MarinerBlue
New member
First off, this is my first post on this forum, so nice to meet you all!
I ended up choosing between these to pairs. While I'm new to birding, I'm an Optical Engineer who used to sell optical components, so I have some familiarity on the manufacturing side of this industry. That being said, it's been over half a decade since I was in that industry and have now switched careers to the medical field.
I purchased a pair of each and used them on my back porch, looking at birds on sunny and cloudy days. I also used them on the coast on a sunny day where I was able to observe harlequin ducks, red breasted mergansers, and some bald eagles. Here is my review:
1) Fit and finish - Both have a rubberized compound and both are waterproof.
Pluses of the Zeiss Terra ED 8x42:
- more "modern" looking design that I preferred
Pluses of the Nikon Monarch 7 8x42
- lighter
- better end caps (the zeiss tended to fall out)
- better eye cups (they clicked into place easier).
Winner: Overall, for "fit and finish alone" I preferred the Zeiss. The look was just so much cooler that it made up for the weight/end caps/eye cups.
2) Focusing
Pluses of the Zeiss:
- quicker focus
Pluses of the Nikon:
- felt more precise (the Zeiss had a zone where when you went from focusing one way towards the other, there was this gap where there was no response in focusing for about 1/8th of a turn which was kind of annoying).
Overall, I prefered the Nikon's focusing characteristics.
3) Optical performance - When looking at optical components that go into optics like these, there are several factors that influence cost of the components
- homogeniety of the index of refraction of the glass. To reduce this, you have to use more expensive materials and anneal (or bake) the glass over time, which takes energy, which costs $$$.
- homogeniety with respect to the inclusions and bubbles in the glass (you have to mix the glass slower and longer which eats away at the tank and costs more $$$.
- glass transmission characteristics inherent to the glass material itself (more exotic materials needed to get better transmission).
- coatings (which also changes transmission characteristics)
All of the above factors will influence the characteristics of the overall system, so focusing on just one means you will be ignoring the other components, which may make up for the deficiency in one area....
So overall, when it came to optical performance, the clear trend was that the Nikon Monarch 7s had noticeably less chromatic aberration compared to the Zeiss Terra - HOWEVER - that came at a cost of richness of the colors. I'm going to break this down by setting to give you a better idea:
Day 1: Sunny skies on the back porch.
So when I would look at a common cardinal in a bush through the Terra, the feathers seemed to jump out more through the glass. I could appreciate the subtle hues of red on each feather, even see some blue sheen to the feathers that seemed so vibrant that I could reach out and tough it. The Nikons were great too, but somehow seemed slightly more subdued. The blue sheen got lost and the red feathers just looked a little more dull. However, when I would look up at an American tree sparrow on a branch, I could notice more plumage details when looking through the Nikons. The Zeiss would offer just enough chromatic aberration to confuse my eyes and be annoying.
Winner: basically even. I could be equally happy looking through both.
Day 2: Cloudy skies on the back porch.
The color advantage of the Zeiss stood out more and the chromatic aberration was less noticeable. Winner: Zeiss.
Day 3: A sunny day at the shore to view ducks. I must admit, I approached day three with a clear bias towards the Zeiss binoculars. I liked the look more, it was just more fun to go birding when I saw all these vibrant colors, and I felt that the chromatic aberration could be made up for by my trying to center the bird in the optic. I actually took both pairs out with my wife. We unanimously decided that the Nikons were a better pair to have in a nautical setting. The bright sun really amplified the chromatic aberration and the colors were super bright in both cases, the clear winner was the Nikon. The Nikons also had a wider field of view which came in handy when searching for birds that had dived down to chase after a crab or whatnot.
Winner: Nikons
4) Price - At the time of my review, I was able to find new versions of the Zeiss for $300 and $400 for the Nikon Monarch 7's
Overall thoughts: It's clear to me that both companies are playing to their strengths. If I had to take a guess to support my observations, I would suspect that Zeiss, having access to German Schott ED glass from their in house glass making operation, are using a higher spec glass that allows a hint of more light to travel through. Nikon does not have a glass manufacturing operation so I suspect it uses Chinese Chengdu Guanming glass or Japanese Ohara glass. What it does have is access to economies of scale for coatings from it's camera business. I wouldn't be surprised if they try to make up for their glass with their coatings. I actually tried to contact Zeiss and Nikon (and Vortex) customer service to see whether they could confirm where they got their glass from, but the only company that responded was Zeiss, who said that they used Schott glass, but could not promise that ALL their glass was Schott glass. Based on my experience in the industry, Schott glass was hands down the best in the business.
Final verdict: After seeing how well the Nikons performed in a coastal setting, we both ended up choosing the Nikons. Had I just gone birding in a cloudy/dark area, I would prefer the Zeiss. If I was going to focus on which was a better value, I would have gone for the Zeiss. But we live in a coastal state with tons of water, so we went with the Nikons.
I hope this review was helpful to you guys - happy birding! :t:
I ended up choosing between these to pairs. While I'm new to birding, I'm an Optical Engineer who used to sell optical components, so I have some familiarity on the manufacturing side of this industry. That being said, it's been over half a decade since I was in that industry and have now switched careers to the medical field.
I purchased a pair of each and used them on my back porch, looking at birds on sunny and cloudy days. I also used them on the coast on a sunny day where I was able to observe harlequin ducks, red breasted mergansers, and some bald eagles. Here is my review:
1) Fit and finish - Both have a rubberized compound and both are waterproof.
Pluses of the Zeiss Terra ED 8x42:
- more "modern" looking design that I preferred
Pluses of the Nikon Monarch 7 8x42
- lighter
- better end caps (the zeiss tended to fall out)
- better eye cups (they clicked into place easier).
Winner: Overall, for "fit and finish alone" I preferred the Zeiss. The look was just so much cooler that it made up for the weight/end caps/eye cups.
2) Focusing
Pluses of the Zeiss:
- quicker focus
Pluses of the Nikon:
- felt more precise (the Zeiss had a zone where when you went from focusing one way towards the other, there was this gap where there was no response in focusing for about 1/8th of a turn which was kind of annoying).
Overall, I prefered the Nikon's focusing characteristics.
3) Optical performance - When looking at optical components that go into optics like these, there are several factors that influence cost of the components
- homogeniety of the index of refraction of the glass. To reduce this, you have to use more expensive materials and anneal (or bake) the glass over time, which takes energy, which costs $$$.
- homogeniety with respect to the inclusions and bubbles in the glass (you have to mix the glass slower and longer which eats away at the tank and costs more $$$.
- glass transmission characteristics inherent to the glass material itself (more exotic materials needed to get better transmission).
- coatings (which also changes transmission characteristics)
All of the above factors will influence the characteristics of the overall system, so focusing on just one means you will be ignoring the other components, which may make up for the deficiency in one area....
So overall, when it came to optical performance, the clear trend was that the Nikon Monarch 7s had noticeably less chromatic aberration compared to the Zeiss Terra - HOWEVER - that came at a cost of richness of the colors. I'm going to break this down by setting to give you a better idea:
Day 1: Sunny skies on the back porch.
So when I would look at a common cardinal in a bush through the Terra, the feathers seemed to jump out more through the glass. I could appreciate the subtle hues of red on each feather, even see some blue sheen to the feathers that seemed so vibrant that I could reach out and tough it. The Nikons were great too, but somehow seemed slightly more subdued. The blue sheen got lost and the red feathers just looked a little more dull. However, when I would look up at an American tree sparrow on a branch, I could notice more plumage details when looking through the Nikons. The Zeiss would offer just enough chromatic aberration to confuse my eyes and be annoying.
Winner: basically even. I could be equally happy looking through both.
Day 2: Cloudy skies on the back porch.
The color advantage of the Zeiss stood out more and the chromatic aberration was less noticeable. Winner: Zeiss.
Day 3: A sunny day at the shore to view ducks. I must admit, I approached day three with a clear bias towards the Zeiss binoculars. I liked the look more, it was just more fun to go birding when I saw all these vibrant colors, and I felt that the chromatic aberration could be made up for by my trying to center the bird in the optic. I actually took both pairs out with my wife. We unanimously decided that the Nikons were a better pair to have in a nautical setting. The bright sun really amplified the chromatic aberration and the colors were super bright in both cases, the clear winner was the Nikon. The Nikons also had a wider field of view which came in handy when searching for birds that had dived down to chase after a crab or whatnot.
Winner: Nikons
4) Price - At the time of my review, I was able to find new versions of the Zeiss for $300 and $400 for the Nikon Monarch 7's
Overall thoughts: It's clear to me that both companies are playing to their strengths. If I had to take a guess to support my observations, I would suspect that Zeiss, having access to German Schott ED glass from their in house glass making operation, are using a higher spec glass that allows a hint of more light to travel through. Nikon does not have a glass manufacturing operation so I suspect it uses Chinese Chengdu Guanming glass or Japanese Ohara glass. What it does have is access to economies of scale for coatings from it's camera business. I wouldn't be surprised if they try to make up for their glass with their coatings. I actually tried to contact Zeiss and Nikon (and Vortex) customer service to see whether they could confirm where they got their glass from, but the only company that responded was Zeiss, who said that they used Schott glass, but could not promise that ALL their glass was Schott glass. Based on my experience in the industry, Schott glass was hands down the best in the business.
Final verdict: After seeing how well the Nikons performed in a coastal setting, we both ended up choosing the Nikons. Had I just gone birding in a cloudy/dark area, I would prefer the Zeiss. If I was going to focus on which was a better value, I would have gone for the Zeiss. But we live in a coastal state with tons of water, so we went with the Nikons.
I hope this review was helpful to you guys - happy birding! :t:
), I just felt that I had to qualify my review by stating that I was strictly an amateur when it comes to optics so don't expect MTF curves, resolution numbers, and such, just two eyeballs, two hands, and a brain passing judgement. I think that's okay, though, because much of what users like about binoculars is subjective. If there were one pair of binoculars at each price point that was "the best" for everyone (some people try to convince us there is), then everybody would be buying those binoculars, and the other companies would be out of business. But given the human interface of binoculars, and people's different preferences, there's lots of room for opinions. 
