I received my pair of these entry level Minox binoculars a week ago.
Here are my thoughts in brief….
Build Quality: Very impressed. Fit and finish are excellent. This is the 2nd pair of Minox I have owned and both presented excellent build quality. Weight is about 28 ounces. It’s well balanced and doesn’t seem overly heavy. Right eye focus ring is located below the eye cup and doesn’t lock yet will remain where it’s placed.
Focus: Very smooth. Slightly detectable play when changing directions. Focus speed seems mid ranged with a biased toward fast. I own a pair of Nikon 8x32 Premier so just about every other bino seems slow.
Optics: Very impressive. Color transmission appears neutral. Resolution drop off occurs fairly far out, maybe 15% from the edge and doesn’t drop off fast. No sense of distortion. Ability to resolve detail is very good. It doesn’t have ED glass yet I don’t know if it would be noticed without sandbagging these against another pair.
Eye Relief: I wear glasses and suitable eye relief has been a problem with a number of binoculars. These claim to be 18mm. I actually have to back the eye cups out a bit to avoid blackout. I read somewhere online about using O-rings to shim the eye cups out and it worked well with this pair.
Accessories: Came with nice ocular covers that are not very deep yet stay one quite well. No Objective covers which might be bothersome. I prefer aftermarket tethered covers to most factory covers so this doesn’t bother me. Carrying case and neck strap are nice enough.
Field of View: Stated at 389ft and seems wider than many 8x42s out there.
For a little over $200 these are an excellent value.
Here are my thoughts in brief….
Build Quality: Very impressed. Fit and finish are excellent. This is the 2nd pair of Minox I have owned and both presented excellent build quality. Weight is about 28 ounces. It’s well balanced and doesn’t seem overly heavy. Right eye focus ring is located below the eye cup and doesn’t lock yet will remain where it’s placed.
Focus: Very smooth. Slightly detectable play when changing directions. Focus speed seems mid ranged with a biased toward fast. I own a pair of Nikon 8x32 Premier so just about every other bino seems slow.
Optics: Very impressive. Color transmission appears neutral. Resolution drop off occurs fairly far out, maybe 15% from the edge and doesn’t drop off fast. No sense of distortion. Ability to resolve detail is very good. It doesn’t have ED glass yet I don’t know if it would be noticed without sandbagging these against another pair.
Eye Relief: I wear glasses and suitable eye relief has been a problem with a number of binoculars. These claim to be 18mm. I actually have to back the eye cups out a bit to avoid blackout. I read somewhere online about using O-rings to shim the eye cups out and it worked well with this pair.
Accessories: Came with nice ocular covers that are not very deep yet stay one quite well. No Objective covers which might be bothersome. I prefer aftermarket tethered covers to most factory covers so this doesn’t bother me. Carrying case and neck strap are nice enough.
Field of View: Stated at 389ft and seems wider than many 8x42s out there.
For a little over $200 these are an excellent value.
