had the same problem with a Swaro 8 x 50 SLC, and the resulting blackouts drove me nuts until Land Sea and Sky here in Houston suggested having Nikon old timey fold back rubber eyecups installed over the Swaro eyecups at full extension. The final result was truly amazing. Frankly, I'm reluctant to buy the Zen 7 x 43 until the too short eyecup problem is addressed.

Thanks. I think many people might be in the reluctant boat too. However that seems to be a pretty easy fix, not necessarily my band-aid, but to change the eye cup.

However I have begun to think that maybe eye glass and non eye glass wearers ought to be considered differently and not be faced with a compromise attempt to satisfy both. It would seem pretty simple to offer user friendly twist off -twist on eye cups of different heights that would let the user fine tune for their particular tastes.

I will have to do some measurements of distances to the top of the eye cup. I really have no idea how prevalent the short eye cup thing is. Strangely enough, I have not encountered that before.
 
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Thanks. I think many people might be in the reluctant boat too. However that seems to be a pretty easy fix, not necessarily my band-aid, but to change the eye cup.

However I have begun to think that maybe eye glass and non eye glass wearers ought to be considered differently and not be faced with a compromise attempt to satisfy both. It would seem pretty simple to offer user friendly twist off -twist on eye cups of different heights that would let the user fine tune for their particular tastes.

I will have to do some measurements of distances to the top of the eye cup. I really have no idea how prevalent the short eye cup thing is. Strangely enough, I have not encountered that before.

So for a guy like me, who has glasses, but wears contacts occasionally, I may have a problem with the eyecups not extending out enough with contacts to avoid black-outs. And your correction added extra height to the eyecup to mitigate this. Is that correct?

Thanks,

Todd
 
So for a guy like me, who has glasses, but wears contacts occasionally, I may have a problem with the eyecups not extending out enough with contacts to avoid black-outs. And your correction added extra height to the eyecup to mitigate this. Is that correct?

Thanks,

Todd

If you wear glasses, the ED 3 7x43 is probably for you. I don't wear glasses and the problem I had was having to hold the stock from the box binocular too far from my eyes. Sorry, it looks like I may not have been real clear about that ;). I spent some time yesterday and so far today using the 7x43 with different pairs of sunglasses and reading glasses. I was able to see a whole, satisfying field with my limited selection. With contacts...maybe, thats going to be a try it and see deal I'm afraid.

So, yes the correction I came up with is to add length to the eye cup so as to place the ocular lens farther away from the eye. You can use different thicknesses of washers and 0-rings to custom fit the fix.
 
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So for a guy like me, who has glasses, but wears contacts occasionally, I may have a problem with the eyecups not extending out enough with contacts to avoid black-outs. And your correction added extra height to the eyecup to mitigate this. Is that correct?

Thanks,

Todd

Yup.
 
Thanks. I think many people might be in the reluctant boat to..............................

........... It would seem pretty simple to offer user friendly twist off -twist on eye cups of different heights that would let the user fine tune for their particular tastes...............................

It might be simpler than we think. Nikon EDG's come standard with "Horned" eyecups as an accessory. They simply stretch over the eyecups when they are in the closed position. People like me who do not wear glasses and normally use the EDG with the eye cups fully extended use the horned eye cups with the eyecups fully closed.

The horned eyecups actually extend the length of the closed regular eye cups so they can be used by people who do not wear glasses.

It should not be hard to make a similar extension without the horns or wings for the ED 7 x 43 so people who do not wear glasses can avoid black outs.

You can see how they fit on the EDG in pictures here: http://www.bestbinocularsreviews.com/Nikon10x42EDG-41.htm

They simply slide on. They have a rim that slides under the eye cup.

Bob
 
Thanks for that review and the suggestion for the eyecup fix. I had the same problem with the Leupold 6x30 Yosemite. I had to hold the eyecups back from my eyes to avoid blackouts.

Although I do have deep set eyes, I don't think facial features had anything to do with since I couldn't get them close enough to my face before the image blacked out.

I'm "allergic" to the smell of rubber tires (but not tiers, lot of mix up with those words lately on BF), so the "fix" won't work for me.

I did a "fix" for the 8x32 SE, whose cups did not fit my face well, and if I dug my eyes into the cups, not only was it uncomfortable but I'd get image blackouts. So I took the eyecups off my 804 Audubon and slipped them inside the SE's eyecups, and the slight extension and indentation that provided put my eyes at the right distance with greater comfort.

The fit btwn the two eyecups is not tight, so they need to be glued to prevent the 804 eyecups from falling out in the field. If I could find an extra pair of 804 eyecups to attach to the 8x SE permanently, I might buy another 8x32 SE (550).

As far as the 7x43 E3, I'd have to try one myself to find out if I experienced this problem, but my guess is I would since I had to keep the eyecups on the 7x36 ED2 full extended or I'd experience blackouts even though at full extension I couldn't see the full FOV.

If more people report this same problem, perhaps ZR will make a modified version with longer eyecups.

Brock
 
ED3 7x or 8x43??

Hi all-

New member here, but I've been lurking for a bit while researching Zen-Ray's. After much research I asked for a pair of ED3's from Santa. Although I had asked for 7x43, I received 8x43, which are leaps and bounds better than my old Bushnell's, but the 8x's give me concern regarding to low light.

The purpose of the binoculars will be primarily hunting (mostly archery). Because I hunt hardwoods, the canopy of trees top creates low light situations much quicker than open fields hence the reason I asked for 7x's since low light tends to be where I struggle.

I understand the mathematical advantage the objective size divided by magnification gives the 7x's over the 8x's, but I'm looking for some personal experience input/opinions regarding 7x vs 8x43's.

Do the 7x's provide enough advantage in low light to justify exchanging/returning the 8x's?

Thanks in advance for any input/feedback your willing to provide!

Cheers. B :)
-HB
 
To be honest, I wouldn't worry about the difference. There has been some past debate and some good articles written about whether higher magnification or a larger exit pupil benefit the user more in low light situations. Some of the others can chime in on this issue. Since I have experience with the two binoculars in question my response would be that there is no practical difference in low light conditions between the two. I can see equal amounts of detail in both in low light situations.

I would not go through the trouble of returning the 8xs. Despite having a 9 foot narrower true field of view they do have a 5 degree wider apparent field of view (more of a walk-in type image).

Rest assured, for low light situations, you will not see much, if any, of a difference when going from the 8x to the 7x ED3s.
 
Being a hunter myself, I'd have to agree with Frank that you will not really notice much difference at all in the 7x vs 8x in extremely low light. The only real noticeable difference is going to be in the depth of field, obviously being much greater in the 7x. If I was doing a lot of spot and stalk type hunting, I'd take the 7x or even a 6x, but for stand hunting I'd live with the 8x.

Tom
 
On the 7x v 8x issue: it's a very small difference.

I find it most useful if you want to own two pairs of the same bin optimized for different habitats or uses then a 7x and a 10x make a good pair. But the 8x is the best single bin compromise.

Regarding low light ... unless you are out in the pitch dark (and can get your pupils to 6mm) you won't see a difference between them in any sort of hunting or birding light.

7x is more of a help in "ease of use": large exit pupil makes lining up the bin and eye easier; 7x magnification reduces shake; wider field helps searching. They're the advantages that accumulate over a day spent looking through the bins rather than something one would see with a brief glimpse.
 
Holy Shiznit. As I live and breathe. It is good to see you posting Kevin. What has it been...8 months?

Glad to see you.
 
Although 7x is my personal favorite, I always recommend 8x to our customers if this is their first pair of quality binoculars for the same reasons outlined by Kevin. For many Pro users who know exactly what they are looking for when choosing 7x, they will really appreciate the benefits that 7x43 can deliver over other formats.

Kevin, it's good to see you back here too.

Charles
 
Kevin...whoa...welcome back!! Did you remember your password? ;)

I agree with Frank, Kevin, and Charles. I like the 7x for the depth of field increase primarily.
 
I would add that if you are looking through trees/brush, lower magnification helps you to find what you are looking for much easier, just because things don't look as much different as they do under higher magnification. This effect seems to me to be more pronounced under low light conditions. However, I doubt if this effect would be very noticable between 7x and 8x. I do think that this effect is separate, at least partially, from depth of field. It is more subjective and more subject to individual variation.

To me the ideal hunting binocular for an area with a lot of brush and woods would be a switch power 4x to 8x, if there would be no penalty in field of view, weight or optical quality in comparison to a standard 7 or 8 power. I know, it ain't gonna happen.
 
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