LAST EDITED ON May-13-09 AT 10:14AM (MST)[p]NJS
I wonder how much alpha cool aid you have in you? That's fine and I have no basic disagreement with your premise. As a matter of fact I am at this very moment seriously considering going for a Steiner Peregrine XP.
You have however, missed the point of the appeal of these binoculars. Your opinion is also pretty representative of the typical anti-reaction to the ZEN class of binocular.
For one thing if you are going to go hunting all over this wonderful earth and in all sorts of conditions, that likely means you have the $$$ to do it. In that situation you would of course be better served with an alpha binocular. The same thing probably applies if you have saved up for a once in a lifetime hunt. After you are that far in to it, an extra $1,500 probably does not add that much to the total package. On the other hand, maybe it does put it just too far out of reach. So, to make you happy, does one leave any "lesser binocular" home and go hunting without one? Not me, I would not hesitate to take mine out in the world on "Ole Paint" in a rainstorm. Hells bells, anything can go belly up in those sorts of worst possible scenarios (including Ole Paint). I will grant your point in that there is very likely, even certainly, something to the exorbitant cost of the alpha that justifies the price.
That gets us to the appeal of these binoculars. Now, for the first time ever, for a reasonable mid level price, somebody with $500 in his outdoor gear funds stash instead of $5,000, can get top quality optics. Yes the test of time does indeed lie ahead. But name me a company that did not start out new.
My first exposure to this basic binocular was a review process initiated by our friend Doug at Cameraland. He sent out for review some absolutely unmarked review samples of the Promaster Infinity Elite ELX ED (god what a name). So when we got them, we did not know what they were, where they came from or what they would cost. That opened a lot of eyeballs on one hand, and on the other hand a few eyeballs jammed shut when China came up. The Promaster is the same basic binocular as the ZEN ED.
So think what you will about China (I truly wish these things had "Made in the USA" on them, but they don't). What you need to have in mind that the old golden standard "cheap Chinese Junk" argument does not apply here. The apparent build quality is on par with what you see in a Vortex Razor, for example.
The OP of the thread, vichris, maybe needs to own up to his 20+ years in the optics business. Take one of these apart and report maybe?
Use your alpha with confidence, but try to avoid looking down on somebody who does not have the cash for a $2,000 binocular. There is a lot of hunters there. If you do look through the other threads (many are mine) you will see, that nobody (including me) who ever reviewed these has held they were the absolute equal of the alpha class binocular.
So to close this out, a hunter is a hell of a lot better of in any sort of condition with one of these, than with nothing. He certainly gives up nothing in durability to any othe mid price glass, may of which have indeed been out in the rain on Ole Paint.
