NWB,
The case is included as part of the total package. Once we have sufficient supply to meet current demand for spotters, we may make it available as a separate SKU.
Thanks
Charles
-
Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.
Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
New Zen Ray ZEN ED 2 Spotter in hand (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Steve C
- Start date
NWB,
The case is included as part of the total package. Once we have sufficient supply to meet current demand for spotters, we may make it available as a separate SKU.
Thanks
Charles
henry link
Well-known member
He did, but it was also defective. I'm not sure where things will go from here. Charles may tire of sending me scopes. In the meantime I'll just repeat my usual advice to scope purchasers. Don't assume defects are rare. There is a good chance, with any brand, of getting a mediocre specimen and better than insignificant odds of getting an outright lemon.
Kevin Purcell
Well-known member
How was it defective? How did it star test?
Yes, we sent another unit to Henry. Unfortunately, there was some obvious external damage that happened during transit. As a result, there is a mismatch between our internal testing and Henry's initial observation. We will be getting the scope back to perform the failure analysis. In the meantime, we have implemented a new packing procedure with an oversized box to better protect the spotter from rough handling during transit. We will also individually inspect every set before we ship it out.
Thanks
Charles
Thanks
Charles
henry link
Well-known member
Kevin,
The focuser is sticking and scraping and something in the optics train is tilted or off center. There is astigmatism and the spot in the field with best resolution is off-center. As Charles said this could be a case of shipping damage. It may be some time before I get another one to test.
Henry
Kevin Purcell
Well-known member
I've received an evaluation Zen ED 2 spotter from Charles.
I'll be posting my thoughts on a separate thread.
I'll be posting my thoughts on a separate thread.
Hermann
Well-known member
Hi Kevin, any news on that Zen ED 2? Things have gotten pretty quiet after the first flurry of postings ...
Hermann
henry link
Well-known member
Hermann,
I'm still holding my review while I wait for a third sample of the scope; hopefully a good one this time. I could have reported some design characteristics and measurements that are independent of sample variation, like eye relief, FOV, etc, but I decided it would be more coherent to gather everything together in a single post. However, it's been over seven weeks since I received the first scope, so I may go ahead and post a Part I review of the zoom eyepiece alone in the next few days.
Henry
I'm still holding my review while I wait for a third sample of the scope; hopefully a good one this time. I could have reported some design characteristics and measurements that are independent of sample variation, like eye relief, FOV, etc, but I decided it would be more coherent to gather everything together in a single post. However, it's been over seven weeks since I received the first scope, so I may go ahead and post a Part I review of the zoom eyepiece alone in the next few days.
Henry
Kevin Purcell
Well-known member
Just have to write up my thoughts ...
Steve C
Well-known member
It's going to be interesting to read what you find. I've had a second ED 2 Spotter for a few days now. It is still a nice scope, but it is not quite where the original one (which I did buy) is at. The resolution at great distance is a little less than my scope, and is not quite as bright at 40x+. I don't know if I would have noticed with out the two side by side. For whatever reason the second one does not handle mirage waves as well as mine either.
henry link
Well-known member
Steve,
That's a good sign that there are worse aberrations in the second scope. Image quality drops with the addition of problems, so air turbulence added to higher aberrations looks worse than the same turbulence combined with lower aberrations.
This is where objective tests (like star tests and measurements of resolution) are helpful. A comparison can only show that one of these scopes is better than the other, but it can't establish that even the better one is performing as well as it should or reveal why they perform as they do.
Henry
Last edited:
Steve C
Well-known member
Henry,
Thanks. I have yet to do a star test with the second scope. If the 35 mph wind dies down, I'll try tonight. I need to check the tripod and head setup for ease of movement more anyway, this is a good chande to kill two birds with one stone.
Rui_Caratão
Well-known member
My Zen ED2 spotter as arrived, and all pieces intact, the new packaging proved to be oversea proof.
My first impressions are very good, but still, I need to compare it side by side with some of the alphas, probably I will manage to borow from some friends a Zeiss 85 or a Leica Apo 77.
Tonight, there is to much turbulence to star test it, since the inner rings spin around inside the disk, but as far as I can tell, no visible astigmatism is present..... but I am no pro.
My first impressions are very good, but still, I need to compare it side by side with some of the alphas, probably I will manage to borow from some friends a Zeiss 85 or a Leica Apo 77.
Tonight, there is to much turbulence to star test it, since the inner rings spin around inside the disk, but as far as I can tell, no visible astigmatism is present..... but I am no pro.
It's official: we will introduce an adapter to allow 1.25" telescope eyepiece to work with our ZEN ED2 spotting scope body. It will be a FREE upgrade for ZEN ED2 spotting scope orders received before 3/31, including all previous orders. We expect to ship the adapter to all of our ED2 spotter customers on 3/31.
Thanks
Charles
I'm waiting for my Zen ED2 spotter to arrive next week and was wondering what 1.25" eyepieces would be a good match for this scope (30X WA?) when the adapters arrive. I bought the Zen digiscoping adapter also & want to use my Canon G10 with it if possible. This is my first spotter, so i don't really know what to expect with the 20-60x eyepiece. Judging from my binoculars, i think i'll need some good eye relief too.
eitanaltman
Well-known member
It's kind of hard to say what would be a good match when the adapter doesn't even exist yet, eh? 
In general though, you would want to match a zoom with a good wide-angle fixed eyepiece. Most people prefer somewhere around 25x to 35x for a fixed WA. Although with 1.25" adapters not all astronomical eyepieces will actually reach focus in the scope... so some people will have to be "guinea pigs" when the adapter comes out. There are many good budget wide angle eyepiece in the astro world (e.g. Baader Hyperion) that are popular.
Also, I don't know what the focal length of the ED2 scope is though so it's hard to know exactly which eyepiece will provide a specific magnification.
Astronomical 1.25" eyepieces will have a rated focal length of their own... you need to know the focal length of the scope to calculate magnification. e.g. I use a Pentax XW14 on my Pentax scope, which is a 14mm focal length EP. The Pentax 65mm has a focal length of 390mm.... so 390/14 = 28x magnification. If I put the same eyepiece on a Pentax 80mm scope, which has a longer tube (focal length around 500mm) then the magnification would be about 35x with the same exact eyepiece.
In general though, you would want to match a zoom with a good wide-angle fixed eyepiece. Most people prefer somewhere around 25x to 35x for a fixed WA. Although with 1.25" adapters not all astronomical eyepieces will actually reach focus in the scope... so some people will have to be "guinea pigs" when the adapter comes out. There are many good budget wide angle eyepiece in the astro world (e.g. Baader Hyperion) that are popular.
Also, I don't know what the focal length of the ED2 scope is though so it's hard to know exactly which eyepiece will provide a specific magnification.
Astronomical 1.25" eyepieces will have a rated focal length of their own... you need to know the focal length of the scope to calculate magnification. e.g. I use a Pentax XW14 on my Pentax scope, which is a 14mm focal length EP. The Pentax 65mm has a focal length of 390mm.... so 390/14 = 28x magnification. If I put the same eyepiece on a Pentax 80mm scope, which has a longer tube (focal length around 500mm) then the magnification would be about 35x with the same exact eyepiece.
henry link
Well-known member
The ED2 spotter focal length is 464mm.
