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Zen Ray ED3: extended viewing

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Stud Duck View Drop Down
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    Posted: December/03/2011 at 06:24
I received my Zen's from SWFA yesterday; overall, I was impressed with the build construction and ergonomics of the Zen's. I had two minor issues with them and have already contacted Zen-Ray. 
 
Once I completed the initial focusing, I broke out my Swaro SLC's (old style-11 years old to be exact) to see how the two compared. Suprisingly, the Zen's are on par with the Swaros. I'll do a more in-depth comparison of the two as time permits.
 
Initially, I am impressed with the optical performance of the Zen's. Crisp, clear, no flaring issues, but this was just a quick comparison. The question is, for those of you who have owned your Zen ED3's for awhile, how do they perform when glassing over extended periods of time? i.e., hunting out West and glassing for hours on end. Do you notice any eye strain, headache or nausea from using the binos for extended periods of time?
 
Thanks.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Bird Watcher Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December/03/2011 at 08:36
Originally posted by Stud Duck Stud Duck wrote:

Do you notice any eye strain, headache or nausea from using the binos for extended periods of time?
 
ANY binocular that produces those symptoms is out of alignment and needs to be collimated.
 
My wife's first Leupold Katmai 6x32 caused immediate eyestrain.
I sent it in to Leupold, rather than repairing it, they replaced it.
 
Stan
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coyote95 View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote coyote95 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December/03/2011 at 10:12
How would you compare the edge to edge sharpness to your Swaro's ?
"Life is like riding a bicycle . To keep balance you must keep moving" Albert Einstein
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Klamath Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December/03/2011 at 10:43
Bird Watcher is right.  A well collimated binocular should not give you undue eye strain.  Having said that, you will give your eyes a workout, even with the best glass with extended use.  When we magnify the signals we send to the brain, stress is always on the table.  This old wives tale is en seen to promote the overall superiority of moe expensive glass is that you won't get eye strain.  I have a notion that that is what is behind the question.  Another thing seen over and over again is that you will glass right over something without seeing what an expensive glass will clearly show you.  Both are pretty much baloney.  There will likely be ultimately less strain at the end of the day with a top price glass, but if the collimation and the resolution differences between barrels are not great, typical use won't show much, if any eye strain difference.  If eye strain asserts itself probably depends on lots of things. 
 
 


Edited by Klamath - December/03/2011 at 10:49
Steve
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Bird Watcher Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December/03/2011 at 11:47
Originally posted by Klamath Klamath wrote:

If eye strain asserts itself probably depends on lots of things. 
 
One thing that I forgot to mention..........
Some of the binocular sages that I have read, on the internet, have stated that comfortable, extended viewing can be accomplished by the use of larger exit pupils.
 
Keep in mind the military's use of 7x50 binoculars with exit pupils of 7mm's.
 
Smaller Exit Pupils require more exact placement with daytime eye pupils which can be as small as 2mm's, in bright sunshine.
 
Failure to properly adjust binocular IPD can and does result in some degree of black-out in binoculars with smaller exit pupils.
 
 
 


Edited by Bird Watcher - December/03/2011 at 13:51
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Stud Duck Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December/03/2011 at 18:35
Originally posted by coyote95 coyote95 wrote:

How would you compare the edge to edge sharpness to your Swaro's ?
I only done a quick comparison....probably 30 minutes at best, switching back and forth between binos. I have read the Swaros have a larger sweet-spot, but I couldn't tell the difference between the two.
 
If I have some time this week, I'll check the edge to edge sharpness, but I will say this; when I trying to look at the extreme edges of the FOV with a set of binos, whether they are alpha glass or not, it usually strains my eyes and it is a frustrating exercise. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Bird Watcher Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December/03/2011 at 21:34
Originally posted by Stud Duck Stud Duck wrote:

when I trying to look at the extreme edges of the FOV with a set of binos, whether they are alpha glass or not, it usually strains my eyes and it is a frustrating exercise. 
 
Then don't look at the extreme edges for any length of time!
 
Looking straight ahead is normal vision;
no one goes through life torquing their eyes to the extreme left or right for more than a second or two.    
 
 


Edited by Bird Watcher - December/03/2011 at 21:35
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Klamath View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Klamath Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December/03/2011 at 21:55
The most un natural thing I think you can do with the human eye is to force it to look at the edge of the image in a binocular.  Why people get so obsessed with edge sharpness is sort of beyond me.  The edge needs to be sharp enough so peripheral movement is not obscured, and whatever forms of distortion there are (usually pincushion and field curvature) are done well enough that the distortion does not extend far enough into the center of the view as to become distracting.  In fact there is a nasty phenomena called rolling ball that happens when there is not enough pincushion distortion built into the edge of the field.  The magnification of the binocular also magnifies movement.  So in the case of rolling ball, the image is speeding up coming into the view on one side and speeding up going out of the view on the other side and the whole thing starts to look like it is rolling across the field of view.
Steve
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote JGRaider Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: December/04/2011 at 15:20
Originally posted by Bird Watcher Bird Watcher wrote:

One thing that I forgot to mention..........
Some of the binocular sages that I have read, on the internet, have stated that comfortable, extended viewing can be accomplished by the use of larger exit pupils.
 


Comfortable, extended viewing can also helped by using a tripod.
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