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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Just Ordered Zen Ray 10x25 (1 Viewer)

Nessus

Well-known member
http://www.zen-ray.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=65_69&products_id=197





I have been looking for a halfway decent pair of 8x25's for my daily carry around bag for a while now but all the good companies make only 8x20. Why is that? I had a Zeiss pair a few year back and they gave my a bit of eye strain although the image was great.

Anyway it seems Zen is trying to pull a fast one as up top the list them as Fully multicoated and at the bottom as only muticoated. They probably have a lens or two that are fully multicoated and the rest just have at least one coating.


Even though these are 10's The main thing that got me was the are 3.15 in length and only weigh 8.5 ounces. That is by far the smallest pair I have seen since I have been looking. ( If it's true that is)

Anyway for $20 I can afford to make a mistake, were not talking hundreds here. I'm expecting to be somewhere between pleasantly and surprised and " these thinks stink!" They might not even be real Zen ray but other Chinese surplus they are selling for pals.
 
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http://www.zen-ray.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=65_69&products_id=197





I have been looking for a halfway decent pair of 8x25's for my daily carry around bag for a while now but all the good companies make only 8x20. Why is that? I had a Zeiss pair a few year back and they gave my a bit of eye strain although the image was great.

Anyway it seems Zen is trying to pull a fast one as up top the list them as Fully multicoated and at the bottom as only muticoated. They probably have a lens or two that are fully multicoated and the rest just have at least one coating.


Even though these are 10's The main thing that got me was the are 3.15 in length and only weigh 8.5 ounces. That is by far the smallest pair I have seen since I have been looking. ( If it's true that is)

Anyway for $20 I can afford to make a mistake, were not talking hundreds here. I'm expecting to be somewhere between pleasantly and surprised and " these thinks stink!" They might not even be real Zen ray but other Chinese surplus they are selling for pals.

I think for $20.00 it will be more of the later. It's the you get what you pay for thing here. Cheap compacts are usually really bad because with the small aperture you need the best multi-coated lenses and phase coated prisms to make them tolerable. I have had some cheaper compacts and they are usually really dim. I stick with the alphas when the aperture is 25mm or less. I have the Zeiss 8x20 Victory's and the Nikon 10x25 LX's and I REALLY like them! But at least you will be only out the shipping costs. Let me know if I am right. I think they will be a CPOS. Good luck!
 
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I have some that look identical (except for the zen-ray branding). Performance is so-so. £5 ($8) inc p&p from a British importer, 7dayshop. http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=777_8&products_id=102149
They are good for the money. They quote a FoV of 101m however, compared to the 96m printed on the ZRs (though the blurb for the ZRs states 100m!). I actually have a pair of rebranded Chinese "96m" 10x25s too, (not from 7dayshop, from Ebay) and they are really really rubbish. They look different from the ZR-look-alikes though.

Of course, ZR might put better coatings on its 10x25s. Then again, ZR might just buy from the same Chinese factory as 7dayshop.

Personally, I'd like to see some cheap&cheerful 6x25s - or even 5x25s. At this end of the price scale, I reckon 25mm objectives can't justify 10x magnification.
 
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Some neighbor kids will probably have fun with them after your first look across the street.


That was my thought too. I doubt they have anything to do with Zen Ray but are just total junk like Vivitar rebranded. Although why an up and coming brand would do that to itself I don't know.
 
Despite my disparaging remark earlier, I'm curious to see how these are. I got a free 10X25 monocular along with my pre-ordered ED2's this past summer, and it's uhhhhhh ....... welllllllll ....... ok. Have you received the bins yet?

marty
 
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