Minox BD BP porros? (1 Viewer)

FrankD said:

I now wonder if it would be worth it to take a look at those Opticron internal focus porros as well.

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They seem to be identical to the Cascades ... just different branding.

Yes Kevin. I noticed much the same about the Opticrons and have decided not to try to order them at the present time (and try finding one that sells in US dollars).

The BD BPs were waiting when I got home. I had a very brief amount of time to compare them after work as I had to run right back up to work for a special event. I took the Minox's with me and did utilize them sparingly.

General impressions optically...and very limited as I have yet to really play with them in full daylight.

- Optically very similar if not identical to the Cascades as John mentioned. I was particularly struck by the edge sharpnes of the Minoxs. It is Excellent! I would like to compare them directly in this regard to the Cascades when I get more time.

- Contrast, brightness, color fidelity all seem very close but, again, I want to compare them more closely.

- I did pick up some lateral CA when looking through them on an extremely high contrast object in the backyard (black post against snow). I didn't notice any "horizontal" CA.

Ergonomically they are very good. I must say I prefer the contouring of the Cascades more but I have no problem toting the Minox's around as well. They do feel a bit thicker and a touch heavier than the Cascades but they are still very attractive ergonomically.

Hmm, $350 versus $209 though.....I cannot say whether they are worth the price difference at this point as I really haven't found anything "superior" about the Minox design.
It is early yet though.

Kevin Purcell said:

In fact if you search the forums (for the threads that FrankD mentions) there is the same question and a denial from a Minox importer (I think it the same Dave who is active today but don't quote me on that).

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Hi all,

not sure if I would have confirmed or denied anything about the Minox Porros as I do not know the US brands and equivalents, but may have compared them with the Opticron WPs.

As for the price difference, I cannot really comment as I am not familiar with the UK brand equivalants, however, since a price increase from Minox took them beyond a price which we believed was good value for money, the BP Porro series are not longer a part of our price list here in the UK (unless someone is really desperate for them!!)

Frank, did you get to play around with the Minox more and compare it back to back with the Cascades in normal daylight?

Hi there

I'm very new to Birdforum and principally use binos at night but "dabble" during the day. I recently bought a set of 2nd hand Minox 8x44s and have found them to be rather impressive. There is not much opportunity to test a variety of binos where I live but the price was right and what I could glean off the web seemed to indicate that the Minox's would fit my needs.

All that said, the Minox's are a delight to use. They appear to be very well made, solid, comfortable, etc. However, the important stuff for me - views are very sharp on axis, there is good colour rendition and the field is quite flat with only a little curvature towards the edge. I found only minimal chromatic aberration but I may be less sensitive to this than others. Spending a fair bit of time with binos at night, I am very comfortable with porros and don't find the size of the Minox's to be any problem.

At night, well, the Minox's are rather impressive. Stars are pinpoints across most of the field and better than quite a few binos I have looked through. They are not quite as good as my Nikon Prostars or Fujinon 16x70s on edge sharpness, but they do cost substantially more new! Again, the Minox's have quite a flat field with some curvature towards the edge and there are virtually no internal reflections, even when focusing on the moon or other bright objects. Also on the moon, there is almost no false colour which is something of a test. These latter points have impressed me.

Overall, I think these binos will be with me for some time.

Andrew

Good review, Andrew. I've just got a pair of the Leupold Cascades 8x42, which are also a internal focusing porros. I've been looking at the moon and Jupiter the last couple nights through them, and my impressions echo yours about the BP. The Cascades are very sharp on center, and have a large sweet spot that is sharp and only shows moderate color fringing, even when looking at the full moon against a dark sky. From the specs and pictures of the Cascades and BP, I suspect they share the same enclosure (is that the right word) design with different objective diameter and exterior shape, and probably are very similar in the optics as well. I hope Frank or other people who's had experience with both models can shed some insight on this.

SP,

Sorry I did not see this sooner. No, I ended up selling the Minox not long after my last post here. I did not feel they gave me anything optically over the Leupold and the Leupolds were more ergonomic for me.

I see. Frank, do you have any experience with the 10x incarnations of the Cascades or BP?

FrankD said:

SP,

Sorry I did not see this sooner. No, I ended up selling the Minox not long after my last post here. I did not feel they gave me anything optically over the Leupold and the Leupolds were more ergonomic for me.

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No. I prefer the 8x version of both. The field of view was relatively narrow in the 8x versions of both bins (in comparison to roofs of a similar price). The 10x's were much, much narrower than their competitors.

I echo Frank's comment of perferring the 8x over the 10x of the Cascade porros. Also on another thread I compared the Cascade 8x42 with my Zeiss 8x32 Fls at dusk on a rural scene. The Cascades showed greater detail when the sun had set. To me it was the function of 10mm greater objective lens and the porro view. I recently did the same dusk comparison with a Minox 8x44 and the Zeiss 8x32 FL. Again the Minox simply shows greater detail when the sun goes down. But I can see no difference between the Leupold and Cascade porros under the same conditions. Now for birders as opposed to big game hunters, this hair splitting has little value since most birds are roosting, nesting, at dusk, etc. But for hunters trying to eke out every bit of detail while it is still legal to shoot, that little bit of edge given by the porro may be useful. John

I haven't found the 6.x degree fov of the 8x Cascades restrictive yet. But I do notice I don't putting flying birds in the view nearly as well as I do with the 6x Yosemites.

Also meant to mention in my "review" that I don't find the field of view restrictive. And, given experience with other binos I'd certainly go with the 8x over 10x magnification. Unless it's a heavy bino, I find 10x too difficult to hold reasonably steady.

Spacepilot - looking at photos of both the Minox's and Leupolds, they certainly do seem to share the same body, which is of course quite common. It would be interesting to know what, if any internal differences there are - baffling, coatings, etc.

Good luck with your decision.

Andrew