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Nikon Monarch HG (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Boris Flaccus
- Start date
No. I've bought a Nikon bino from them before and it's official Nikon Europe warranty card
Steve O4B
Optics4Birding.com
The reason that the MHGs are just coming out in the US is that Nikon US rejected them until some changes were made. Maybe the ones that have a reduced price are the unimproved version. I don't have a list of what the changes were, only that that is what caused the delay.
It is the separate 2 year warranty plan that they are trying to sell with the binocular that made me suspicious.
You don't need anything like that if you are the original purchaser of a Nikon binocular through an approved dealer.
See the comments in the last two paragraphs on extended guarantees in the link below:
https://www.nikonimgsupport.com/eu/BV_article?articleNo=000006097&lang=en_GB&setRedirect=true
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This may sound a bit pedantic, but to be very precise:
If you read the Nikon warranty, only cost of defective material is covered for 10 years, cost of labor for 5 years.
The same is actually true for Leica and Swaro (although these two tend to be more generous when it comes to customer service than what the brochure says).
Zeiss offers a 10 year warranty for cost of material and labor.
They have been discounted 25% from day one in Europe. The pre-tax price for the 8x Monarch HG can be found for 624 euro http://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/convert/?Amount=624&From=EUR&To=USD
I expect them to sell for $600 to $700 once they have been in the US for awhile. There already down to $650 in Europe. Just wait awhile.
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The-Wanderer
Well-known member
The question I posed in post 360 was if Nikon UK would accept the warranty. I am never clear whether or not a European warranty means that the bin has to be sent to continental Europe or not.
On a related point, do optics and camera makers release items that do not pass QC to businesses that then sell the items as grey / gray market? If not how do such GMs come about?
On a related point, do optics and camera makers release items that do not pass QC to businesses that then sell the items as grey / gray market? If not how do such GMs come about?
I have no idea what the changes might be but spent some time with the HG at the UK Birdfair last August, and while there was much to like, I just didn't feel it offered a £800 view. To me the colour rendition seemed a little anaemic, lacked a little contrast and the CA too high. Not sure they had got the field flattening quite righ either. There was quite a step change to the EDG in my opinion. I don't imagine it would take a lot to sort those niggles, but would they undermine the EDG? Hope they do. It would be a big seller I suspect.
David
Brands price their products at different levels in different sales territories so for example a model might be sold to dealers at a cheaper price in SE Asia (I'm just making this up for illustration purposes) because that how the brand perceives that market, but the units sold there might end up in a higher priced territory like Western Europe. 'Leakage' of product from one territory to another where different prices apply is the major cause of the grey market AFAIK.
Perhaps Pete Gamby or MAK could step in here with their views.
Lee
The-Wanderer
Well-known member
Binastro, do I recollect aright that you have a Monarch Hg? If so was your warranty UK or Europe?
The EU single market means just that, a pan European warranty with pan European rules and legislation . Anything sold in the EU carries such a warranty. Nikon UK would repair it.
Gray market means it's a non-official EU import. The warranty is with the vendor and the foreign distributor they sourced the item from, for example coming from Nikon Hong Kong, who would be responsible for repairs. The optical equipment is of course identical.
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Agreed with the proviso that the repair taking place in the UK would depend on the brand's arrangements. Not all brands have UK repair facilities, but this an organisational question not a legal one surrounding the warranty. And in the UK any fault found within a reasonable period after purchase would be remedied by returning the product to the retailer.
Lee
james holdsworth
Consulting Biologist
I am still skeptical that anything major is being done to the Monarch HGs scheduled to come out in the USA. My guess is that Nikon is in the process of making more of them to fill the anticipated demand for them.
But this kind of thing did happen before with Nikon when the EDG first came out. The current EDGs were officially introduced on March 12, 2010 in Europe and world wide.
http://www.nikon.com/news/2010/0312_edg_binoculars_01.htm
These are the current EDGs we know as the EDG II. Note their pictures. They have a single hinge design.
Prior to that an earlier version known as the EDG I was released, but only in the USA. They had a double hinged design with a cover which was prone to bubbling and there was talk about it having a wandering diopter. They were discontinued at the time that the new versions were released.
The EDG I looked like this:
http://www.nikonsportoptics.com/en/...t-archive/binoculars/edg-7x42-binoculars.html
From the pictures we have of the Monarch HG on Nikon's new 100 year website, I doubt very much that the changes on the ones supposed to be coming out in the USA, if there are any, will be anywhere near as drastic as those with the EDG.
Their specs and pictures of them on the 100 year website are unchanged from those we saw on the earlier USA and European websites.
My guess is that the changes, if any, probably amount to some internal "tweakings."
Bob
Scopeviews make an interesting speculative observation about the low element count in the Nikon flagship...
http://www.scopeviews.co.uk/NikonEDG8x42.htm
james holdsworth
Consulting Biologist
I was just taking the pi** on the photo, with only one element visible - I'm sure there are more.
