[matt green]

Anyone compared the Minox BL roofs against the best of the porros upto £200?

Particularly interested how it would compare with Opticron HR WP 8x42, 7x42 imagics,Swift Audubons etc.

Matt

[iveljay]

Only very briefly - Opticron HR WP 8x42 reportedly very similar to Minox BD 8x42 BP.
In practice the BL is very light with reasonably rapid focussing, the porro is bulkier, heavier, slower focussing but hit the spot with what seemed to me a bright sharp view.
In other words as far as I am concerned for a given price point a good porro will beat a roof for brightness and sharpness.
However, there is no point in spending money on something that is theoretically better but you won't use because of weight etc.
The BL is very popular and makes a lot of sense if it suits you; my memory was that the BL was sharp enough, pleasantly light and did what was asked of it.
Don't forget though that everyone has different eyes and as everyone else will tell you - try out as many different models as possible to see what you think. No one elses opinion beats what your eyes tell you no matter how uptight they get!

J

[matt green]

Thanks, iveljay

I actually owned the opticron HR WP but passed it on because I couldn't take to that painfully slow focus ~ the optics were spot on though, just wondering if the BL's can compete with them.

Matt

[iveljay]

I'm afraid that I din't think they did and ended up with porros. N.B. I didn't find any roofs on that occasion, at that price that did.
- but -
The trouble is that I use bins costing between £14 and £lots.. depending on what I am doing and I was looking for something to put on a rigid mount (which is not what most folks do) when I was looking at the BLs the porros won as focussing speed and bulk were not a problem. However for hand holding in the field the BLs may have made it at the time - the image seemed fine and was better than some £160 porros (not one the brands you quoted!) I was looking at as well. I didn't check for CA as they were not going to be used for viewing crows against clouds etc.
I eventually ended up with 8x32 HRs for 'go anywhere field' use as I liked the focussing mechanism as well as the view.
The biggest problem is that it is so easy in both photography and bins to follow market trends, prejudice and fashion and miss out on what suits you. For that reason I am very reluctant to praise or damn - there will never be a perfect pair of binoculars and while they didn't do what I needed at the time they have had excellent reviews and they are owned by a lot of people, but whether they will suit you?....Only looking through them will tell you. Sorry I can't be more help but there must be loads of users of them who can comment if they are brave enough to risk the wrath of some of our more 'positive' members.

[RobH]

I tested the BL 8x42's on Saturday, and I thought they were superb!

Personally i thought they provided a better image than a pair of pentax bins that were £700!

[postcardcv]

Originally Posted by matt green

Anyone compared the Minox BL roofs against the best of the porros upto £200?

Particularly interested how it would compare with Opticron HR WP 8x42, 7x42 imagics,Swift Audubons etc.

Personally I think that the Minox BLs are as good as anything else ni that price range. Optically they are very good, the feel nice in the hand, focus is smooth and fairly fast and all that's backed up by a 30 year warranty - not a bad deal for ~£220. I think the only way you'll see a real improvement in optics (without spending a lot more) is to look at Nikon 8x30 EIIs (~£280).

[matt green]

Originally Posted by postcardcv

Personally I think that the Minox BLs are as good as anything else ni that price range. Optically they are very good, the feel nice in the hand, focus is smooth and fairly fast and all that's backed up by a 30 year warranty - not a bad deal for ~£220. I think the only way you'll see a real improvement in optics (without spending a lot more) is to look at Nikon 8x30 EIIs (~£280).

It's a shame there isn't a 7X42 model of these, but then I've just secured a pair of secondhand 7X42 aspherics for not much more £'s than a new 8x42 BL.

(really needed something more waterproof for the winter!)

Matt

[steve345]

I'm sure you'll be happy with the aspherics. I know my comments are bit after the fact, but my girlfriend owns a pair BLs and they're certainly the best that we found for around that price. I got a pair of RSPB 8x40 ASW porro, which at £110 seemed a bit of bargain. Just as bright as the Minox and with a much wider field of view, like most porros. I also tried the RSPB WP porros, but optically they're no better and to me felt a bit clumsier/heavier. The advantages of the Minox is that they're better for those wearing glasses and are also waterproof. In addition the focusing is a lot smoother, although they need more focusing, my porros having a better depth of field. The Minox also have slightly sharper optics, but you'd have to spend a while swapping between the two to notice. We're both happy with our choices, but for my needs (non glasses wearer who doesn't stand around in the rain looking at birds ) the Minox aren't worth twice the money.

However I'm now convinced that pound for pound, porros give you much better performance than roofs. Having said that, we also tried top end stuff from Swarovski etc, and if I had the money we wouldn't hesitate to get a pair - incredible performance - I'd be interested to see how top end porros compared to them.

[David Smith]

If it's any help my wife has the Minox BL 8x42 and I have the Opticron 8x42 BGA WP. We both agree the Opticron are brighter and slightly clearer. Whether they are worth the extra ££ is questionable.

[Rob Laughton]

Originally Posted by matt green

It's a shame there isn't a 7X42 model of these, but then I've just secured a pair of secondhand 7X42 aspherics for not much more £'s than a new 8x42 BL.

(really needed something more waterproof for the winter!)

Matt

Try out the new Opticron Imagic BGA SE 7X42, WP & Nitrogen filled and great optics.

Available for £349 at SW Optics: http://www.swoptics.co.uk/view.asp?KEY=2752