So, my Binoculars grew some legs....

[Paul_T]

Still running old Monarch 5's 10x42 - they serve me well.

Not sure what the M7 series offer over the M5 (for another $200+).

edit: better glass and wider field of view, shorter eye relief
http s://www.birdwatching-bliss.com/nikon-monarch-binoculars.html

 

[legi0n]

Back in the wee years ol maw yews'd tuh run a string thru me arms sleeves and ty me mitts so they'd dangle jest below me tumbs.
Maybe ahh bino braw would worky mawr bettermint then leaf'in them awn the rear bumper............?.........................

that makes so much sense
sometimes I wish vehicles didn't have bumpers

 

[Hunter7]

I’ve got a set of 10x42 Steiner Predators and they are awesome. I went in initially thinking I was going to buy Vortex, looked through several models and the Predators were far superior in clarity hands down.

I also own Steiner Predator 10x42 binoculars. Mine are the new porro prism auto/fixed focus model, not the roof prism model, love them, great binos for the money.

 

[FLHTCUI]

Back in the wee years ol maw yews'd tuh run a string thru me arms sleeves and ty me mitts so they'd dangle jest below me tumbs.
Maybe ahh bino braw would worky mawr bettermint then leaf'in them awn the rear bumper............?.........................

Smartzz Azz !!!!

 

[kamlooky]

...........sigh..............

 

[AP]

From Nikon Canada website: lifetime warranty on binocular optical components, 7 years on non-optical components. It is not, however, a no-fault warranty. Not sure why the caution about Nikon(?)

Correct - I am not sure why the caution on Nikon.... and anyone bad mouthing Nikon's binocular warranty is sadly misinformed; I purchased a used Nikon Nippon Kogaku 8x,30 binoculars decades ago ... these binos are porroprism and were manufactured in the late '50's - mid '60's. They fell off a shooting bench on to concrete and the collimation was displaced just a touch off .. you only noticed it if you looked at a horizontal line like a wall and rapidly blinked your eyes right/left. I called Nikon Canada but they apologized and said the binoculars were so old (at least 50 years) that they werent sure anyone could service them .... I appealed to the service manager who said to bring them in and they would have a look. 10 days later I got them back working perfectly ... NO CHARGE!!! I have numerous Nikon products including their more recent 'E' porroprism binoculars, a spotting scope and almost a dozen lenses etc ... I have absolutely NO complaints!

That is something I cant say about Steiner ... Steiner is a Chinese made binocular masquerading as EURO optics ... which it is not. In fact the only 'complete' failure of a binocular I have witnessed in the field was a Steiner 'Whitetail' that after limited (and gentle) use ... had an internal lens come loose - making them useless. and they arent exactly giving them away. Steiners would not be on my shopping list - others may have different experience.

If you are going to buy Chinese glass which is fine because imo some of the factories producing optics in China use only the last robotic equipment and turn out pretty good stuff! ... I think the discontinued Leupold Katmai and Yosemite binoculars are/were terrific value ... particularly the 6x,30 Yosemite which had great FOV, ideal for hunting, and were sold for under $125Cdn.

But you cant go wrong with Nikon binoculars and they cover every price point right up to the WX IF 7x,50 which are on sale right now for about $9300 plus tax (but currently out of stock) . They are extraordinary glasses and have a 10.7 deg field of view. Personally for hunting ... I would be looking at the Nikon Aculon 7x,35 with their 9.3 degree fov and only $114 cdn ... then if you lose them .. its not a huge deal. Of course as others have said, the Monarchs are excellent and are more expensive of course but they are all excellent right up to the HG models.

 

[FLHTCUI]

Thanks for the input AP. very informative from your personal experience.
Thanks Again to all who have poked and prodded in fun/jest and of course the important part...recommendations and offers as well.
My hunting season is winding down so maybe in the late winter early spring I'll start looking for the new binos.
Regards,
Rob

 

[medvedqc]

Be a little careful if you're thinking of Nikon. Check to see if they're still honoring the warranty.

From Nikon Canada website: lifetime warranty on binocular optical components, 7 years on non-optical components. It is not, however, a no-fault warranty. Not sure why the caution about Nikon(?)

Long time fan of Pentax and Nikon binos for hunting ... with the nod going to Nikon Monarchs for me. I think they are like a version 5 or something like that now.

However, I have moved to Athlon with the ED glass. Wow, definitely a step up for similar money.

I do alot of LR glassing for shooting and spotting.

PM or email if I can help Thanks

Jerry

Correct - I am not sure why the caution on Nikon.... and anyone bad mouthing Nikon's binocular warranty is sadly misinformed; I purchased a used Nikon Nippon Kogaku 8x,30 binoculars decades ago ... these binos are porroprism and were manufactured in the late '50's - mid '60's. They fell off a shooting bench on to concrete and the collimation was displaced just a touch off .. you only noticed it if you looked at a horizontal line like a wall and rapidly blinked your eyes right/left. I called Nikon Canada but they apologized and said the binoculars were so old (at least 50 years) that they werent sure anyone could service them .... I appealed to the service manager who said to bring them in and they would have a look. 10 days later I got them back working perfectly ... NO CHARGE!!! I have numerous Nikon products including their more recent 'E' porroprism binoculars, a spotting scope and almost a dozen lenses etc ... I have absolutely NO complaints!

That is something I cant say about Steiner ... Steiner is a Chinese made binocular masquerading as EURO optics ... which it is not. In fact the only 'complete' failure of a binocular I have witnessed in the field was a Steiner 'Whitetail' that after limited (and gentle) use ... had an internal lens come loose - making them useless. and they arent exactly giving them away. Steiners would not be on my shopping list - others may have different experience.

If you are going to buy Chinese glass which is fine because imo some of the factories producing optics in China use only the last robotic equipment and turn out pretty good stuff! ... I think the discontinued Leupold Katmai and Yosemite binoculars are/were terrific value ... particularly the 6x,30 Yosemite which had great FOV, ideal for hunting, and were sold for under $125Cdn.

But you cant go wrong with Nikon binoculars and they cover every price point right up to the WX IF 7x,50 which are on sale right now for about $9300 plus tax (but currently out of stock) . They are extraordinary glasses and have a 10.7 deg field of view. Personally for hunting ... I would be looking at the Nikon Aculon 7x,35 with their 9.3 degree fov and only $114 cdn ... then if you lose them .. its not a huge deal. Of course as others have said, the Monarchs are excellent and are more expensive of course but they are all excellent right up to the HG models.

i will say the same as most: nikon monarch 5. we had monarch 3 atb over 10 years and used them while guiding in the worst conditions you can think and they lasted. then they started to fog up. i contacted nikon canada was asked at first the receipt i did not have for the 2 pairs and after travis went in i received a pair of 8x40 and a 10x40 monarch 5 and they re great.

good luck in your choice but not worry about warranty with nikon. now on the riflescope that will be different ...

nikon monarch 5 are made in china but that is not the problem as if the builder is checked enough they will produce quality.

 

[Longstud]

Just a suggestion. I’d be checking the EE cuz lately there’s been some smoking deals on real quality binos. Steiner 8x56 predators brand new for $500. That’s real quality for real cheap!! Of course they sold real quick.

 

[sillymike]

Have you checked with Doug at CameralandNy ? Great place for bino's... they often have "demo" sale.

- I'm pretty sure I had some Minox 8x42 BL listed on the EE a while (OK, maybe a few years ago ) can't seem to find the add. Seems like we were always grabbing the wife's 8x32.

If buying new, Kowa make some nice binos and I think their YF porro prism are punching well above their price point (they're not that much $$) Same can be said about Pentax.

 

[Hunter7]

Correct - I am not sure why the caution on Nikon.... and anyone bad mouthing Nikon's binocular warranty is sadly misinformed; I purchased a used Nikon Nippon Kogaku 8x,30 binoculars decades ago ... these binos are porroprism and were manufactured in the late '50's - mid '60's. They fell off a shooting bench on to concrete and the collimation was displaced just a touch off .. you only noticed it if you looked at a horizontal line like a wall and rapidly blinked your eyes right/left. I called Nikon Canada but they apologized and said the binoculars were so old (at least 50 years) that they werent sure anyone could service them .... I appealed to the service manager who said to bring them in and they would have a look. 10 days later I got them back working perfectly ... NO CHARGE!!! I have numerous Nikon products including their more recent 'E' porroprism binoculars, a spotting scope and almost a dozen lenses etc ... I have absolutely NO complaints!

That is something I cant say about Steiner ... Steiner is a Chinese made binocular masquerading as EURO optics ... which it is not. In fact the only 'complete' failure of a binocular I have witnessed in the field was a Steiner 'Whitetail' that after limited (and gentle) use ... had an internal lens come loose - making them useless. and they arent exactly giving them away. Steiners would not be on my shopping list - others may have different experience.

If you are going to buy Chinese glass which is fine because imo some of the factories producing optics in China use only the last robotic equipment and turn out pretty good stuff! ... I think the discontinued Leupold Katmai and Yosemite binoculars are/were terrific value ... particularly the 6x,30 Yosemite which had great FOV, ideal for hunting, and were sold for under $125Cdn.

But you cant go wrong with Nikon binoculars and they cover every price point right up to the WX IF 7x,50 which are on sale right now for about $9300 plus tax (but currently out of stock) . They are extraordinary glasses and have a 10.7 deg field of view. Personally for hunting ... I would be looking at the Nikon Aculon 7x,35 with their 9.3 degree fov and only $114 cdn ... then if you lose them .. its not a huge deal. Of course as others have said, the Monarchs are excellent and are more expensive of course but they are all excellent right up to the HG models.

I have four pairs of Steiner binoculars, all porro prism models that I am happy with the quality and I can assure you they are not made in China. BUT that being said though, I will say that Steiner does seem to have at least two tiers of quality and I do not recommend buying the lower end models that sell for a couple of hundred dollars because they are not at the same quality level as the higher priced models, it would not surprise me if they were made in China or elsewhere. Made in China though is not always a bad thing though as almost everything and every company has items made in China. Some very good others not so much. Even the Zeiss Terra binoculars are made in China. Are they in the same class as the high end models? No. Are they decent quality binoculars? yes.

 

[the wrench]

I have a pair of Steiner 7x35 Military that are about 30 yrs old. They've been on every hunt for that long and I do not baby them.I bought them because they are tough and they have been awesome. The rubber armor coating is starting to separate now and they have been drug through snow, water, every temperature you can imagine and I am very happy with them.

 

[Longstud]

I have four pairs of Steiner binoculars, all porro prism models that I am happy with the quality and I can assure you they are not made in China. BUT that being said though, I will say that Steiner does seem to have at least two tiers of quality and I do not recommend buying the lower end models that sell for a couple of hundred dollars because they are not at the same quality level as the higher priced models, it would not surprise me if they were made in China or elsewhere. Made in China though is not always a bad thing though as almost everything and every company has items made in China. Some very good others not so much. Even the Zeiss Terra binoculars are made in China. Are they in the same class as the high end models? No. Are they decent quality binoculars? yes.

Pretty sure youll not find Swarovski,Leica, or other high end european optics companies resorting too CHINOIS MANUFACTURE. I own or have owned numerous Zeiss products and had great experience with all of them, They were all made in Germany, i wont ever own one made elsewhere. All companies are driven strictly by profit or shareholders which forces cheaper materials or production. Either ends in absolute S>>T