Telescope Reviews: Zhumell 20x80. On sale.

When you see bargains like this, it's bound to cause some discussion on numerous sites. Sometimes the discussion lacks complete facts and gives a one-sided viewpoint, as in a recent exchange on another website.

Someone chimed in that these seem to be getting good reviews. Yes they have I responded, but not all reviews were all good and that I had reviewed this binocular (under a different brand name).

That Zhumell model 20x80 is similar in design to the Garrett Optical Gemini “LW” 20x80 at $189. But obviously for a difference in price of $110, there are some unseen differences between these two binoculars. Another brand that is similar in design is the Anttlers Optics 20x80 Sky Sweeper, but there it is $149. You will see if you look closely at these binoculars, you are looking at identical appearing binoculars. For those that might remember them, this Zhumell binocular is built on the old “back end” of the Burgess Optical 20x80. The prism housing/assembly is identical. However, each of these suppliers uses different components, some use different eyepieces and some use different levels of coatings. What we can't see is that they may use different quality levels of polish and QC. These differences help account for some of the difference in cost. Another very similar binocular to this design is the Celestron Skymaster 20x80 at $179. Some of these I mention here are NOT fully multicoated. For a long list of all the other potential differences between these binoculars refer to the articles I referenced earlier.

One of the most important passages out of that article is
...keep in mind the importance of image quality and contrast. Contrast is the one characteristic of the view that you can't tell by the numbers. Resolution is another. Contrast is almost always increased in higher quality instruments and is generally lower in bargain instruments. This shouldn't come as much of a surprise. It is the quality of the optical components and execution of design that results in good contrast. This is not nearly so important for looking at point sources, but is much more important for looking at diffuse targets.

The poster repiled:
[I'm buying them because of the comments of two people that have actually
looked through them, .....
If you have looked through them and found them repulsive then it is 1
against and 2 that say there a good buy for the buck. ]

Well I had not reviewed this particular Zhumell brand, I had reviewed the similar Anttler Optic 20x80. I included the Anttler 20x80 in a series of tests with several 70mm and 80mm binoculars, including the Garrett Gemini WP 20x80 masked down to a 20x70 for all the tests. My findings showed the Anttler 20x80 beat out the old Burgess 20x80 but could not quite keep up with the Oberwerk Ultra 15x70 or the GO Gemini masked to 20x70.

But, just to be fair, I did a bit of research on the Cloudy Nights posts regarding the Zhumell 20x80. Since September 2007 we’ve had several hundred posts on this product. Just a quick check shows almost equal opinion on these.

We’ve had 15 reports (16 now with Mike's post just above here) from people who bought them and report that they were keeping them. Several "reviews" lack any objective tests but these people report they are the greatest binocular they’ve ever used. And several other "reviews" are fairly balanced reviews pointing out both good and not so good qualities.

We’ve had 13 members report they were unusable out of the box and they sent them back. One member gave good advice and cautioned to check shipping costs as he got stung for those, apparently both ways. One member bought two pair from a place that has zero shipping cost, chose the better one and sent the other one back.

So on balance, in 5 months of reports in this forum, just over half the Zhumell specific reviews are positive and a sizable number of people have returned these as unacceptable. Some of those people had responded back later that, if they ordered a replacement and kept the second one, I counted them once as un-satisfied and then once as satisfied. Only a very few ordered a second pair, most did not. One of those that ordered a second pair also sent back the second pair, so was counted un-satisfied twice.

So the counts posted above actually reflect not number of people but number of binoculars delivered. CN posts reflect a record of 16 keepers and 13 returns. I guess you could say, it's the luck of the draw on this one.

edz

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