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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Minox HG (1 Viewer)

R

redleg

Member
Good afternoon

I currently use a pair of Swift 828 roofs which suit me quite nicely. However, over the last year or two I have found myself watching animals, mainly Sika deer and badgers late at night, in poor light. I find that the Swifts struggle a little bit under these conditions (and my eyes are probably not what they once were!)

I have seen the outgoing model HG's (made in Japan) at around £400 and was wondering if any users could comment regarding the 8 x 43 model. I would like to know how they perform, in both good and poor light from anyone with experience of this model please, as I have been unable to try a pair and would have to buy unseen. I'd like to stay at this size of binocular really.

Do any users think they are much of a step up from the Swifts, or would the general consensus be that I need to save more and look towards the top names? I have recently been to Denby Dale to try several pairs of other makes out but unfortunately it was a lovely bright clear day, so the differences between some models appeared to me to be quite minimal, except from a FOV perspective. I struggled to tell the difference, for example, between the swaros and the FL's.

Any opinions or advice very gratefully received.

Many thanks
 
Hi Redleg. I have had a pair of Swift 828 (HHS) binoculars for several years and still rate them highly, although I normally use my Trinovid 8x32s these days. I am not sure from your post if the Swifts work well for you most of the time and are only a problem in poor light. If so, I am not sure how much of an improvement the Minox bins will be. I would have thought that to really see an improvement under these conditions you would probably need binoculars with larger objective lenses.

I notice that Opticron have an 8x50 version of their Discovery binocular, which sells for about £140 from some retailers. I have no experience of this particular format of the Discovery but I know the 8x42 version and I think it is an excellent binocular for the price. I don't know if there is somewhere where you can try the 8x50 or if anybody else has any experience of it. Just an idea to think about.

I hope someone else can give you more information about the Minox HGs.

Ron
 
Thank you Ron

The Swifts generally suit me quite well, I'm being picky really as it's in the real low light conditions that I'm struggling, in good light I like them and they suit me quite well, although not as well as the FL's which were perfect.

I think the problem here is that I have recently tried a pair of FL's and was blown away by them. I really should be saving for a pair, but am struggling to justify it and have been looking for something optically better than the HHS, but not at Zeiss prices! Not asking much am I?!!
 
It sounds like the problem we all have. Perfection is very expensive. ;) Have you been able to try the Hawke Frontier ED binoculars. Some people here think they are not far behind the alpha brands optically. I was very impressed with the last pair I tried.

Ron
 
Not as yet Ron, they are on my list. The view through the Verano's was nice, but they didn't suit my face. I am an ugly swine! I wish I hadn't tried those damn Zeiss now, this could get expensive! I do love the field of view through them though, and spent ages at the shop. I really, really tried to seperate the Swaros from the Zeiss optically, and just couldn't. They were both fantastic, but I can't see where the extra cash goes between them.
 
redleg said:
. . . over the last year or two I have found myself watching animals, mainly Sika deer and badgers late at night, in poor light. . . . I have seen the outgoing model HG's (made in Japan) at around £400 and was wondering if any users could comment regarding the 8 x 43 model. I would like to know how they perform, in both good and poor light from anyone with experience of this model please, as I have been unable to try a pair and would have to buy unseen. I'd like to stay at this size of binocular really. . . .

Any opinions or advice very gratefully received.

Many thanks
Click to expand...
I use the Minox HG 8x33, but have never looked through the Minox HG 8x43 or the Swift model you currently use. Therefore, please take the next two short paragraphs with a grain of salt.

. . .

I enjoy the Minox HG 8x33 in the woods for quick views of animals and trees. However, the 33 mm is somewhat lacking at dusk or night, as is expected by the smaller aperture size. During the day, I find the color rendering in the shaded woods to be excellent and the binocular is very rugged.

The Minox HG has quick focus and narrow depth of field--a combination well suited for hunting, but making it somewhat difficult to obtain a precise focus of distance landscape views, if that is what is desired. It takes a few extra seconds to reach such photographic-like precision. For landscape viewing, I think a slow focus mechanism delivers more precision. But, to quickly identify that noise in the brush, my Minox HG focusing mechanism is great.

. . .

You probably will be more interested in this review of the Minox HG 8.5x52 and 8x43 in a larger review of 8x42 models .

. . .

Last year, Minox advanced in the low-light market even more when they introduced the Minox HG 8x56 , a model designed specifically for twilight and low light situations. The Minox HG 8x56 is on my list.

. . .

I hope this helps.

...Bob
Kentucky, USA
 
Hg

Thank you Bob.

I've trawled around the web a little, and these forums, but they don't seem to receive much attention here, I'd like to know why they don't seem particularly well received. Maybe a price issue? They do however seem popular on one of the UK deer stalking sites, and well praised for their twilight performance. I'll do some further digging...
 
redleg said:
Thank you Bob.

I've trawled around the web a little, and these forums, but they don't seem to receive much attention here, I'd like to know why they don't seem particularly well received. Maybe a price issue? They do however seem popular on one of the UK deer stalking sites, and well praised for their twilight performance. I'll do some further digging...
Click to expand...

I agree that Minox gets little notice, at least in Texas birding circles, which to my mind is truly unfortunate. I suspect there are a number of reasons: the first Minox binoculars which appeared during the Company's Leica ownership period were OK but nothing special - certainly not Junior Leicas, and the packaging gave the false impression that these were German-made products. I thought the later Aspeheric BD BR models (the nomenclature is maddening) were dramatic improvements over their conventional cousins, as were the still later Japanese-made HG models, but the arrival of the Zen Ray EDs and ED2s in the U.S. with much better optical performance and far more attractive prices has really taken the wind out of Minox's sails. The soon to be history made in Japan BD BR 8 x 32 and HG 8 x 33 models however are both excellent birding binoculars and represent presently terrific buys at Camera Land (NY).
 
Last edited:
Reading here, I purchased the Minox 8.5 X43s so much that I just placed an order for 8X33 HGs, too. The stuff about Minox HG qualities have been my experience, too. I just love great optics and don't want to zoom the acquisition cost to Zeiss levels.
 
I recently reluctently returned a Minox HG 8x33 (made in Japan). It just did not have enough eye relief for use with my eyegasses. However, resolution was outstanding, the best 8x I've ever seen. But, the poor ER combined with it's shallow depth of field and quick focus (350 degrees close to infinity) made it extremely difficult for me to focus beyond 50 yards. When properly focused it had great image quality.

The Minox overall quality and resolution (when in focus) really impressed me. So, I'm thinking about the Minox HG 8.5x43 (also made in Japan)? But I'm concerned about the Minox focus system - very much so or I would have already ordered one.

Can anyone provide me with assistance? Does the HG 8.5x43 have a very shallow depth of field like the 8x33? I know the 8.5x43 has better eyerelief, but is the focus just as fast as the 8x33. Has anyone had difficulties bringing the 8.5x43 into focus at longer distances (greater than 50 yards) and/or difficulty in bringing living things (without hard edges) like trees and birds into focus with the 8.5x43 (Japan)? Having some understanding of other birder's experience with the Minox HG 8.5x43 will be of great benefit and much appreciated.

bearclawthedonut
 
bearclawthedonut said:
I recently reluctently returned a Minox HG 8x33 (made in Japan). It just did not have enough eye relief for use with my eyegasses. However, resolution was outstanding, the best 8x I've ever seen. But, the poor ER combined with it's shallow depth of field and quick focus (350 degrees close to infinity) made it extremely difficult for me to focus beyond 50 yards. When properly focused it had great image quality.

The Minox overall quality and resolution (when in focus) really impressed me. So, I'm thinking about the Minox HG 8.5x43 (also made in Japan)? But I'm concerned about the Minox focus system - very much so or I would have already ordered one.

Can anyone provide me with assistance? Does the HG 8.5x43 have a very shallow depth of field like the 8x33? I know the 8.5x43 has better eyerelief, but is the focus just as fast as the 8x33. Has anyone had difficulties bringing the 8.5x43 into focus at longer distances (greater than 50 yards) and/or difficulty in bringing living things (without hard edges) like trees and birds into focus with the 8.5x43 (Japan)? Having some understanding of other birder's experience with the Minox HG 8.5x43 will be of great benefit and much appreciated.

bearclawthedonut
Click to expand...
Bear claw,

I own both the 8X33 and the 8.5X43 and the 10X43 HG's so I'm a HG buyer and loyalist, I guess. I don't know that I totally understand the psycho-visual term of field of view, either. To me the eye relief is great since my astigmatism is pretty bad to me and the weight of the chassis and the eye relief as well as the rubberized outer skin allows to hand-hold unaided a steady image and the clarity of the image is outstanding to my perception. That's about my best quick response, here. I'll do some reading on FOV and give a more articulate answer next go.
 
Whitneymuse:

Field of view (FOV) is the horizontal view (side to side) at a set distance from the objective lens. Contemporay binoculars generaly have a FOV of between 310 to 450 feet at a distance of 1,000 yards. Many people consider a wide FOV to be of great benefit. To me its insignificant.

Depth of field on the other hand is the depth of focus. The Minox HG 8x33 has a very narrow depth of focus. Meaning you can see the image with relatively good resolution for a short distance. Everything before and beyond the depth of fucus is not sharply defined. The focal plane is the point where everything is in sharpest focus. The depth of field generally begins just in front of the focal plane, but it continues well past the focal plane.

I found the Minox HG 8x33 (Japan) to be hard to focus beyond 50 yards, partly due to it's narrow (short) depth of field and partly due to it's fast focus (less than one full turn from close focus to infinity) all of which was compounded for me by it's poor eye relief (15 mm).

The Minox HG 8,5x43 (Japan) has 18 mm of eye relief (much better), but I'm wondering if it has the same narrow depth of field and fast focus of the 8x33 - which did not work for me? FOV is not an issue to me.

Bearclawthedonut
 
bearclawthedonut said:
Whitneymuse:

Field of view (FOV) is the horizontal view (side to side) at a set distance from the objective lens. Contemporay binoculars generaly have a FOV of between 310 to 450 feet at a distance of 1,000 yards. Many people consider a wide FOV to be of great benefit. To me its insignificant.

Depth of field on the other hand is the depth of focus. The Minox HG 8x33 has a very narrow depth of focus. Meaning you can see the image with relatively good resolution for a short distance. Everything before and beyond the depth of fucus is not sharply defined. The focal plane is the point where everything is in sharpest focus. The depth of field generally begins just in front of the focal plane, but it continues well past the focal plane.

I found the Minox HG 8x33 (Japan) to be hard to focus beyond 50 yards, partly due to it's narrow (short) depth of field and partly due to it's fast focus (less than one full turn from close focus to infinity) all of which was compounded for me by it's poor eye relief (15 mm).

The Minox HG 8,5x43 (Japan) has 18 mm of eye relief (much better), but I'm wondering if it has the same narrow depth of field and fast focus of the 8x33 - which did not work for me? FOV is not an issue to me.

Bearclawthedonut
Click to expand...
Thanks for your detailed explanation; I'll spend some time tomorrow with the 8.5X43 and address the issues you raised; again, the images that I see with the bins are so clear and white (when they are supposed to be white) and have such clarity and a very high S/N in visual terms I compare them to the distinct images one gets with the Zeiss Victory (not the exact same, of course, but you know you are looking with/through/ something special; really like these images. High S/N and low distortion; if we can use Psyco-acoustic terms to describe the visual.
 
I love the Minox HG 8 x 33 - as close to perfect a mid size binocular as I have yet found ( including some alphas far more expensive) but I never had the same reaction to the HG 8 . 5 x 43 and, thanks to Doug at CameraLand NY, was able to (reluctantly) return the binocular. It's been said before, but you gotta try before you buy.
 
bearclawthedonut said:
Whitneymuse:

Field of view (FOV) is the horizontal view (side to side) at a set distance from the objective lens. Contemporay binoculars generaly have a FOV of between 310 to 450 feet at a distance of 1,000 yards. Many people consider a wide FOV to be of great benefit. To me its insignificant.

Depth of field on the other hand is the depth of focus. The Minox HG 8x33 has a very narrow depth of focus. Meaning you can see the image with relatively good resolution for a short distance. Everything before and beyond the depth of fucus is not sharply defined. The focal plane is the point where everything is in sharpest focus. The depth of field generally begins just in front of the focal plane, but it continues well past the focal plane.

I found the Minox HG 8x33 (Japan) to be hard to focus beyond 50 yards, partly due to it's narrow (short) depth of field and partly due to it's fast focus (less than one full turn from close focus to infinity) all of which was compounded for me by it's poor eye relief (15 mm).

The Minox HG 8,5x43 (Japan) has 18 mm of eye relief (much better), but I'm wondering if it has the same narrow depth of field and fast focus of the 8x33 - which did not work for me? FOV is not an issue to me.

Bearclawthedonut
Click to expand...
The 8.5X43 is a larger bin than the 8X33; they all have fast focusing center wheels. The fov of the 8.5X43 is larger than the 8X33 as well as being a larger chassis. These are light instruments. Heavy-duty aluminum soda cans (magnesium) wrapped with a skin of rubberized material filled with argon. The HG comes in one larger size objective bin the barrel has a waisted cylinder appearance. That would accomodate a larger objective diameter.
 
Chartwell 99:

What did you dislike about the 8.5x43? The resolution was excellent on the 8x33 that I returned; The best 8x that I've ever seen. But the eye relief at 15 mm was inadequate to work with my eyeglasses. I'm concerned about the focus system. Depth of field was very shallow, combined with quick focus it was difficult to focus on living things (birds, trees, etc...) at distances beyond 50 yards.

I can not, will not accept that in a binocular. If the 8.5x43 has the same problem, then it's not for me. I do not want to order another binocular from Cameraland and have to return it - again.

bearclawthedonut
 
bearclawthedonut said:
Chartwell 99:

What did you dislike about the 8.5x43? The resolution was excellent on the 8x33 that I returned; The best 8x that I've ever seen. But the eye relief at 15 mm was inadequate to work with my eyeglasses. I'm concerned about the focus system. Depth of field was very shallow, combined with quick focus it was difficult to focus on living things (birds, trees, etc...) at distances beyond 50 yards.

I can not, will not accept that in a binocular. If the 8.5x43 has the same problem, then it's not for me. I do not want to order another binocular from Cameraland and have to return it - again.

bearclawthedonut
Click to expand...

I really wanted to like the 8.5 x 43 and was much impressed by its brightness, resolution and ergonomics. In my experience, all 8 x 32/33 binoculars have shallow depth of field and the 8.5 x 43 (like other similarly configured binoculars) did not suffer from this issue at all. My concerns regarding the 8.5 x 43 were chiefly narrow field of view (I had been spoiled by the much wider FOV of the 8 x 33) and, since I don't wear glasses, persistent blackouts (ironically caused, I suspect, by too much eye relief). It was the blackout concern that proved to be the deal breaker for me.
 
Chartwell99:

The longer eye relief will suit me and my eyeglasses, good to hear that the depth of field is appropriate to full size 8x. What about focus adjustment? Any problems with focusing at distances greater than 50 yards or focusing on birds or trees?

Thanks much for the assistance.

bearclawthedonut
 
bearclawthedonut said:
Chartwell99:

The longer eye relief will suit me and my eyeglasses, good to hear that the depth of field is appropriate to full size 8x. What about focus adjustment? Any problems with focusing at distances greater than 50 yards or focusing on birds or trees?

Thanks much for the assistance.

bearclawthedonut
Click to expand...

Focus is faster on the Minox HGs than some but not a problem at all for me. I actually prefer faster focus adjustments for birding, really hated the early Swaro EL focus (but loved the optics), and became accustomed to and ending up liking the ultra fast 1990's Bausch & Lomb Elites which were my go to birding binocular for years.
 
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