ZEN RAY ZRS 10x42 or Olympus Magellan 10x42 EXWP 1 (1 Viewer)

Which would be the better option the ZEN RAY ZRS 10x42 or Olympus Magellan 10x42 EXWP 1. I could stretch the budget to buy the zen ray ed2 but i am worried about the extra weight. Any advice appreciated.

solium said:

Here:
http://www.allbinos.com/allbinos_ranking-binoculars_ranking-10x42.html

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I wonder where the adorama pro optic fits in that list!

BrightIdea said:

I wonder where the adorama pro optic fits in that list!

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Good question. They do have several European versions of the Pro Optic that they could get their hands on. The Binomania review had one version...General Hi-T if I remember correctly. Viking also sells an ED model that is close to a perfect match for the Pro Optic.

gjcrop said:

Which would be the better option the ZEN RAY ZRS 10x42 or Olympus Magellan 10x42 EXWP 1. I could stretch the budget to buy the zen ray ed2 but i am worried about the extra weight. Any advice appreciated.

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I see in another post you were also inquiring about the Bushnell Legend Ultra HD's as well, and someone else recommended the 8x42 Nikon Monarch. I assume you are interested in 10x42 and not 8x42 based on your inquiry.

You can do a little research on Allbinos as they have tested some and in 10x42 rated the Olympus Magellan(#18), Nikon Monarch (#51) and the old non-ED Legend (#31). I have never been a fan of the Nikon Monarchs and think they are highly overrated by many on this forum, and based on the pair I owned I would agree with Allbinos test results. While Allbinos is an interesting test site it does not report results in 2 areas that have importance to me.
1. How well do they handle stray light and glare.
2. What is the pattern of distorsion from the edge of the sweetspot to the edge of the FOV.

http://www.allbinos.com/allbinos_ranking-binoculars_ranking-10x42.html

The Pro Optic bino referred to above is a house brand sold by Adorama in the USA which has ED glass. Some members think very highly of them, but I have no experience with them so can't comment. As noted, they are sold around the world under different names/brands.

http://www.adorama.com/PRO1042.html

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=200997

I own the 10x42 Legend UltraHD, Olympus Magellan and the Zen ZRS HD, and to pick one is hard because they are all extremely good binos. The Olympus has the least amount of pincushion and the flattest field but does not handle stray light as well as the other 2. If it handled stray light as well as the others then this one would be my pick. The one I seem to use the most is the Ultra HD as the FOV is slightly wider, and while the edges are not as good, I prefer the sweetspot performance and slightly better 3D performance. If I did not own any of the 3 and had to rebuy one, I'd probably go for the one that I could get the cheapest at the time. The Olympus is made in Japan and was introduced around 2003. The Legend and Zen are made in China and it only took them 7 more years to make a bino as good as the Olympus.

Not much help I'm sure - I guess I own all three (and many more) because I have trouble making decisions.

Tom

Thanks for the replies, i ended up purchasing the Eagle Optics Ranger ED10x42 which i am led to believe are the same as the zen ray ED2 or the vortex talon.
I hope i have made the right decision, time will tell.
Thanks again for the replies.
Cheers
Gary

A good choice and an upgrade to the ones you were inquiring about. Enjoy!!

lilcrazy2 said:

A good choice and an upgrade to the ones you were inquiring about. Enjoy!!

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I agree. I think you will certainly be happy with this choice.