Kevin Conville
yardbirder
The first half of 2019 found me buying and trying some new optics, which I’m usually not inclined to do much as I’m not a “grass is always greener” kind of guy and I have pretty good stuff. I am not, alas, immune to the bino bug and visiting these pages doesn’t improve my chances of not succumbing. At times I was surprised, delighted, and disappointed.
Here’s what I found:
Nikon 8x30 HG
Very nice bin that just wasn’t perfect enough.
I like most things about this bin but it did have a propensity for flare and glare, and didn’t come to focus as quickly as I like. I was attracted, as many are, to this genre for it’s promise of good optics in a very compact form. But, there was a spoiler…
Zeiss 8x25 Victory
I bought this shortly after the acquisition of the little Monarch. It’s a very trendy bin that gets praise beyond what’s usually lavished upon minis and it seemed logical to A-B them against the Nikon 8x30s, in spite of my skepticism of minis generally. Well knock me over with a feather! These are what many have said they were and overall a better bin than the Monarchs. I kept them and return the Nikons. I used these recently on a trip to the mountains and enjoyed using them quite a lot while hiking. The light weight is freeing and the optics really do compare well with mid sized, high quality bins. I have a new attitude towards (these anyway) 25mm bins.
Kowa 883 w/25-60
I’ve looked for a while for a Nikon ED82A scope to compliment my existing straight ED82 and ED50A. Thinking the angled version of the larger scope would save me pounds of carrying weight by using a much smaller tripod of which I already have several high quality carbon versions with different heads. Not finding one that agreed with me, I decided to plunk down for a Kowa 883. This seemed a no brainer for all the positive reviews and accolades, though it turned out mine wasn’t too good.
First, the “fast” focus wheel felt gritty and just wasn’t pleasant to use. The fine focus was just that, fine, and I wound up using it all the time. Not a good start.
The deal breaker however was it’s optical performance. Frankly, it wasn’t what I expected. Up to about 45x or so it seemed to hold it’s own with the Nikon ED82. But the image quality fell off sharply at 60x. I couldn’t believe it initially as my Nikon holds up great at 75x. I made an artificial star from aluminum foil stretched over a small flashlight with a pin hole in it. I never got concentric circles with the Kowa. In fact it looked a mess and I thought I was doing something wrong until I tested the ED82 and resolved beautiful concentric rings, both short of focus and beyond focus. With this I concluded this particular copy of 883 wasn’t good and back it went. Though the next copy of the big Kowa might prove to be fine, the fire kind of left me about owning one.
Nikon ED82 Fieldscope
I’ve had this scope for 8 or 9 years now and have always thought highly of it for it’s optics, focus, and build quality. After my recent Kowa endeavor I have an even greater appreciation for it and I don’t see myself ever parting with it or my little ED50. Both are truly great field optics. The one addition I’m considering now is the Nikon Monarch ED82A. After Henry’s glowing review, and some other very good reports, this is the 80mm-ish angled scope I am most likely to try next. I’ve had good luck with Nikon I must say.
Nikon 8x42 Monarch HG
This is probably my biggest surprise this year. I’ll just say it- I love this binocular! This is a much better bin than it’s little 8x30 brother and though it has it’s fans and followers, is rather undersung IMO.
Every time I use it it surprises me a bit. What a beautiful view. It most closely reminds me of an Ultravid 7x42 with it’s brightness and color rendition, but with a wider FOV! Sharpness is fantastic and it comes to focus easily and immediately. The eye relief is perfectly dialed in for me with and without glasses and may be the friendliest bin I’ve ever used. Comparable to my Leica 8x32 BNs in this regard. Immediate and comfortable full field w/o blackouts or vignetting. I find their handling excellent as well with their small diameter barrels, nice balance, and excellent focuser. Most of this would be enough to garner it a lofty position in my stable but when one considers it only weighs 23 oz and I paid under $900 for it, well…what more can be said?
Hope you enjoyed these musings. Cheers.
Here’s what I found:
Nikon 8x30 HG
Very nice bin that just wasn’t perfect enough.
I like most things about this bin but it did have a propensity for flare and glare, and didn’t come to focus as quickly as I like. I was attracted, as many are, to this genre for it’s promise of good optics in a very compact form. But, there was a spoiler…
Zeiss 8x25 Victory
I bought this shortly after the acquisition of the little Monarch. It’s a very trendy bin that gets praise beyond what’s usually lavished upon minis and it seemed logical to A-B them against the Nikon 8x30s, in spite of my skepticism of minis generally. Well knock me over with a feather! These are what many have said they were and overall a better bin than the Monarchs. I kept them and return the Nikons. I used these recently on a trip to the mountains and enjoyed using them quite a lot while hiking. The light weight is freeing and the optics really do compare well with mid sized, high quality bins. I have a new attitude towards (these anyway) 25mm bins.
Kowa 883 w/25-60
I’ve looked for a while for a Nikon ED82A scope to compliment my existing straight ED82 and ED50A. Thinking the angled version of the larger scope would save me pounds of carrying weight by using a much smaller tripod of which I already have several high quality carbon versions with different heads. Not finding one that agreed with me, I decided to plunk down for a Kowa 883. This seemed a no brainer for all the positive reviews and accolades, though it turned out mine wasn’t too good.
First, the “fast” focus wheel felt gritty and just wasn’t pleasant to use. The fine focus was just that, fine, and I wound up using it all the time. Not a good start.
The deal breaker however was it’s optical performance. Frankly, it wasn’t what I expected. Up to about 45x or so it seemed to hold it’s own with the Nikon ED82. But the image quality fell off sharply at 60x. I couldn’t believe it initially as my Nikon holds up great at 75x. I made an artificial star from aluminum foil stretched over a small flashlight with a pin hole in it. I never got concentric circles with the Kowa. In fact it looked a mess and I thought I was doing something wrong until I tested the ED82 and resolved beautiful concentric rings, both short of focus and beyond focus. With this I concluded this particular copy of 883 wasn’t good and back it went. Though the next copy of the big Kowa might prove to be fine, the fire kind of left me about owning one.
Nikon ED82 Fieldscope
I’ve had this scope for 8 or 9 years now and have always thought highly of it for it’s optics, focus, and build quality. After my recent Kowa endeavor I have an even greater appreciation for it and I don’t see myself ever parting with it or my little ED50. Both are truly great field optics. The one addition I’m considering now is the Nikon Monarch ED82A. After Henry’s glowing review, and some other very good reports, this is the 80mm-ish angled scope I am most likely to try next. I’ve had good luck with Nikon I must say.
Nikon 8x42 Monarch HG
This is probably my biggest surprise this year. I’ll just say it- I love this binocular! This is a much better bin than it’s little 8x30 brother and though it has it’s fans and followers, is rather undersung IMO.
Every time I use it it surprises me a bit. What a beautiful view. It most closely reminds me of an Ultravid 7x42 with it’s brightness and color rendition, but with a wider FOV! Sharpness is fantastic and it comes to focus easily and immediately. The eye relief is perfectly dialed in for me with and without glasses and may be the friendliest bin I’ve ever used. Comparable to my Leica 8x32 BNs in this regard. Immediate and comfortable full field w/o blackouts or vignetting. I find their handling excellent as well with their small diameter barrels, nice balance, and excellent focuser. Most of this would be enough to garner it a lofty position in my stable but when one considers it only weighs 23 oz and I paid under $900 for it, well…what more can be said?
Hope you enjoyed these musings. Cheers.
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