Initial Impressions
I received the 2015 ZRS HD 8x42 model today from Zen-Ray. Unfortunately, the weather was terrible and will probably have to wait another 36 hours before we get sunny skies again.
http://www.zen-ray.com/shop/binoculars/zrshd/15zrshd8x42.html
The binoculars arrived well-packaged and in a nice retail box. It's nothing fancy which is fine since we'd rather have the money go into the product than the packaging!
The package includes: documentation, neck strap, case, case strap, cleaning cloth, front/back covers and the 8x42 binocular.
The accessories are of pretty high quality. I like the case. It has a hidden pocket for the cleaning cloth which is a nice touch. The leather-designed name Zen-Ray insignia is a nice touch though I think the "Z" should have been a red color (for consistency with the box labeling.)
The binocular itself feels quite nice. It's not heavy -- a better word might be hefty but it's very svelte. The build quality is very good. No obvious signs of any defects.
The eyepieces on this binocular are quite large. They measure ~45mm and resemble a Swarovski-style. They turn out to two stops. On my unit, the right eyepiece extension is very smooth and each turn clicks into place. On the left eyepiece extension it's very squishy feeling and doesn't really click. It's more of a thud feeling. It's a very minor point but would prefer to have both feel the same way.
The focus knob was quite stiff upon first use and started working itself loose with light use. There must be a large amount of grease inside because it's quite audible when turning. Not a big deal but it sounds funny. It has a turn limit of 1.5 turns which is roughly (7) single-finger turns (when using it.)
I measure the exit-pupils ~6mm. By far the largest I've used. Most of my binoculars are < 5mm.
First Light
Clearly these are not Zeiss, Leica or Swaro level optics so if you're seeking E2E sharpness then move on. These are not for you. The sweet spot is roughly 75% but the last 25% is not exactly bad. It's just slightly diffuse. To be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect here so this was actually rather pleasing.
For me personally, the biggest "wow" factor is the brightness level. Since I have 32mm and 50mm objectives handy for comparison, I am very shocked by the brightness of this model. The light transmission is advertised to be quite high -- and it delivers! Frankly, it was a stark difference to my comparison binoculars.
The only catch to this excellent brightness is that this definitely highlights the lack of the E2E sharpness; however, in an outdoor environment, this is not as noticeable.
Due to the weather conditions (dark skies, cloudy, heavy rain at 4 PM local) it's certainly not prime testing conditions but this did let me try them in a low-light setting. As stated above, the excellent light gathering abilities of this model really shined.
While outside, I could view a few trees with bright, colorful flowers. The color accuracy is also excellent. I was quite impressed here as well.
The Single Negative
Probably the only disappointing feature (as mentioned by another user) was the focusing "slack" as they described. The focusing is a bit rough and not quite as smooth as other brands.
When focusing I had to adjust one way and then back a few times for it to "lock" on...
In fairness, I tried this with my other binoculars by throwing the focus to the extreme end and then having to focus on some random object. ALL of my binoculars require this kind of focusing to a degree; however, because of the silky smooth focusing, it's not as noticeable. Note, I'm guessing this is not a functional issue with the focus knob. I believe it's more internal with the overall system.
More thoughts on this later as I get more play time!
To Do
The above was pretty much all I could do this afternoon given the dreadful weather conditions. I will need to test further to really assess the optical performance.
The good news is that starting Wednesday we're due for very nice, sunny weather through the weekend.
Stay tuned...
I received the 2015 ZRS HD 8x42 model today from Zen-Ray. Unfortunately, the weather was terrible and will probably have to wait another 36 hours before we get sunny skies again.
http://www.zen-ray.com/shop/binoculars/zrshd/15zrshd8x42.html
The binoculars arrived well-packaged and in a nice retail box. It's nothing fancy which is fine since we'd rather have the money go into the product than the packaging!
The package includes: documentation, neck strap, case, case strap, cleaning cloth, front/back covers and the 8x42 binocular.
The accessories are of pretty high quality. I like the case. It has a hidden pocket for the cleaning cloth which is a nice touch. The leather-designed name Zen-Ray insignia is a nice touch though I think the "Z" should have been a red color (for consistency with the box labeling.)
The binocular itself feels quite nice. It's not heavy -- a better word might be hefty but it's very svelte. The build quality is very good. No obvious signs of any defects.
The eyepieces on this binocular are quite large. They measure ~45mm and resemble a Swarovski-style. They turn out to two stops. On my unit, the right eyepiece extension is very smooth and each turn clicks into place. On the left eyepiece extension it's very squishy feeling and doesn't really click. It's more of a thud feeling. It's a very minor point but would prefer to have both feel the same way.
The focus knob was quite stiff upon first use and started working itself loose with light use. There must be a large amount of grease inside because it's quite audible when turning. Not a big deal but it sounds funny. It has a turn limit of 1.5 turns which is roughly (7) single-finger turns (when using it.)
I measure the exit-pupils ~6mm. By far the largest I've used. Most of my binoculars are < 5mm.
First Light
Clearly these are not Zeiss, Leica or Swaro level optics so if you're seeking E2E sharpness then move on. These are not for you. The sweet spot is roughly 75% but the last 25% is not exactly bad. It's just slightly diffuse. To be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect here so this was actually rather pleasing.
For me personally, the biggest "wow" factor is the brightness level. Since I have 32mm and 50mm objectives handy for comparison, I am very shocked by the brightness of this model. The light transmission is advertised to be quite high -- and it delivers! Frankly, it was a stark difference to my comparison binoculars.
The only catch to this excellent brightness is that this definitely highlights the lack of the E2E sharpness; however, in an outdoor environment, this is not as noticeable.
Due to the weather conditions (dark skies, cloudy, heavy rain at 4 PM local) it's certainly not prime testing conditions but this did let me try them in a low-light setting. As stated above, the excellent light gathering abilities of this model really shined.
While outside, I could view a few trees with bright, colorful flowers. The color accuracy is also excellent. I was quite impressed here as well.
The Single Negative
Probably the only disappointing feature (as mentioned by another user) was the focusing "slack" as they described. The focusing is a bit rough and not quite as smooth as other brands.
When focusing I had to adjust one way and then back a few times for it to "lock" on...
In fairness, I tried this with my other binoculars by throwing the focus to the extreme end and then having to focus on some random object. ALL of my binoculars require this kind of focusing to a degree; however, because of the silky smooth focusing, it's not as noticeable. Note, I'm guessing this is not a functional issue with the focus knob. I believe it's more internal with the overall system.
More thoughts on this later as I get more play time!
To Do
The above was pretty much all I could do this afternoon given the dreadful weather conditions. I will need to test further to really assess the optical performance.
The good news is that starting Wednesday we're due for very nice, sunny weather through the weekend.
Stay tuned...
I have the 7x36 and 10x43.
