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.