Zen Ray ED 8X43 Review and field use

A lot has been written on popular birding, hunting and sporting optics forums about the new crop of Chinese ED 8x43 and 10X43 bins. Promaster Infinity Elite ELX (what a name), Hawke Frontier ED and the Zen Ray ED all being different flavors of the same bin. There are subtle differences between them such as change in coatings, Different FOVs, differences in retail packaging's but all in all they are one and same bin, but marketed by different vendors. Even eagle optics has its own version of this bin which goes by the name of Atlas optics.

These have already acquired a fair number of fans who see these bins as a $350 - $400 equivalent of an alpha bin. Some have even sold off their expensive Victories, Trinovids, SLCs, ELs and LX-Ls in favor of these Chinese bins as these easily seem to surpass, at least optically, the earlier generation alphas.

I was looking for a water proof roof prism full sized 8X43 bin to complement my existing 8X32 and 10X32 bins so decided to order the gen 1 Zen Ray ED 8X43. I chose the Zen Ray over the other flavors simply due to the excellent customer service being provided by Zen Ray in the USA from where I ordered these.

I got these for $370 shipped in the USA. These were subsequently delivered to me here in India by a friend who was visiting.

After reading all the rave reviews I expected a lot out of these alpha beating bins.

Physical attributes:

The box is a good looking black colored one with the bins inside a hard plastic case which IMHO is a very useful accessory especially for carrying these without worrying about bumps and hits. The strap is well padded and is very comfortable in use, though is slightly long. The tethered objective covers are are well fitting and do not fall off easily. The ocular covers have the strap loop on the wrong side and is a minor inconvenience.

The open bridge design provides a good grip and finishing of the bin is of a very high quality. Setting the IPD by flexing the bridge is a tough exercise as the joint is a bit tight. Eye cups are pretty good and they provide 2 lockable positions for setting the eye relief. The diopter setting on the right ocular is not lockable but is stiff enough to hold its position.

The bins seem very light for a full size bin and seem to have purple colored coatings on the objective lens.

Optical Attributes:

The color, contrast, FOV and sharpness of this bin is certainly better or at least as good as anything that I have had the privilege to see through. It is sharper than my Nikon LX-L 10x32 and the Celestron Ultima 8X32. The contrast is maybe a mite less than the Celestron but I have a feeling that it is better color corrected than the Celestron. The Celestron shows colors that are richer than they actually are. The FOV rated at 426 feet/1000 yards seems to be the same as the Celestron.

Field Use:

Its still monsoon here in India so when I took the Zen Rays out for birding to look for early migrants, I was pleased with the color rendition and the sharpness of these. These bins are brighter than my other bins and the Red shanks and the Green shanks have never looked as good as when viewed through these. A lone Indian eagle Owl in the failing evening light was sight to behold especially after the 32 mm bins could no longer keep up with the Zen Ray. The Zen Ray was usable for at least another 20 minutes before it was too dark to see anything. Edge sharpness is nothing too great and nowhere near the perfect edge sharpness of the Nikon LX-L. The edges do not reach focus even if you try to, unlike the Celestrons. However the huge field of view makes this a non issue.

So with such stellar optical attributes this must be the perfect bin. But alas this bin too has its share of problems. For one the the focus is painfully slow. Even the slow Celestron seems to be lightning fast as compared to the Zen Ray. However the focusing is very precise and the huge Depth of Field does not require constant refocusing.

The biggest flaw of these bins is the stray light issue. I see a thin grey/white arc near the bottom of the edge. The reason for this is the reflection at the bottom of the exit pupil which can be clearly seen if one holds the bin about a foot or 2 away. One can clearly see the bright reflective edge of the bottom of the exit pupil. A better alignment of the exit pupil to your eyes does reduce it somewhat but it cannot be completely eliminated. This is a nuisance to me and I am trying to adapt and get rid of this or at least get used to it. Lot of people have noticed this but sadly not much can be done about this as this is a design issue and one will have to live with it. However I have written to Zen Ray about this and they have decided to take a look at this issue and send me a better specimen here in India as and when I can send it back to them. So full marks to their excellent customer service

So in spite of all these irritants the the view through the Zen Ray is so good that I am able to look beyond these and make it my primary birding glass.

Nikon LX-L 10X32 and Celestron Ultima 8X32 DX Review and Comparison

I started out birding after I fell in love with all the beautiful avian creatures I had the privilege to see in Dec 2007 at the Kanha National Park In India.
I came back home in Mumbai still in awe of the beautiful birds I saw not to mention the wonderful sighting of the magnificent male tiger that I can never ever forget even if i suffered permanent amnesia.

I came back and realized that there are definitely a lot more birds around me than I ever thought there were. Suddenly I started seeing species of birds that I never knew existed, besides the usual Rock Pigeons, Sparrows, Egrets and Crows.

I had an old Nikon Action 16X50 which was used as my primary birding glass for a long time even though it was badly out of collimation. My wife complained of constant headaches on using these which forced me to buy her an Olympus 10X50 trooper, which unfortunately is the only easily available binoc here in India.

After the uncollimated Actions, this was like 'WOW'. The difference was that huge. I almost could never find any bird due the severely restricted FOV of the Actions, and not to mention, I had to constantly remove my glasses to be able to see the full FOV as it has a very bad Eye Relief. But I continued birding with my Actions and my wife continued birding with here troopers for at least a year.

Soon after researching on the internet I knew that I needed better glass and so after lots of reviews and forum topics I zeroed upon the Nikon LX-L 10X32 and the Celestron Ultima DX 8X32.

The idea here was to have a 10X and an 8X in both the porro and a roof design and see for ourselves what magnification suit us better before we could commit to a Zeiss FL or an EDG later.

It is impossible to try out binocs here in India and then return them if they did not suit you. I knew I was taking a big risk with the 10X32 but I was sure the optics of the Lx-L would not be mediocre by any standards.

I then had a Nikon LX-L 10X32 and the Celestron Ultima 8X32 delivered by a friend who was on a visit to India and now the Olympus has been relegated to just a backup binoc which neither of us want to use.

Nikon LX-L 10X32

I really wanted this binocular to outclass the Celestron Ultima in just about every department to justify the $699 that I spent on these.


Out of the box, which is made in China, the leather pouch which held these binoculars is of a very high quality. But it does not have a carrying strap and I wish it came with one. The binoculars are made in Japan and are beautifully finished with a thick rubber armoring and a solid build. These definitely look like they will serve me for a long time without anything failing or breaking.
The 3 stop locking rubber eye cups are very well made and the eye relief is more than generous to use with my eye glasses. I loved the locking diopter adjustment and smoothness of the focusing knob. The eyepiece covers and the objective covers are really poor in their intended purpose and are loose enough to fall off and get lost within no time if the binocs are left hanging around your neck with the covers on.

The 340 feet at 1000 yards / 6.5 degree FOV is better than most 10X binocs out in the market. This was the primary reason I went in for the 10X32 Nikon LX-L. I wanted a binoc with 10X mag and a wide field of view that had a relatively small, compact body.

The Optics of this binocular are first rate. The view is very relaxing and the binocular totally disappears once I start viewing through it. By this I mean there is absolutely no tunneling or the impression of viewing through a tube. All I see is the crisp, unfatigued view without any black walls or obstructions on the sides.

Sharpness is very good right up to the edge without any noticeable field of curvature. The focusing is perfect for a birding binocular if you ask me. Very fast and precise. Half a turn of the extremely smooth focusing wheel is all it takes from close distances to relatively long distances in the region I usually find my birds at. Depth of field is quite shallow especially compared to my 8X Celestron. But the fast focusing more than makes up for it. I need more testing to really compare the DOF between these 2 binoculars.

Sharpness is about equal in both the Celestron and the Lx-L especially at the centre but the Celestron has a slightly better contrast and a certain 3D like effect as compared to the LX-L. At the edges there is absolutely no contest as the LX-L trounces the Celestron which has a significant field of curvature at the outer 20% of the FOV.

The only flaw of the LX-L worth mentioning is a little amount of CA I sometimes see as compared to the Celestron. It does not really bother me too much but better CA control would have surely made this a much better binoc than it currently is. I guess this is the only Achilles heel of the LX-L line of binocs which other wise compare quite well, as I have read, with the other big 3 binoc manufacturers.

Celestron Ultima 8X32 DX

I got these at $89 at Eagle Optics. I got these purely on the excellent reviews at Birdforum, which had pretty good things to say about them.

Out of the box these came in a soft reczine pouch with an attached carrying strap. The objective covers, just like those of the LX-L, are too loose to be of any use on the field. The Celestrons are not as heavy as I thought they would be and the weight disappears as soon as I put them to my eyes. The LX-Ls just seem too small in comparison especially when I put them to my eyes. I guess its a simple case of porro ergonomics versus the roofs. The Focus is smooth but not silky smooth as the LX-L's. The diopter setting is not lockable but fortunately its rigid enough to stay in its place even with heavy use. The strap is too thin and can be pain after some prolonged use. I have replaced this with the thicker Nikon Action 16X50 strap and now this is much better. The eye relief at 16 mm is adequate for me to see the full FOV with my glasses but is definitely less than the similar 16 mm listed on the Nikon's.


A FOV of 429 feet at 100 yards was the primary reason I purchased these. The field is wide and I no longer struggle to find birds in heavy wooded areas and green canopies as I did earlier. Initially I thought the the Celestron's were sharper at the centre than the LX-Ls but on closer observation I found this due to slightly better contrast and a certain 3D effect that LX-L lacks. Towards the edges sharpness drops off but the loss of sharpness is purely due to field of curvature and a slight twist of the focus wheel brings sharpness back to
the edges but with the penalty of a dreamy, unsharp center. However this is not a concern as the huge FOV brings a lot of area within the sweet spot and the unsharp edges are not a deal breaker at all atleast for me.

Focusing is quite slow as compared to the LX-L, but then I have read that the LX-L focusing is amongst the fastest. 1-2 turns of the focusing wheel is the region I usually find most my birds at. DOF is definitely better than the LX-L so slow focusing has not really bothered me.

CA control is better than the LX-L and the view though quite good is not as relaxing or comforting as the LX-L. Just as the LX-L 'disappears' as soon as I put it to my eyes the Celestron does not 'disappear' and its just there. This should not be confused with eye fatigue or anything but somehow I prefer the view of the LX-L, but by itself the Celestron is just fine. I really have no other words to describe this :-)

I am not sure how I should really believe in Celestron's claim of these being waterproof and fogproof as I have already had fungus and mould problems inside the Olympus trooper as well as the Nikon Action which are both porro prism designs. I am sure the LX-Ls will have no such problems but only time will tell.

Finding birds with the 8x binocs is so much easier that I am thinking of buying another 8x pair for my wife who primarily uses the LX-L. Lets see if my next pair will be the Zen ray 8x43 or the LX-L 8X42 :-)