poisonous?? Minox HG 8x33 rubber armor? (1 Viewer)

Hi, I'm considering to buy a pair of Minox HG 8x33 binoculars, mainly from spec, price and ergonomic points of view; plus I've been a fan of Minox Cameras.

Anyway, I saw some posts mentioning the strong smell or soft rubber armor for Minox contains PAHs- a harzardous material. Is this real, any comments or info from the Minox group?

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=84218


I saw also there're variations of HG 8x33, is the later/newer model solves this problem? How to identify new or old ones? what are the differences if any?

Thanks for any comments!

All the rubber armored bins I have bought new have a slight smell when fresh out of the box. Some a little stronger than others. Certainly will not notice it out doors. The odor of my new Minox disappeared after about a week of outdoor use and stored uncovered.

The only difference between old and new HG is old was Made in Japan vs. the new Made in Germany. The only way to tell is by model# on serial# plate.

Of the 6 new Minox bins including several HGs I've used over several years + several tried in shops, none had any stronger smell of rubber, solvents or anything else than most other rubber armoured bins. I suspect that there may have been an odd batch at the start that prompted this comment. I think that it is extremely unlikely that you would have a problem from this now. The 8x33 I still own was one manufactured before the 'made in Germany' versions and definitely had no unusual smell, it was also (accidentally) left out all night with no lens covers during torrential rain which confirmed it is waterproof!
The latest of the made in Germany models claim a wider fov in the UK but are not being sold at the clearance prices of the older models.

Hi, just a report, I received the new old stock HG 8x33; as you mentioned, there's no trace at all for the plastic smell, I need to do deep breath in order to smell a bit...
Overall, it's bright and clear with great FOV; if I must find one fault, I would say the edge sharpness is not the best..
One update is I contact Minox, Germany about PAH; it's confirmed that the newer HG series (made in Germany version) does not contain PAH at all..

Cheers, Eric

You will notice the odor outdoors IF you have a sensitive enough nose. After all, your nose is right next to the bins, although some noses are closer than others.

I've had bins with that "new car smell". Some people like the smell of volatile plastic and rubber fumes, but it's certainly not healthy for you.

I'm glad all the pooh pah about this issue forced Minox to put the kibosh on PAH.

If the edge performance on the original HG is not that great, and it's field of view is rather moderate, it makes me wonder how the edges are on the APO HG, which has a wider FOV?

I just got mine, the old model, and yeah they do smell. It's my first pair of new binoculars though (hand me down, then refurb), so I don't have anything to compare to as far as it being an unusually bad stink.

I'm going to leave them outside to offgas for awhile I think. Ick.

That said, they are very nice binoculars.