M7 8x30 loose armoring (1 Viewer)

Hi all. This my first post but I've been lurking for awhile.

I recently bought the Nikon M7 8x30s. I love the optics but there's an issue with the rubber covering on the right tube near the eyepiece. It's very slightly loose there and so it creaks, sometimes loudly, as you put pressure there to hold it. It started out as a minor annoyance but now I'm growing obsessed with it and am planning on exchanging this pair under warranty (I've had them for about two weeks). The serial number starts with 9.

Has any one else had this issue with the Monarch 7s?

Do you think this is a legitimate reason for a warranty return?

Thanks.

Never seen that sort of thing with ours, and I just went out to the shop and checked it specifically for this reason.

"Yes" to the 2nd question. That would drive me nuts too......

I have a pair for evaluation. There's no problem on the eyepiece end, but the armor at both objective ends is soft and can be lifted with the index finger without any force. Very different feeling than with my other binoculars, the armor also feels softer, almost spongy, without saying this is a bad thing necessarily (it might absorb shocks better). Overall there isn't a "tight fit" feeling.

Konstantinos,

I believe that the armoring around the front of the objective tubes on the 30mm Monarch 7s was designed to be soft. The armoring there "gives" and if the binocular is dropped and lands on the edge of an objective tube it affords some protection. The serial number on mine is 00076xx. I bought it about a month ago.

There was a large, soft rubber protective ring around the front of the objective tubes on my old Nikon10x32 EDG I. I accidentally dropped it, twice, from a height of 3 feet onto a wooden parquet floor in my house. Both times it landed on the edge of this "rubber bumper" and it suffered no damage at all other than scuff marks on the rubber.

The other reason for the design of this soft ring seems to be to hold the objective covers in place. These are the only objective covers with this type of design that I have ever seen stay in place!

My new 10x32 EDG II has ones like the M7 but they fall off. The protective ring on their tubes is thinner and harder. The ones on my little 8x30 Monarch 7 stay tightly in place.:t:

You have to push them in firmly around their perimeter to lock them in place. There is a firm, sharp rubber ridge around the inside of the covers which fits into a groove just under the ring on the inside and it helps keep the covers on.

The rest of the covering on my binocular is firm and tight all over.

That said; based on his description the original poster, J Bella, could indeed have an 8x30 M7 with a faulty covering near the right eyepiece and a repair of it, or alternately, a replacement of it should be covered under Nikon's warranty.

Bob

I don't think this is the first mention of loose armouring on the M7; i distinctly remember it coming up as a possible issue, either in one of the reviews or the endless threads when 'veiling glare' was under discussion. Personally i have had no problem with mine, but its certainly not as 'tight' as the other couple of bins i own. I think its probably worth replacing them, as it may well be down to a particular example rather than a major problem.

paddy7 said:

I don't think this is the first mention of loose armouring on the M7; i distinctly remember it coming up as a possible issue, either in one of the reviews or the endless threads when 'veiling glare' was under discussion. Personally i have had no problem with mine, but its certainly not as 'tight' as the other couple of bins i own. I think its probably worth replacing them, as it may well be down to a particular example rather than a major problem.

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Just by chance, i found it -
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=264440&page=8
Clive Ps post at #192.

Thanks everyone. I'm going to send them in for warranty repair/replacement today as it sounds like my example is the exception.

Even though I have more expensive binos here at home I'm going to miss them. I'm really crazy about these.

Incidentally, I've had no glare issues in my limited use so far.

I find it a nice little (with emphasis at little) pair of everyday binoculars too. I'm not fond of their Japanese Baroque style but they don't show prominent spikes at point light sources and that says something about quality.

kkokkolis said:

I find it a nice little (with emphasis at little) pair of everyday binoculars too. I'm not fond of their Japanese Baroque style but they don't show prominent spikes at point light sources and that says something about quality.

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I agree with a lot of things you say about them kkokkolis and I kind of get the impression that they are starting to get to you in an, oh dear I might have to admit that I'm really starting to accept that these are great, way 8-P

If I had the spare cash right now I think I'd be looking at getting the 8x30 to add to my 10x30 as I still don't know of anything so compact and better for the price so currently I do plan to buy an 8x30 when funds are available and in the meantime I have my Kowa SV 8x32 and Viking Vistron 8x25 ( I would have gone for a better one of these if it existed) and of course the 10x30 M7 and my Papilio and Sapphire to keep me going.

I think it would be an excellent replacement for my Bresser Everest 8x28 fiasco.

What would you suggest as an alternative to the 8x30 M7 kkokkolis? Name anything that would be a better small bin alternative at the price that's currently available. I suspect there is nothing.

In fact please if anyone can suggest something better then please let me/us know.

CliveP said:

I think it would be an excellent replacement for my Bresser Everest 8x28 fiasco.

What would you suggest as an alternative to the 8x30 M7 kkokkolis? Name anything that would be a better small bin alternative at the price that's currently available. I suspect there is nothing.

In fact please if anyone can suggest something better then please let me/us know.

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Well, I can't suggest anything at the quality and price-point of the Monarch 7s, but for something more the price of your sadly demised Bressers I'll note I've been quite pleased with the the Vortex Diamondback 8x28. They're quite adequate for me. While I doubt they're a patch on the 8x30 M7s optically, they come in at US$105 at B&H Photo (right now, after discount and gift card). At 1/3rd the price of the M7s, they're good enough for me as a compact supplement to my main pair (note that I may have low standards) and seem quite solid in use.

...Mike

What would you suggest as an alternative to the 8x30 M7 kkokkolis? Name anything that would be a better small bin alternative at the price that's currently available. I suspect there is nothing.

In fact please if anyone can suggest something better then please let me/us know.

Click to expand...

I am considering my "final" (wishfull thinking) binocular in the 8x30 format now, since my earlier quest a month ago concluded to the Zeiss Conquest HD 8x42 and not the 32 as I intended. Let's summarize it.

1. Zeiss Conquest HD 8x32: Great optics, familiarity with the brand, adaptability of my eyes between two models of the same line (42 and 32), available locally for cash, great reviews, legendary brand, likeable covers, perfect focuser, perfect glare control, good field of view, ignorable residual color, adorable Doric aesthetics. BUT: not that small and light, expensive

2. Kite Lynx 8x30: Good reviews, great field of view, nice form factor, nothing else I know really. BAD: Not that cheap

3. Maven 8x30: Good reviews (but not from Europeans), good field of view, nice form factor, customization, nothing else I know really about it. BAD: Shipping and tolls might make them expensive

4. Zeiss Terra ED 8x32: Good optics, familiarity with the brand, adaptability of my eyes between two models of the same line (42 and 32), great eye friendliness, perfect glare control, available locally for cash, good reviews, legendary brand, likeable covers, perfect focuser, adorable Doric aesthetics, cheap for a Zeiss BAD: I now tried the Conquest line and Terra can't match it sometimes (in bright light they are almost identical though, and Greek Light is BRIGHT!)

5. Sightron Blue Sky II: Cheap, nice optics BAD: Cheapy, didn't like aesthetics and ergonomics

6. Nikon SE, EII 10x30: Great reviews, cost effectiveness BAD: Porro

7. Swarovski Habicht 10x30: Great reviews, BEAUTIFULL BAD: Porro

8. Swarovski CL 8x30: BAD: Lukewarm reviews, expensive

9. Leica Ultravid 8x32 Zagato: Are you kidding me?

10. Leica Ultravid 8x32: BAD: Out of reach

11. Zeiss Victory FL 8x32: BAD: Out of reach

12. Swarovski EL 8x32: BAD: Out of reach

13. Nikon EDG 8x32: BAD: Out of reach

14. Meopta Meostar 8x32: BAD: at Conquest's price I'd choose Zeiss blindly

15. Pentax SP 8x32: BAD: at Conquest's price I'd choose Zeiss blindly

16. Meopta Meopro SD 8x32: BAD: Never heard of it

17. Kowa BD 8x32 XD: I really thought about it a lot of times. BAD: Field of view

18. Steiner, Omegon, Eschenbach, Carson, Vixen, Bar and Stroud, Bushnell, Tasco, Bresser, Celestron: They don't appeal to me, except:

19. Celestron Granite ED 8x33: I am curious about these but might I dare to test them?

20. Minox HG 8x33 BR: BAD: at Conquest's price I'd choose Zeiss most surely

21. Minox BL 8x33 HD: I know really nothing about them, double hinge isn't what I want at this size

22. Nikon Monarch 7 ED 8x30: I summarized them already. Good optics, field of view, reasonable price BAD: aesthetics, glare (but not that bad I was expecting after reading all these in the forums, Terra is better in this regard though).

What would you choose?

mfunnell said:

Well, I can't suggest anything at the quality and price-point of the Monarch 7s, but for something more the price of your sadly demised Bressers I'll note I've been quite pleased with the the Vortex Diamondback 8x28. They're quite adequate for me. While I doubt they're a patch on the 8x30 M7s optically, they come in at US$105 at B&H Photo (right now, after discount and gift card). At 1/3rd the price of the M7s, they're good enough for me as a compact supplement to my main pair (note that I may have low standards) and seem quite solid in use.

...Mike

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Not so fast. The Bresser may yet live? Bresser are now going to have a look at it so here's hoping but I would be interested to compare to the Diamondback if the possibility arose. The Bresser close focus is only 2.5m but it works nicely with a clear and sharp pretty bright two eyed viewing close in when working properly. Hopefully won't be to long to get it fixed and see then what it is like overall.

kkokkolis said:

What would you choose?

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Great post Konstantinos but how about the new Vixen Atrek II with field flatner? It's new but very little known about it or the originals.

The M7 8x30 still looks best value from that impressive list.

I made another test early today, looking towards the recently rised sun at pigeons. The glare was evident at an angle up to 60 degrees left and right of the sun. I'm not used to this phenomenon with my Zeiss binoculars and I have to say that when it happens it bothers me. Otherwise I love the fact that I carry it everyday in my bag (together with my Papilio I carry anyway) and I don't notice it's there until I need it. I keep it in the stringpouch that came with my Terra, since my Victorinox bag is padded anyway. Very tempting, but I must overcome glarephobia in order to buy one.

kkokkolis said:

I made another test early today, looking towards the recently rised sun at pigeons. The glare was evident at an angle up to 60 degrees left and right of the sun. I'm not used to this phenomenon with my Zeiss binoculars and I have to say that when it happens it bothers me. Otherwise I love the fact that I carry it everyday in my bag (together with my Papilio I carry anyway) and I don't notice it's there until I need it. I keep it in the stringpouch that came with my Terra, since my Victorinox bag is padded anyway. Very tempting, but I must overcome glarephobia in order to buy one.

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Would it be possible to get to try another sample M7 perhaps the 10x? I can get some glare with my 10x30 M7 as I can with all of my bins although the Kowa SV and Viking Vistron are very resistant to it but it really isn't bad enough or even happens often enough to make me think it very poor in that respect and yet when I hear all these mentioning's of glare with the 8x30 it does make me wonder and if I were to get one and it didn't perform as well as my 10x then I would be concerned. If it was as bad as my Hawke Frontier 8x25 then I would say no for sure.

If the glare with your 8x30 is annoying then really no point keeping it. I'm sure there will eventually be another better version in any case or they may subtly introduce changes as I think they have done already with improving internal blackening of some parts.

10x30? I mentioned it many times but most people said no, because of shakes and tricky eye placement (although I have no problem with 3mm Pentax and Canons). I grow older and hand shakes are only going to get worse.

kkokkolis said:

10x30? I mentioned it many times but most people said no, because of shakes and tricky eye placement (although I have no problem with 3mm Pentax and Canons). I grow older and hand shakes are only going to get worse.

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I think it's ok but it's my only 10x bin so it took me a few minutes to get used to the higher mag again with holding steady but now I don't even think about it and no issue at all with eye placement. I hope you get it sorted out in any case.

JBella said:

Hi all. This my first post but I've been lurking for awhile.

I recently bought the Nikon M7 8x30s. I love the optics but there's an issue with the rubber covering on the right tube near the eyepiece. It's very slightly loose there and so it creaks, sometimes loudly, as you put pressure there to hold it. It started out as a minor annoyance but now I'm growing obsessed with it and am planning on exchanging this pair under warranty (I've had them for about two weeks). The serial number starts with 9.

Has any one else had this issue with the Monarch 7s?

Do you think this is a legitimate reason for a warranty return?

Thanks.

Click to expand...

I'm the OP of this thread.

Well, I just got my M7 8x30 binos back from Nikon warranty service on Los Angeles, CA. As you may recall I sent them in because the loose armoring around the right eyepiece was making lots of squeaky, groaning noises under normal handling.

The good news: Nikon warranty service had them back to me in 15 days. OK, I live in California so that probably helped.

The bad news: They didn't do anything. Well, that's not exactly true. The binos I sent them were 8 days old so, in their own words, they....

CLN LENS ELEMENT
ADJ OPTICAL ALIGNMENT
GENERAL CHECK & CLEAN

I'm so glad my 8-day-old binos were cleaned and collimated. Hey, you can't be too careful.

Oh yeah, the loose armor? Nothing, nada, zilch. No change. No mention of it anywhere in the invoice repair.

I was very clear why I was returning them in both the Nikon online return form and in the letter I shipped with the binos. Their online service status update screen (which they wrote) says;

Problem: COVERS/GRIPS rubber on right side (top) is loose - check all

So it looks like somebody understood why I was sending them in, just not the person who serviced them. (;

I'm done with these. Life is too short. Would you like to buy them for $250?

JBella said:

I'm the OP of this thread.

Well, I just got my M7 8x30 binos back from Nikon warranty service on Los Angeles, CA. As you may recall I sent them in because the loose armoring around the right eyepiece was making lots of squeaky, groaning noises under normal handling.

The good news: Nikon warranty service had them back to me in 15 days. OK, I live in California so that probably helped.

The bad news: They didn't do anything. Well, that's not exactly true. The binos I sent them were 8 days old so, in their own words, they....

CLN LENS ELEMENT
ADJ OPTICAL ALIGNMENT
GENERAL CHECK & CLEAN

I'm so glad my 8-day-old binos were cleaned and collimated. Hey, you can't be too careful.

Oh yeah, the loose armor? Nothing, nada, zilch. No change. No mention of it anywhere in the invoice repair.

I was very clear why I was returning them in both the Nikon online return form and in the letter I shipped with the binos. Their online service status update screen (which they wrote) says;

Problem: COVERS/GRIPS rubber on right side (top) is loose - check all

So it looks like somebody understood why I was sending them in, just not the person who serviced them. (;

I'm done with these. Life is too short. Would you like to buy them for $250?

Click to expand...

I just checked the covering on my Monarch 7 8x30 around the right eye piece. It is tight as a drum. Does the looseness on yours by any chance affect the operation of the Diopter Ring which must be near it?

Is the covering on yours "bubbling?" Kind of like the glue holding it was coming loose from the objective tube?

That is what happened to my 10x32 EDG I. I could push the bubbling section down flat against the objective tubes and when I let go it popped back up. It was very obvious and Nikon replaced the binocular with a new 10x32 EDG II. My new one has a different covering; very much like the one on my Monarch 7 8x30.

Bob

No. There's no looseness around the diopter ring so it works fine.

The looseness is about 3/4 inch forward of that area. From the 12:00 position to about the 4:00 position on the right tube. It feels fine, but can creak and groan quite loudly if you want it to.

Too bad. I'm a big Nikon guy. I have the E2 8x30 and the 1st generation Venturer LX 8x32 (it's called something else outside the U.S.). I love these 8x30's but have resigned myself to a short career.

Tomorrow I'm going to try the Nikon service phone number and, assuming I get a human, just ask for a swap. We'll see how that goes.

Sorry to hear about your problem with the M7. About Bob's idea concerning the possibility of an air bubble, if this is the cause of the problem, you might be able to lance the area with a pin to let out the air, and then maybe the armor will adhere better. But I suppose the safest route is to just call them and see if you can arrange for a swap.