Hi,
has anyone compared the Zen Rays, 7x36 and 7x43, and the Meopta Meostar 7x42?
Thanks for any input.
I am short on time at the moment but will try to post some later. I have owned all three though not at the same time. I do have both Zen Ray models now and will try to do a comparison for you.
The good news is that I should have a new pair of 7x43 ED3s arriving today. Past comparisons between the 7x36 ED2 and the 7x43 ED3 were with a prototype of the latter. A three way comparison should prove interesting...
....plus I have really been focused on 7x bins lately and have purchased several older porros models to use as reference points.
The 7x43 production model didn't arrive today. Probably tomorrow....stinkin' holiday shoppers.
;-)
Just some thoughts though on the three bins in question.
The Meopta has the largest sweet spot (going by the 7x43 prototype) with the flattest field because of its design. The optical negative is that it does have a slight yellow color bias though not as much as the 8x42 model. CA is well controlled but not as well as the ED glass bins.
The ZR 7x36 has the widest field of view and controls CA very well. The image is brighter than any other 36 mm roof I have owned and reasonably comparable to the Nikon 7x35 E FMC that I owned. The image between these two is very comparable if you rule out the much smaller field of view of the Nikon and the edge performance of the ED2. The Nikon may be a tad sharper but it is difficult to tell at times. Probably the biggest issue folks have with the ED2 is the edge performance. It is a combination of field curvature and pincushion distortion and occupies a bit more of the field of view than some people would like. I did not have an issue with it that much in the last unit I had on hand.
The ED3 prototype is a bit different animal than either of the other two. It is the brightest and sharpest of the three with a very neutral color representation and, again, literally no CA in the image. The image is almost as flat as the Meopta. The only optical negative of the prototype is that it has noticeable astigmatism in the outer 1/3rd of the field of view...very similar to the Zeiss FL. I am hoping the production unit does not display this to this degree.
Those are the optical summaries. Physical differences are worthy of an entirely separate post as they are more disimilar than similar.