Zen-Ray binocular connection to CC board?

I not bashing but of all the message boards I visit, Zen-Ray binoculars are only mentioned on this board. Does the sponsor of this board sell them?

Don't bother replying how you love or hate them. I really don't care. I'm just curious why this is the only place I've heard of them.

I went searching for reviews and they all came back here. But some of the reviews were by fairly experienced people on the site. Based on this, I did purchase a pair and so far I am happy with them. I have had them for 3 weeks now and no complaints. I keep checking to see if reviews show up through other sites that specialize in optics. I see that one of them has put in categories for reviews but nothing populated as of yet. I will keep looking, and of course evaluation though test of my pair.

When I was looking for my binoculars back in June. There were not much information. But a recent search actually turned out many more discussion in other forums

Here is one. There is link at the bottom of the page.

Another optics review boards had several of their products listed for review. I think I will eventually write one once I use my summit more often. http://www.astronomyratings.com/product/products.php?sflag=z&cid=45

There is another good feedback on cloudynight from a respected member there. http://www.cloudynights.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/1917590/page/10/view/collapsed/sb/5/o/all/fpart/1

didn't see much details there though.

There are also several discussion on birdforum and several other boards. It seems the word is gradually getting out. Well, like the other poster, I am happy with both of my purchase, especially the summit one. Now I just need to keep on counting weeks before my cruise.

I am of the same mind as plenox on this one. I want to test them more before doing a review. I just need to get them back from my wife. She like the fact that they work well with her glasses.

We have had ours for over 3 months now and we do like them very much.

OP pilotdane - About a April of 2007 it became evident that a poster was touting Zen-Rays and he got booted off the boards. Those posts and a few more got wiped out after a CC'er conected the dots. I did a little poking around and found that they had worked a couple other boards as well.

I had ordered a pair and sent them back because they were of inferior quality, hence my interest. I hung around and posted some generic advice for people to check out some reviews and go look through some glass at their local store every time Zen-Rays popped up again. It happened so often I was worn out. I still believe that someone on these boards has an interest in Zen-Ray. And yes, they did advertise with CC, but I havn't seen them for a while.

I'm glad someone else

Oops!

I'm glad that someone else found this boards fascination with Zen-Ray somewhat curious.

I just bought 4 Nikon ATP's for friends and family. Nice little compacts...

Since this is already going, I'll add my agreement to what you're saying. As an avid outdoorsman and hunter, quality optics is not an option, but a requirement. Until joining CC I had never heard of Zen-Ray. I'm certainly not saying they're not good, but have always found it odd that other than here, nobody ever heard of them. They may be very good, but I think I'll stick with Nikon or Leupold fo what I use them for.

I am not an outdoor expert, so my comment here probably doesn't count that much. But I have been very happy with my zenray binoculars purchases. So is my husband. They are beautifully constructed. We can see it clearly without any issue.

I do want to share my experience to give kudos to zenray. When I placed my order, I added a neckstrap in the order as I was not paying attention that neckstrap is actually included in the binoculars. They emailed me to alert me this unnecessary purchase and refunded me difference. That was really something I had never experienced before.

I have heard that some of the whale watch biz companies come on here under different names and post rave reviews about themselves...but that is a rumor that I'd like to think isn't true...but I'm probably naive!!

Zen-Ray is a very new company, so the amount of review and testing that's been done can never compare to a Nikon, Steiner or Leupold. Also, CC has one of the highest post counts of most any forum out there, so it will be indexed often by Google, etc. No wonder all of the searches keep coming back here... it's a matter of volume.

 

That's a good reasoning. When I first started planning our Alaska trip, I posted a question in another competing forum and didn't get a single response until two weeks later. Then I found this great site and got a lot of help from many veteran cruisers here.

This love-it-or-hate-it affair with zenray reminded me an old thread back in the summer http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=582397. It was when one or two zenray competitors bashed and ridiculed whoever has good thing to say about zenray. But this time, trying to link a company with cruisecritic is just way out of line. If it were just couple of posters who tried to sell me a binocular, or sign me up for a whale watching tour, I think I know better than that. Something must have been done right when they got so many good reviews: ever heard of customer satifaction?

I have heard that some of the whale watch biz companies come on here under different names and post rave reviews about themselves...but that is a rumor that I'd like to think isn't true...but I'm probably naive!!

When someone posts rave reviews about a company I always look at their post count. If it is very few, I am suspect about the report. Plus, you can only mention a vendor's name when someone asks about an activity in that port that the vendor operates. When planning on Caribbean cruise earlier this year, one of the port boards had several posters with 2-3 posts each with great reviews about the same company. Very suspicious!

John

I not bashing but of all the message boards I visit, Zen-Ray binoculars are only mentioned on this board. Does the sponsor of this board sell them?

I also found it odd there was very little if any information on these binoculars except on the CC boards. I first heard of them while getting information to use on our 1st Alaska Cruise last June. I've been a couple of times to Homer fishing but never to any of the ports on our cruise. The guy that gave the Zen Rays a good review (Dave) was very helpful in all his post so I bought the Summits. It has been close to a year and so far I couldn't be happier. The fact I saved a couple of hundred dollars by not buying a comparable brand and seemingly comparable quality is indeed a nice bonus. The Summits are not as good as a $1000.00 pair of Swarovski's but neither are the $350 - $500 glasses either. IMHO

I'm just curious why this is the only place I've heard of them.

There seem to be several types of posters on these boards

A- The poster that received good information on ports (Skagway / Cozumel), places of special interest (hiking trails / museums), people that offer services (Dive shops / Float Planes) and sometimes products (binoculars / rain gear). They then try to pass this information on to others as a "pass it forward" payment for the information they received.

B- The person that has a special interest in the information they are passing on (friend in the business, employee of the service being touted).

C- Maybe they were just very impressed and wanted to tell others about the product, place or service they had dealings with.

D- Some just don't have anything else to do (usually very sarcastic posts where someone can hide behind the safety of the computer).

Most of the people that bought the Zen Rays posted they really liked them and as you read their other post you get a feeling they are just trying to be helpful. I do say be careful though as the one they call the great deceiver will probably be hard to recognize as a bad guy, and someone promoting a product or service on these treads might be hard to pick out of the crowd on either side of this or any other issue. However as pleased as I am with the Summits (and so far 3 of my friends) I still wonder myself why there is so little information out there except on this sight as they seem like a very good product?

Again just my own opinions

I have heard that some of the whale watch biz companies come on here under different names and post rave reviews about themselves...but that is a rumor that I'd like to think isn't true...but I'm probably naive!!

Like John, I look at the number of posts a person has to decide whether it has any credibility. Most of the people promoting their own companies are pretty obvious and have been called on it immediately. OTOH, some one-post-wonders here appear only to bash a particular company, so it can go both ways.

Murray

I too had a red-flag of curiosity when reading many postings on the ZenRays. I am a diehard sleuth of sorts and always review things more than most.

I was even more skeptical when I tried to check them out on Better Business Bureau and could find no trace of the company, however the many sincere reviews offset the "suspicious" ones and I decided to order a pair. (the price was attractive for what I wanted to spend)

I called the company before ordering. I got a recording and left my contact info. They responded within 30 minutes and a polite Asian gentleman was enthusiastic to promote the product. He even offered a shipping discount and reminded me to add the free monocle.

My order (Zenrays 8x42) arrived in only 2 days.....I was extremely impressed by my $129 ZenRays (but felt the monocle was lacking and I will give it away)

I am not new to binoculars and have two smaller pairs at home including a Bausch & Lome 9x22. I don't think my older ones will see much usage after jumping up to a whole new level with my ZenRays! Regardless, if they did any self-promoting to get the company moving (which will remain a mystery).....they do have a great product that is quality made, with a decent heft to it and most important....I love what I am seeing through them!

I bought them for my upcoming cruise but plan on using them daily through my kitchen window for the little critters and birds passing through my yard.

I too had a red-flag of curiosity when reading many postings on the ZenRays. I am a diehard sleuth of sorts and always review things more than most.

It's curious that you revived a thread that died more than 3 years ago to bring Zenray back to the front page :D

@Trailblazer.....I was amused at your retort! Too funny!

I ALWAYS research before I make any purchase. This thread popped up in my searches and peaked my interest (I too, had some concerns)

I assure you and anyone reading this that I am NOT affiliated with promoting ZenRays (lol)....I am just a meticulous buyer doing my legwork!

AND.... now that I've had my ZR's for over a month and a half.....I am very thrilled with them. I am using them daily for viewing the wildlife meandering in my backyard. And I would recommend them without hesitation.

PS: I ended up giving the free "monacle" as a birthday gift to my 9yr old nephew! It was perfect......he loved it :)