Subzero,
You are not the first to note the "Purple Haze" in the Monarch X...
Purple haze all in my brain
Lately, chromatic aberration drivin' me insane
Monarch's actin' funny, I don't know why
'Scuse me while I switch to my Sightron Blue Sky
According to allbinos (I should have a function key with that phrase so I don't have to write it so much
, the Swift 828 Audubon only has 75% light transmission!
It's one thing to be dickering over whether the FL has 91% or 94% LT, but if the allbino boyz are right about the 828, that low a number is going to be noticeable to most people when they compare it to the 90% LT Swift 820 Audubon porro or the 91% Swift Horizon roof (also allbinos' figures) on an overcast day.
The 10x42 Horizon they reviewed is only $179.98 at bin.com, so why does it have so much more LT than the company's more expensive flagship roof? That's a head scratcher.
I haven't tried the 828, but I corresponded with two owners who did reviews on BF and read numerous other reviews, and enough agreed that when compared to the Audubon porros or other modern roofs they've tried, the 828 doesn't hold as well in dim light to make me suspect that allbinos' numbers if not on the money are at least in the ballpark.
Swift spun off its sports optics division a few years back, but I would have thought that by now they would have updated the 828 with higher transmission coatings on the prisms and lenses.
If you're thinking about buying the 828, test it on an overcast day and compare it to some other bins to make sure it suits your needs.
As far as the 820 vs. the SE, I think the SE is the better of the two. Better build, better optics, better mechanics, better edges, and you can buy one second hand and still get it repaired for $10 + return shipping.
Can't touch that
I told you, homeboy
You can't touch that.
Brock