Steve C
Well-known member
I remember when the "Made in China" sport optics were being aimed at hunters and some pulled out the old cliche "Better Dead than Red," but now if you read Optics Talk and 24hrcampfire, you'll find a lot of discussions about Chinese-made sports optics.
Brock
None of the "Made in China" comments are really positive on the 24 HR and an absolute deal killer for many there, at least those who post the most. It is an albatross around the neck.
The ZEN Prime is real close to the alpha level, so it is no great stretch to think the next step is impossible. In fact...FWIW...a Swarovski guy at a show looked me straight in the eye and said he had no doubt whatsoever that the Chinese Optics industry was completely capable of exactly replicating the Swarovision and the SLC-HD. Whether by reproducing that design or one of their own.
What they need is a reason to do so. I think many companies are completely content with the sample variation and QC they get from China. It seems to me that many US companies are FAR less concerned today about quality than they used to be. We are in the Bean Counter phase of profit. Cheaper to replace a lesser item. So when the Chines Optics industry gets proper motivation to produce demonstrably superior optics...they will.
BTW, if I'm the guy you meant about working their booth and having some connection with ZR, I will point out that I never said the Prime HD was their answer to the SV. I in fact strongly advised ZR against naming it the "Zen Ray Vision HD". What they intended to do with the Prime was to provide a significant improvement to their ED 3 series and included in the improvements was the addition of a flat field. I think they did that. Having said that, it is logical to assume the flat field of the SV is a logical point of comparison. ZR realizes that. I think they probably drew a few sales for a good, relatively inexpensive, flat field binocular, but Charles never intended tor the Prime to go head to head with a SV. Too much gap.
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