No more Summit/Vista binocs at Zen-Ray

[ready4alaska]

(This may have been posted already - apologies if so.)

 

If you're waffling about getting binoculars from Zen-Ray, be advised that they're all out of the Summits and Vistas. There are still Mariners in stock.

 

I emailed the company this morning and asked about expected delivery dates, and received this from them:

 

We are going through some major product revamp for 2009 models. A new

and improved VISTA will be available in early September, and a new

SUMMIT design will be available in Q4 of this year. Those new

introductions will continue our commitment for the best quality, best

service and best value tradition. We are very excited about those

development that is going on here at Zen-Ray Optics.

I had bought a couple of Summits already and was waiting for another payday to get the third pair. Oops! :eek:

 

I hope my DD, age 13, doesn't notice that she's got the Jasons . :D

[Cincy Gal]

Glad I got my pair last week :D.

[kenish]

A good alternative to Z-R is Vixen. Full disclosure, a friend is in the telescope / astronomy business and Vixen is one of his lines.

 

Vixen is Japanese and makes high-end telescopes and reasonably priced binocs. They are a price point above Z-R but seem to have good customer service...I was trying to phone Z-R but the only way to contact them seems to be email. Vixen was totally reachable by phone.

 

Because of a change in distribution agreements, the US distributor is having a clearance sale: http://www.vixenoptics.com/sports.htm

 

Forestas are the high-end model, made in Japan. Alpina and Atrek are mid and budget models and are made in China. They are roof prism which are more compact (straight-through barrels instead of "jogged"). We are borrowing my friend's Forestas and bought an Alpina ($150). They are pretty close in image quality, and the Alpinas are more compact.

 

Worth a look!

 

PS- If you're willing to spend about $500, the image stabilized Nikons are amazing!

[ready4alaska]

Hi, Kenish --

 

I bought an Alpina ($150).

 

I was all set to spring for an Alpina, but the current price on the website is $229, not $150! That's just a bit too much for us right now.

 

They look like good glasses, though!

 

Thanks,

Nancy

[Crusin Karen]

Thanks for the heads up. I was going to order a pair in mid August for our Sept/Oct/Feb/Aug/Sept bang bang bang bang cruises! :D Guess I'll have to wait. BTW, what is Q4??

[msmoger]

BTW, what is Q4??

 

 

4th Quarter of 2008 (October thru December).

[kenish]

Hi, Kenish --

 

I bought an Alpina ($150).

 

I was all set to spring for an Alpina, but the current price on the website is $229, not $150! That's just a bit too much for us right now.

 

They look like good glasses, though!

 

Thanks,

Nancy

 

Sorry Nancy, I posted the manufacturer's link instead of the US distributor (with the clearance sale): http://www.vixenamerica.com/StartPage/

 

You should be happier with their price, click on Alpina near the bird in the upper left of the page.

 

Ken

[kGCAL]

I just saw their vista is back and also taking pre-orders for Summit. We bought one of each for our trip last christmas. We use them every day. As Budget queen warned us, we didn't realize how vast Alaska and Denali is until we actually stepped on it. These gears definitely helped.

[plenox]

that's a great news. We bought summit from zen-ray before. The quality is just outstanding. It is much cheaper than similar glasses we have seen in store. I need to get a couple of more for our 8 people group next year. Their sight is http://www.zen-ray.com/store