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Message: <blockquote data-quote="denco@comcast.n" data-source="post: 1565568" data-attributes="member: 25300">I have had my 7x36 ED2 Zen Rays for about a week know so I thought I would summarize my impressions of them. This review is subjective and to the point because I am kind of weary from reading all the reviews on these. I have never seen so much interest on ANY binoculars!1)STRAP It is shorter than the 8x43 ED and it has disconnects. It is still too long for me but most factory straps are. I prefer the Neoprene straps so I usually just go get a simple Vero Vellini(without the disconnects) over at Gander Mountain and shorten it by cutting it off and burning the ends with a soldering gun. Perfect strap now. I don't want the binoculars hitting my belt buckle and it is quicker to the eye if the strap is shorter. Problem solved!2)RAINGUARDSThese are fine. High quality and they fit tight! No problem here.3)OBJECTIVE COVERSNice quality but they are still too loose. I wonder if you could shrink them some way! Anyway with most of my binoculars I just order the Bushwacker objective covers from Eagle Optics(about$15.00). They are simple to install and I think they work better than any objective cover out there. The Zen Ray 7x36ED2 takes a #6. Problen solved!4) CASEIt is actually a pretty nice case but where do you put your strap? I like to put my strap INSIDE the case and then put the case strap over my shoulder. To do this takes a bigger case to hold the strap and binoculars. I bought a bunch of the Tamrac Binoculars cases which are a green nylon cordura nicely padded with their own strap and a big u-shaped zipper for easy acces at the top. Best case I have ever seen with plenty of room for your padded strap and nice protection for the binoculars. I don't think they are available anymore although you could buy them on E-bay UK for a while. I had an extra one which fit the Zens perfect. Problem solved!5)COSMETICSI feel the Zen's cosmetically are pretty nice in appearance. They might not be quite as nice as Swarovski or Zeiss but you are not paying $2000.00 either! It's kind of like comparing a Corvette to Ferrari. The Corvette will perform as well but it doesn't have hand stitched leather seats or a real wood dash. It depends on what is important to you. The Zen Rays optically will perform 95% as well as the Swarovski or Zeiss for a whole lot less money. Me, I will take the Corvette or the Zen Rays every time!6)FOCUSMy 7x36 ED2 focus has no backlash although I feel it is a little bit hard to turn. It is a little harder than my Nikon 8x32 SE's. The SE has a ribbed focus wheel instead of the little rubber strips so it actually easier to get a grip on it with your finger. I feel the Zen's focus is entirely acceptable though and I feel with time it will loosen up. Really no problem here although I feel there is room for improvement. Nikon LXL's still have the best focus action.7)OPTICSThis where the Zen Ray 7x36 ED2 shines. I compared it to my Nikon 8x32 SE which IMO is the best optics I have ever seen in any binoculars. No roof prism binocular is as good optically as the Nikon SE IMO so I consider it the benchmark to compare binoculars to. The Zen Rays were as good as any roof prism binocular I have ever used or compared to the SE. They are not quite as sharp as the SE's but they are VERY close. The Zen's have the advantage of the bigger FOV and they are VERY bright. The SE's are a little sharper at the edge but not much and when you consider how much bigger the FOV is on the Zens optical compromises dictate that the Zens should be a little less sharp at the edge. The sweet spot and color richness and lack of CA on the Zen's is awesome. Really comparable to any alpha binocular I have seen. I see the stray light issue everybody is talking about. But to notice it I had to look almost directly down from a 40 degree sun and kind of angle my eyes to see it which I really don't do very often! I see the same stray light with the SE although it is not quite as noticeable. I think we are expecting too much to not have ANY glare or stray light when you have the binoculars almost directly pointing at the sun. ANY binoculars will produce glare in that situation or any binoculars I have tried will and I have had alot of different binoculars. To me it is a non-issue and I think the people that are complaining about are being unrealistic.8)CONCLUSIONI find the Zen Ray 7x36 ED2 an awesome binocular and I like it better than the 8x43 ED2 because of the wider FOV and the brighter view with the dielectric prisms. I really like the size too! It is much smaller than the 8x43 ED and it fits my hands nicely. The bottom line is it is by far the best bargain out there in a high quality binocular. It is way better than the older alphas(Nikon LXL,Leica BN's) and very, very close to the top alphas(Zeiss FL's) for 1/5 the money.Dennis</blockquote>

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