Leupold Vs Zen Ray

[CementFinisher]

Yes i know there have been post on both of these, however its been a while and pricing and models are different. I found a pair of Leupold Gold Ring 10x42mm HD Binoculars for $530 in supposed perfect condition. Good deal yes or no? OR would getting a pair of zen ray ed3 or prime be more bang for the buck? Which would be the best glass? Is there a store front for zen ray? or anywhere i could look through a pair? thanks

[Wacenturion]

Zen Ray without question.   Charles is a sponsor here.  Business is in Beaverton I believe.  Give him a call or PM.  He'll help you out.  Son and I both have ED 2's.  Can't imagine an improvement.

[whacker1]

I just upgraded to the Prime and have been extremely impressed, However that sounds like a very good deal on the Gold Rings

The Prime's are awesome.  I had the first version of the Zen Ray Ed's prior and there is a lot of improvement over the last 3 or so years.

[Steve C]

The new Leupold McKinley BX-4 HD is the optical equal of the older Gold Ring.  I have two of the McKinley from Leupold for review and they are very good binoculars.  They bear more than a passing similarity to the ZEN Prime HD too, what that might mean I'm not real sure about.  The McKinley has the full meal deal on warranty and service too.  Yeah, the warranty says "Limited Lifetime to the original purchaser", but Leupold won't ask for your original sales receipt.

Either the Prime or the McKinley is possessed of a wider and flatter field than the GR.

[CementFinisher]

I'm not so hot on leupolds newer binos. The quality just doesn't seem to be there. I've used all but the McKinley's in their newer lines. How long have you been using them? What for? What kind of abuse?

[Pathfinder101]

I just upgraded to the Prime and have been extremely impressed, However that sounds like a very good deal on the Gold Rings

The Prime's are awesome.  I had the first version of the Zen Ray Ed's prior and there is a lot of improvement over the last 3 or so years.

Same here.  I have the first edition EDs as well and love them.  From what I have heard about the Primes I may have to upgrade myself.  I know I have had a couple of buddies buy Zen-Rays after looking through mine.  I am also a high school shooting coach and use mine indoors as well for watching my shooters in matches.  The targets are very small (entire target about the size of a .50 cent piece, the bulls eye is literally the size of a pin-prick) and I use my EDs for scoring targets before they come off the line.  More than once another coach has looked through my binos and assumed they were a thousand dollar plus set. 
That being said, everything else I own is Leupold (rifle scopes, spotting scope, etc...).  I was actually shopping for a good used Gold Ring Bino when I tried the Zen Rays 3 years ago and was sold.  From what I could tell my EDs and the Gold Rings were the exact same quality back then.  I assume the new Primes are better, so I would go with the Zen Rays.

[Maligator]

I have the Zen Ray ED2s so I can't speak to the newest version but I can say that my binos are spectacular & I'm not sure how they could improve upon them aside from a slightly better fitting glass cover.

The glass is great & the color representation is wonderful. Just take a look through the Zen Rays & compare them to much higher cost glass & you'll understand the inherant value 

[Steve C]

I'm not so hot on leupolds newer binos. The quality just doesn't seem to be there. I've used all but the McKinley's in their newer lines. How long have you been using them? What for? What kind of abuse?

The McKinley is newly released and has only been available for a few days.  I use my optics as they need to be used.  Optics are precision instruments that should not be abused.  I always wonder at those questions.  I guess one way to put it, you do realize a binocular is not a cement finishing tool?

I'll say the McKinley looks like you could bounce it full force throw off a brick wall, dust it off and go use it.  Does that mean you will actually think you should be able to do that?  Now I happen to be serious when I say the McKinley looks hell for stout.  I use binoculars for something 365 days a year.  I'm a farmer and always have some on the 4 wheeler or in the pickup.

The ZEN Prime HD looks as stout as the McKinley HD.  Both look to be at least as durable as the Gold Ring.  If you can or will beat either of those two apart, I don't think your problem is build quality  .  In short they should be more than adequate for hard sustained USE as opposed to ABUSE.

At any rate you have Leupold's warranty and service to fall back on.  While the language in the warranty does say "Limited lifetime to the original purchaser"  Leupold told me they have not, do not and will not ever ask you for your original purchase receipt.  Send in your binocular or scope and they'll fix it.

[CementFinisher]

I love the golden ring scopes but their newer binos just havent held up to the country ive hunted. Steep country where you will fall and slide at some point, thick nasty stuff where they will get bumped. Also just quality in build, ive had to send in my cascades 3 times because the center focus wheel had failed. but the most important to me would be clarity and crsipness. Where are the mckinleys being produced?

[Steve C]

Asking where they are produced or who makes them are the wrong two questions to ask.  There are far fewer places that produce binoculars than there are "brands" of binoculars being sold.  The point is, it does not matter who it is that makes the binocular, or where who it is that makes it is located.  Every OEM facility in the world can make a wide range of products on the quality scale.  What you need to be concerned with is:
1-  The design, and the standards within the design
2-  The company
3-  The Quality Control standards applied to the product
4-  The warranty and repair service of the company

With regard to the McKinley, it is produced to the same technical standards of the Gold Ring.  There are (according to Leupold) fifteen quality checks in the assembly line at the factory.  Leupold puts them through another 45 checks before boxing them to send on their merry way.  These include bench tests of collimation, resolution, optical balance between barrels,  and light transmission.

It is a little early to see how well the McKinley will hold up.  They look like you could knock them off the tailgate of your truck with a baseball bat, pick them up, dust them off and go use them.  Any binocular is a precision instrument and cannot be made bomb proof indestructible. 

To answer the question, they are made in China.  For all I know, that is one reason there are all the checks, but the checks have been made before you get the binocular.

[MtnMuley]

I've been a big Leupold fan for many years.  Mostly spotters and scopes.  However, I'd personally choose the new Zen's over the GR HD's.  I'm not too impressed with those Leupys compared to comparable models these days.

[kerrdog]

I have the Zen Ray ED2s so I can't speak to the newest version but I can say that my binos are spectacular & I'm not sure how they could improve upon them aside from a slightly better fitting glass cover.

The glass is great & the color representation is wonderful. Just take a look through the Zen Rays & compare them to much higher cost glass & you'll understand the inherant value 

Even my Vista's are great.  Kinda heavy, but they look great.