3D Bino Test

[vichris]

I was shooting 3D last night and brought both my Leica Trinovids 8x42 that cost me $1200 and the Zen ED's 8x43 that cost me $359. We were shooting with another buddy who has a pair of Swarovski 8.5x42 EL's that cost him $1660. Our club is in the mountains of central New Mexico @ about 8400 ft elevation. We shot some very uneven terrain and we had some very long shots set up last night.

We all agreed to use each bino for 5 rounds (we shoot 15 rounds on our Thursday shoot at out club) and then compare notes at the end. I had the Trinovids for the first 5 stations then we all switched. I got the Zen ED next and then the Swaro for the last 5.

Although all of them are very good we all came to pretty much the same conclusion.

The Leica Triovids were the least favorite for all of us.

The Zen ED and Swaro were very close.

The Zen ED was best in field of view, flatness of field, edge to edge sharpness, and tied with the Swaro EL in resolution.

The Swaro was best in ergo dynamics, over all image quality, color rendition, chromatic abberation correction and tied with the Zen ED in resolution.

There was a little disagreement on edge to edge sharpness and over all image quality but we all agreed that both the Swaro and the Zen ED were the better choices. We all also agreed that the Zen ED is the BEST deal in binos on the market today.

 

[redrabbit]

The $1300 saved by the Zens over the Swaro ELs will pay for a lot of hunting permits or 3D fees. You could epoxy one of those Swaro Hawk pins on the Zens to satify some ;-)

Doug~RR

 

[NJS]

WOW... different day, different title, same message... Hope your chest doesn't bruise easily!

My son just got notified he drew a Desert Big Horn tag in NV. He has been applying for 11 years... We did the happy dance!!!

Yes, I will be using my over priced, technically challanged, sheep hunt proven, 20+ year old Leicas on this adventure... Hope they don't put us at to much of a disadvantage.

Sorry Vichris, I couldn't resist... Good luck on your 3D shooting and hunts!

NJS

 

[vichris]

Tell your son congrats on drawing that tough to get tag.

Belive me I'm not saying your (or my) Leica's are no good.

What I am saying is that times have changed. Lots of optics companies are offering some excellent options. Some as good or better than whats previously been known as the best. Besides your Leica's are 20 years old. Those are old technology. You don't even have the latest break throughs in coating and prism design. Give those old beaters to your son as a gift and get yourself something better................................................................................and less expensive

 

[Timberbuck]

LAST EDITED ON Jun-11-09 AT 02:16AM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Jun-11-09 AT 01:59?AM (MST)

Agree that the ZEN ED looks to be a great bino for the cash (and at any price). I am actually thinking of picking one up myself in 8x. The new Bushnell Legend Ultra also with ED glass looks to give the ZED and Promaster a run for the title of best glass for the price.

Thanks for the review

I would like to point out that if you are going to compare the ZEN to the top glass avaliable you need to compare it to the Leica Ultravid HD or Zeiss Victory FLT . These two represent the best avaliable at the moment.

The EL is actually a little behind the times in brightness and glass used. There should be an improved EL glass out any day now. Not to put the EL down, its a spectacular glass.

Did you compare the binos in low light? The El should have been the brightest glass with its diaelectric prism coatings vs. the old school silver prism coatings on the Trinovid BN and ZEN Ray.

Another point is quality of construction and durability-the top three have proven themselves over many years and models-as important as binos are on a hunt would you trust your hunt to a bino made in China????

Although the margin between the top glass and binos like the ZEN is getting closer all the time there is still enough difference to justify the cost IMO.