MINOX HG 8.5 x 43 review (1 Viewer)

I wanted to share my recent experiences with these binoculars, as I've had a chance to try them in a number of different lighting conditions over the past several days. For comparison, I tried them against my 8.5 x 42 Swaro ELs. Minox released the HG series to directly compete against the Big 3 at a substantially lower price, so the test seems appropriate. Below are the comparisons on the factors that are important to me. If I've missed something that you'd like to hear about, let me know.



Brightness/Color - Almost exactly the same. The Minox are very color neutral. The ELs may be just a hair warmer, but it's very hard to tell a difference and you would not be able to notice a distinction unless you tried them side by side.



Field of View/Edge Sharpness - The Minox use certain (aspheric) lenses which restrict the FOV. At 320 ft, you are essentially getting a 10x FOV with an 8.5x power magnification. The flip side, of course, is the sharpness at the edges is very, very good. Probably the best that I've seen and slightly better than the ELs.



Contrast/Resolution - The contrast is very comparable in both, although the Swaros do perform a little better in low light conditions.. Regarding resolution, the Swarovski's perform better here also, particularly at distances > 200 yards. The Minox are good, but you can just pick up more detail with the Swaros at greater distances.



Sweet Spot - I was impressed with how large it was on the Minox, although it's not quite to the degree of the Swaros. I think it's right up there with Leica and certainly better than the Zeiss FLs to my eyes.



Comfort/ergonomics - the Minox are extremely comfortable to my hands, which are smaller. They are also very lightweight at ~22 oz. I could hold either pair for extended periods of time without any discomfort.



The bottom line from me is this: Are they directly comparable to the Swarovskis...probably not, as the Swaros were just a hair better in most categories. Having said that, at < $600 (I bought a demo pair from Cameraland NY [they are listed on Minox's U.S. dealer/retailer page] considering I get the warranty coverage) these are a tremendous pair of binoculars. They are my favorite pair to look through in the sub-$1,000 class, and that includes the Bushnell Elites, Leupold Golden Rings, Kahles, Meopta, etc., which is why I bought them. I think anyone who looks through them will be very, very pleased and surprised at what you can get for that amount of $$$.


ND2000

As an almost life-time user of Minox cameras (including the 8x11mm film variety that can be used to make microdots), I am not at all surprised.

ND2000,

I enjoyed your review, particularly as I'm considering a pair of the 8x33s. I looked through a pair of the 8.5s in a store and was very impressed. I just wanted a shorter bin, and preferred the wider FOV.

Two questions:
(a) have you noticed any flare type problems with the HGs in natural backlit environments?

(b) did you compare the HGs with the BDBRs before purchasing?

Thanks, APS

APS -

To answer your questions, I hadn't noticed significant flare, but it's not something I pay much attention to either. As a result, I looked for it on my way to work this morning. I was scanning a field at about 7:00 am, approximately 1 hour after sunrise to give you an idea of where the sun was in the sky. If you envision a 250 degree scanning area with the sun directly at my back, I probably experienced flare (or as I'd refer to it as a "sunspot") for 50 degrees of this view, when the sun was at an angle off of one of my shoulders. I don't wear glasses and have the eyecups fully extended. I hope this explanation was clear! I also don't notice any CA, which others have mentioned.

I did try the BDs as well. HGs were noticeably brighter to me and also sharper. I also liked the lighter weight and to be honest, I kind of like the metal focus wheel.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

ND2000

Thanks ND2000.

Your replies are very helpful. I think I will be trying a Minox soon.

APS

I got to test the 8.5x43 aspherics along side the Zeiss 8x42 FLs this morning and was holy impressed with the Minox build quality and ergonomics. The optics were also rather nifty and had very true to life colour.

The Minox optics were not quite as sharp as the Zeiss, but this was made up for in the feel of the binoculars. I agree with ND2000 that the metal focus wheel was a nice touch and made the equipment feel more traditional.

I have tryed many bins out in the last few weeks, but these are certainly a contender for purchase. I would recommend them to anyone looking for a mid priced alternative to the top five manufacturers.

Thanks ND2000 for bringing them to my attention.

Ian Latham said:

mid priced alternative to the top five manufacturers.

Click to expand...

No disputing the top three but who do you consider to be the other two?

John

John Russell said:

No disputing the top three but who do you consider to be the other two?

John

Click to expand...

Some still think of B+L amongst the top, but their last entry has been a few years ago, before the latest models of the three top European brands and Nikon (the other "top" brand not among the three you are referring to.)

And new entries from other makers are making the notion of a "top three"
a little dated. Kowa, Steiner, Leupold and others have set their sights on
the Alpha class, with significant new designs that ought to make any curious buyer consider them before buying one of the German or Austrian brands.

Been to the Minox web page for the Minox HG 8.5x43 BR Binocular and they don't list the IPD dimension? I have a pair of Leupold Pinnacles that are 60-70mm they seem to work ok, I have them almost all the way in. I'm thinking of upgrading to something much more in focus accross the entire lens these ASPH style lens might be what I'm looking for.

CHenry said:

Some still think of B+L amongst the top, but their last entry has been a few years ago, before the latest models of the three top European brands and Nikon (the other "top" brand not among the three you are referring to.)

And new entries from other makers are making the notion of a "top three"
a little dated. Kowa, Steiner, Leupold and others have set their sights on
the Alpha class, with significant new designs that ought to make any curious buyer consider them before buying one of the German or Austrian brands.

Click to expand...

How about the Opticron DBA OASIS 8X42/10X42 I found them excellent. Very true colours, sharp right to the edge, well balanced, close focus and good value for money at £549.00

Rob Laughton said:

How about the Opticron DBA OASIS 8X42/10X42 I found them excellent. Very true colours, sharp right to the edge, well balanced, close focus and good value for money at £549.00

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That's running quite close to the bone of the guidelines Rob innit ??!!

Didn't think that we optical company employees were allowed to plug our own stuff on here??

ATB,

Dave.

PS See you at Titchfield in a few weeks time?

Anyone have any comments on eye relief for the 8.5X43 HG's. Can't seem to find any dealers here in the Dallas, TX area.

E. R. is 18mm according to Eagle Optics. www.eagleoptics.com.
Bob

ceasar said:

E. R. is 18mm according to Eagle Optics. www.eagleoptics.com.
Bob

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Yeah, thats what they say, from my observations it seems that even though the manufacture gives spec on eye relief say 18mm such as the 8.5x43HG's are claimed to have they don't all have the same view as binoculars with the other bincoulars with like spec. I went out Yesterday trying to locate a dealer who might have the HG's, none in the DFW, TX area. But I did view a pair of Pentax 8X43 DCF SPs that supposedly have 22mm of relief and they actually had more vignetting than some 16mm binocs I looked at. Seems the design of the how the optics for the eye pieces are secured and cup dimensions affect the real eye relief. Anybody looked through a pair of 8.5X43 HG's that wears glasses?:h?: I guess eye relief also depends on how ones glasses sit from your eye. I think I'll contact, Minox for some dealer addresses in TX.

Well, I placed an order via cameralandNYC for a pair of their DEMO units. hope my results are as good as ND2000 and Ian Latham's observations for this model. Other threads on this forum have kind of confused me when it comes to the Quality of Minox. I hope the negative comments by others are only opinions. Hopefully I can give some input next week.

I've been thinking about buying some mid-size binos in the 32mm range, but after looking at the specs on these they're not much bigger than many of the mid-size and about the same weight. I was really thinking about Pentax 8x32 DCF SP and in size the Minox are only 3/4" longer and the same weight as the Pentax's. Optically I would assume they are superior to the Pentax? How do these compare optically to Swarovski 7x42 SLC and Leica 8x42 BN? I'm impressed at how well these compared to the EL's.

davem said:

That's running quite close to the bone of the guidelines Rob innit ??!!

Didn't think that we optical company employees were allowed to plug our own stuff on here??

ATB,

Dave.

PS See you at Titchfield in a few weeks time?

Click to expand...

Dont know? I have not read them. Although I would imagine it is.

See you there!

Rob

The review posted and comments from this thread sounded very promising, I ordered a DEMO pair from http://www.cameralandny.com They are very nice people,:t: the first pair I received didn't agree with me 100% ( headaches) Doug sent me a second pair, again very good service.
As far as the binoculars, well I'm not really qualified to give a review but I can give some observations and opinions.

Currently, I have a pair of Leupold Pinnacles, 8x42. I used the Cornell review as my primary source for these http://www.birds.cornell.edu/Publications/LivingBird/winter2005/Age_Binos.html which was a great place to start but these just don't have the attributes I really liked in a binocular, oh they are very nice but we all have our preferences. part of my reason for going with the Minox 8.5X43's was to get good depth of field, a more edge to edge focus which I felt performance similar as of the pair of Leica 8x32BA's I use to have ( they were the best I ever owned).

I can pretty much agree with everything ND2000, and Ian have already mentioned.
The build is very nice. Good resistance when adjusting the barrels IPD width. The Locking diopter ring is nice, no slop very positive. (but I'm beginning to think if the correct tension is designed in a binocular diopter adjustment ring it doesn't have to lock for example, Kahles.)
The Eye cups rotate up and have just the right amount of tension for each position (3) again very positive indents.
Eye relief ( I wear glasses) is suppose to be 18mm which is good but again one manufactures 18mm is different than another I wish their was an official measurement that manufactures had to use in order to standardize this dimension. I get a great view just not the whole view as if not wearing glasses. My Pinnacles are 18.3 and I get a great 100% view just like no glasses.
The focus knob is different not as fluid as the Pinnacles and not as coarse as the Leicas to the best of my memory ( my leicas were kinda stiff)
The rubber armor is very close fitting. No soft spots, no movement very good ergonomics and the binoculars are well balanced.
The optics as far I'm concerned are very good. no where near the WOW you get from Leica but very good. The So called sweet spot is their but you really have to honker down and almost strain to discern the slight difference. it just almost has every thing in focus from edge to edge really nice not just an 60% sweet spot. The Depth of field is excellent, and the range markings on the focus wheel are very handy. See an object you think is 25 yards, just dial the focus wheel as you are bringing the barrels to bear (A nice feature easily added to any binocular).
The case is, well kinda goofy, almost girly, leather with magnets reminds me of one of my wife's purses, but I'll use it. The strap is the Newest Kraze of stretchy neoprene which I consider junk, gonna have to find a replacement.

I sort of did a Star test but I really think 8X binoculars just too week to make that a true gold standard I did get a nice round sharp point though. I like Minox HG 8.5X43's very much, I looked at a pair of Kahles 8X42 which resolve very fast and precise but they had cheapness about them. Minox has the right amount of good features that make them a great buy. hope they live up to my expectations B Again, thanks to others who took the time to contribute to this thread and the forum your comments are always greatly appreicated.:king: