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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

8x16 Minox Monocular, Extremely Dissapointing (1 Viewer)

Nessus

Well-known member
The coatings are very poor and even for an exit pupil of 2 they are dim. I would probably even stay away from the 6x16. Spend the money and get a Zeis or something. It's a shame the ergonomically best pair perform so far below par, at least in my eyes.

The Zeiss 8x20 only has an exit pupil of 2.5 and so totally obliterates the Minox it's unbelievable. Youd think these things were coated 20 years ago, the coatings are extremely light and work very poorly. Stay away from this, there's a reason they keep it on special order.

too bad, the build quality is top notch. It's extremely hard to focus but it's sold and smooth.

What a disappointment, I wish I could return it.

Minox, you really should be doing a better job on this one, it's one of your companies most identifiable products. You could at least coat it as well as a Nikon Monarch or Pentax 9x28. I mean jeez I'ts like you weren't even trying.
 
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The coatings are very poor and even for an exit pupil of 2 they are dim. I would probably even stay away from the 6x16. Spend the money and get a Zeis or something. It's a shame the ergonomically best pair perform so far below par, at least in my eyes.

I'm not surprised an 8x16 monocular is dim in all but the brightest light. It's only feeding the brain one image from an optical instrument with a very small exit pupil. A pair of what are you talking about? Did you buy two 8x16 monoculars?

The Zeiss 8x20 only has an exit pupil of 2.5 and so totally obliterates the Minox it's unbelievable. Youd think these things were coated 20 years ago, the coatings are extremely light and work very poorly. Stay away from this, there's a reason they keep it on special order.

There's a significant difference in exit pupil between those two monos. Eye relief may very well be playing a factor too. However, with all of these problems why don't you just return it to the factory authorized dealer where you got them for a refund. At worst you would have to pay postage.:eek!:
 
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You can't return a special order item, or so I was told.

And trust me I understand everything you were saying but these things should preform better than they do for the price IMO. They are more comparable to 20 dollar Audobon monocular than any of the high end stuff. I just think they cheaped out on the coatings when I look at the coatings and performance of the dozens of other optical doo dads I've got laying about.
 
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