[jasonp]

Just looking for opinions. I've narrowed my choices down to the Minox BV (Link) or the Nikon Monarch 8x42. Thoughts?

[ceasar]

You can get the Minox at substantial savings. See link below. The reason is a color blemish on the exterior of the binocular. Optics are unaffected. This dealer has a first rate reputation. I have experienced 1st rate service from them.

http://www.cameralandny.com/optics/minox.pl?page=62167

Bob

[jasonp]

Originally Posted by ceasar

You can get the Minox at substantial savings. See link below. The reason is a color blemish on the exterior of the binocular. Optics are unaffected. This dealer has a first rate reputation. I have experienced 1st rate service from them.

http://www.cameralandny.com/optics/minox.pl?page=62167

Bob

Well, you just settled the debate. For that price, I had to try them. Thanks!

[ceasar]

Originally Posted by jasonp

Well, you just settled the debate. For that price, I had to try them. Thanks!

You are welcome.

Let us know how you like them.
Bob

[FrankD]

I would second the recommendation on Doug's service. Top notch. I would also like to hear your impressions of these particular binoculars. All of the Minox models I have owned have been better than expected for the price.

[jasonp]

Well, I got the Bino's today. First I want to HIGHLY recommend cameraland. Fast shipping time and even sent me some freebies along with it. I'll be ordering some photo equipment from them soon. BIG Thumbs up

The binos:
When I first took them out of the box, my first thought was, these are kinda heavy. After handling them a bit, the heft speaks quality. These are solid, well built binoculars.
Once I put on the strap that came with it, I was pleasantly surprised. The soft neoprene strap handles the weight good and makes it comfortable.
So I took them right out to my local birding spot.
It did not take me long at all to fall in love with these binos. The optics are by far, the best I've ever used. Holy smokes, you feel like you could reach out and touch the birds.
One of the reasons I went with the Minox was that they advertised a good close focus. I shoot allot of insect, dragon flies, butterfly's, etc (www.flickr.com/centavo) so this is very much needed. THEY DELIVER! I would go so far as to call these things macro focus.
My friend went with me and he carries a set of Nikon 8x42 Monarchs. I almost bought a pair after using his. He just shook his head when I told him I bought some Minox and said, "What brand is that?" Curiosity got the best of him today when I told him I got mine in and he wanted to go with me to check them out. Well, to make a long story short, he was going to get his wife some monarchs but now he's probably gonna get her these. The Monarchs were lighter but in my eyes (and his) the minox were notably brighter and clearer. This is not to say his Monarchs were not great BIN's; after all, I was going to buy a pair after using his. I even had second thoughts right after buying these but after today, I am more than happy. This is one of those rare occasions, where I got more than what I paid for. Monox has a new Fan.

One last note: While cameraland listed these as "color blemished" for the life of me, I can't find the blemish.
Jason

[dustyview]

Does anyone have the BV and Zen ZRS? I'm curious as to how they measure up against one another (especially the 10x).