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

ZEN ED2 9x36 (1 Viewer)

ceasar said:
I clicked on your advertisement on the top of the Binocular Sub-Forum page and did not see them there in the associated links so I assumed they had been dropped. The ad shows 14 binoculars listed.

Nice to know they are still available.

Bob
Click to expand...

ah.. that's our legacy site that's going to be sunset. We are still supporting it. Our new and improved site is http://www.zen-ray.com to enhance shopping experience for our customers.

Looks like I need to do my diligence to notify our BF webmaster sooner. lol Thanks a lot.
 
Last edited:
I got my Zen Ray ED2's 9x36 in the mail two days ago. So far I am loving them!!!!

PROS: CLEAR AND BRIGHT! Oh my lord, these are so much better than my old swifts. I can actually see birds. Ridiculously awesome! I like the magnification, the 9x is perfect. Totally worth the price I got em for!

Build quality is awesome, I feel like I could run a hummer over these babies, and they'd be fine (Not recommended).

They are still light though, I don't even notice them around my neck.

As for the strap, it's not too long at all, and pretty nice for an included strap. (Some people had been complaining about that on this forum).

CONS:
1. The focus wheel is super stiff, and makes a noise when turning. (Only when its completely quiet outside do I notice the noise).
This is kinda a bummer, because my old swift's focus wheel is like butter, figuratively of course.

2. When I am looking in the direction of the sun, I get a white lens flare type thing, dunno what its called, since I'm not an optical expert. But its pretty noticable even when 30 degrees away from directly into the sun. I had heard something about the Zen-Rays having this problem, but I heard it had been fixed with baffles or something.

3. Theres a little white speck in one of the lenses, not visible when looking through the binocs, but when you turn em around you can see it.

My old swifts have none of this problem. At all.

Oh, and a neutral point: When I got the binocs the label on the focus wheel came off without me even touching it, just fell off. I actually like it better without the ZEN ED2 text and all that on it, I've included a picture of it.

Overall, an AWESOME pair of binocs, just wish the looking towards the sun thing and the focus wheel stiffness would be a bit better.

Does anyone know if cons 1 and 2 are inherent to the ED2, or are an exception for my pair?

Thanks all, and THANKS SO MUCH ZEN RAY!

I'm off to add to my life list now, with a pair of binocs that actually let me see birds, as opposed to colored dots flitting around in the trees!
 

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Nomatic:

Send them back. Either you have really, really, really good hearing or something is binding when your turning the focus knob; thus creating the very stiff focusing and the noise. Call and describe your problems to Charles and he will probably send you another pair. Certainly Zen-Ray wants their badging on your binoculars and not off of your binoculars. They want everyone to know who made your excellent optics.

All the Zen-Ray binoculars that I've handled have had appropriate ease of focusing. If an o-ring is caught/binding, then when it breaks your focusing may be a lot easier, but you may no longer have waterproof binoculars. Zen-Ray has excellent customer service. Send them back.

bearclawthedonut
 
You might also want to ask Zen Ray about the glare problem you are getting. They supposedly fixed the problem with the 7x36s. I am curious to know if they also tried to fix the problem in the other models like the 9x36 and the 8x43. Thanks.
 
Hmm yeah, It does sound like something is scraping. Hopefully thats why the focus is so stiff. I'll call in the morning.

EDIT: Or maybe email, since their number isn't posted on their site. Will Charles get the email if I mail it to support@zenray? Or does he have an email addy?
 
ehrodz said:
You might also want to ask Zen Ray about the glare problem you are getting. They supposedly fixed the problem with the 7x36s. I am curious to know if they also tried to fix the problem in the other models like the 9x36 and the 8x43. Thanks.
Click to expand...


Yes, the glare issue has been fixed for all ED2 binoculars, including 8x43, 10x43 and 7 and 9x36. The glare is caused by reflection by internal housing. We have addressed this issue with improved baffle design. However, if you point the binoculars in the general direction of sunbeam, a lot of the "glare" is no longer caused by the internal reflection. Instead, the bright sun beam may travel directly inside the optical cone and greatly reduce the contrast of the image. Unless you step down the aperture size or move away from direct light source, you cannot avoid that type of glare by design improvement.

thanks

Charles
 
Nomatic:

I believe ZR's tel # is 503-360-5352? That's the tel # listed at the bottom of their home page on their website. Seems to me that they changed their number or added a new number at some point? Charles will respond to emails, but it might take a day or two? And remember that there is three hours time difference between Long Island and Oregon.
 
Funny how each new producer recognizes early that direct customer interaction and service is essential to achieve market success. So why do they forget as they get better established?
Most binocs last for many years without ever needing service. That is the basis for the long term guarantees that the alpha glass makers offer. It also supports a very generous customer care policy. The profit is not in the service, but in the customer and her longer term commitment to the brand, for herself, her family and friends. Even in the US, fewer than 10% of the people buy a decent binocular each year. An existing customer is your best prospect for another purchase. So it is crucial to keep them happy, or at least to keep them from getting unhappy.. This is marketing 101.
ZenRay gets it. Why do some others not?
 
etudiant said:
Funny how each new producer recognizes early that direct customer interaction and service is essential to achieve market success. So why do they forget as they get better established?
Most binocs last for many years without ever needing service. That is the basis for the long term guarantees that the alpha glass makers offer. It also supports a very generous customer care policy. The profit is not in the service, but in the customer and her longer term commitment to the brand, for herself, her family and friends. Even in the US, fewer than 10% of the people buy a decent binocular each year. An existing customer is your best prospect for another purchase. So it is crucial to keep them happy, or at least to keep them from getting unhappy.. This is marketing 101.
ZenRay gets it. Why do some others not?
Click to expand...

Even more puzzling is why it took, Leica, an "alpha" company, so long to offer the generous repair policies and good customer support (jury's still out on that last one) that even the New Kids On The Block offer?

They lost my business several times in the past because of their repair policy on "pre-owned" models did not match Nikon's.

As far as that stat about fewer than 10% of Americans buy a "decent" binocular each year (how decent is "decent" in $s?), binocoholics who buy binoculars like I buy veggie burgers probably make up the 90% difference. :)

Brock
 
Brock,
The Leica Goodwill policy began in Jan., 2008. Several new kids have arrived since then. It does seem like Zen might predate that a little bit.

It extends back through the full sized Trinovid BA, and even further, back to 1983, for their compact binoculars.

The Leica policy, on their website, was the first hit when I googled "Leica Goodwill Policy".
Ron
 
It seems the ED² 9x36 disappeared from Zen-Ray website ...
Does it mean that the current batch sold out and we're waiting for another one or does it mean this model is getting phased-out ?

Rémi (still waiting for his 10x43 ED² stuck in the customs ... |=o|)
 
ZEN-RAY said:
The 9x36 is a well balanced format, especially for users who are torn between 8x vs 10x debate.
Click to expand...

I agree with Charles here although I don't own his 9x36. I do have a vintage (1st generation 1983-1987) pair of Leupold Gold Ring 9x35 IF porros. Their coatings obviously are inferior to today's state of the art but they still provide a pleasant 7.3* view. More to the point I have a difficult time handholding 10x. These 9x represent the upper limit for me. Were I to not own them I suspect the Zen Ray 9x36 would be very tempting especially in light of the fact that I am extremely pleased with the 7x36 ED2s I own :t:
 
Were water a tad closer I'd hear bullfrogs when silence, for the most part, prevails.


6/2010-6/2011 and fade to obscurity. Four pages w/first saying nothing about the actual results of a 9X36 ED2. Finally, at the end of page two a somewhat glowing report from a gent that's been a member since 2006 and currently has two posts under his belt.

Next guy to review on page three has been a member since 11/10 and that was his only post. He concludes good, cheap and fuzzy edges.

Last review on page three is critical of glare, focus wheel noise/stiffness, white spec on the lens and focus wheel cover falling off, yet they're Ridiculously awesome!. This gent has eleven posts.

The start of the fourth page, post 76 lays dormant for a couple of months, wasn't a review, before I revive the subject matter of current reviews of the 9X36 ED2.

I don't have to be Joe Friday to notice a developing pattern occurring. Call me crazy, yet it seems that the regulars are avoiding the 9X36 ED2 as if it were the plague and have taken a vow of silence assuming, If you have nothing good to say then say nothing posture.

I'm not much on conspiracy theories and I'm all ears if I've misinterpreted the limited data.
 
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