Monarch 82ED, a Perfect Ten (1 Viewer)

[antiopa]

Hi Everyone,
Based on Henry Link's review (thank you!) of the Monarch 82ED I ordered one online; I was unable to find a place to view one locally. I am happy with the scope, but would like to do one of these star tests that you talk about. Are there instructions somewhere on this site as to how to go about that?

 

[Binastro]

Hi and welcome.

On the thread Cherry or Lemon below post 2 Joachim gives a link.

I had a nice viewing session at the Harvard Observatory.

Regards,
B.

 

[henry link]

Here's another thread on the subject.

Henry's simple guide to testing spotting scopes?

Does such a thing exist, @Henry Link? :) Cheers, Kumar

www.birdforum.net

 

[antiopa]

Thank you, Henry and Binastro. It being a beautiful sunny day today I will try to find a reflected glitter point and see what I can do.

 

[b-lilja]

BTW, is this Chinese made? Also, how is the apparent build quality? The MIC ED50 is pretty fragile.

 

[Steve Babbs]

BTW, is this Chinese made? Also, how is the apparent build quality? The MIC ED50 is pretty fragile.

I haven't dropped it but it gives the impression of being a strong sturdy scope. It's certainly not made of light-weight materials: it's weight is its only fault IMO.

 

[antiopa]

I agree that it appears sturdy. The least useful item is the eyepiece cover, which will fall off easily and get lost. I don't know where it's made.

 

[Steve Babbs]

I agree that it appears sturdy. The least useful item is the eyepiece cover, which will fall off easily and get lost. I don't know where it's made.

I totally agree about the eyepiece cover. It is very annoying.

 

[YYguy]

The published eye relief for the 30-60W eyepiece is 15.2 - 14.2mm which seems just at the margin for eyeglass wearers like myself. Steve Babbs (or any other spectacled users), can you comment on your experience with this eyepiece?

 

[Steve Babbs]

Unfortunately I was unable to answer this, as the glasses in my photo are sunglasses, so I'll have to hand this to someone else.

 

[henry link]

I just tested two more specimens of the Nikon 82mm Monarch ED. These were both Nikon refurbished units. Both showed evidence of wear and tear near the tripod mounting sockets, but the serial numbers were so close (221968, 221974) that I don't think they could be random returns, perhaps demos. I was astonished to find that both of these were optically in the same class as the nearly perfect unit I reviewed in the first post of this thread.

So, of five units tested four have been cherries (three arguably super cherries) and only one fell to the level of average or mediocre, still no lemons. In my experience that is better than what I would expect from five randomly chosen Swarovski scopes and puts Kowa and Zeiss to shame. If Nikon can do this in a Chinese factory there is just no excuse for the production inconsistency of its high end competitors.

Henry

 

[Alexis Powell]

I just tested two more specimens of the Nikon 82mm Monarch ED. These were both Nikon refurbished units. Both showed evidence of wear and tear near the tripod mounting sockets, but the serial numbers were so close (221968, 221974) that I don't think they could be random returns, perhaps demos. I was astonished to find that both of these were optically in the same class as the nearly perfect unit I reviewed in the first post of this thread.

So, of five units tested four have been cherries (three arguably super cherries) and only one fell to the level of average or mediocre, still no lemons. In my experience that is better than what I would expect from five randomly chosen Swarovski scopes and puts Kowa and Zeiss to shame. If Nikon can do this in a Chinese factory there is just no excuse for the production inconsistency of its high end competitors.

Henry

What's the secret to Nikon's success? Proper manufacture and assembly of the objective cell unit? Side-stepping most issues with prisms by using a porro rather than roof? Both of the above? Or something else?

--AP

 

[Hermann]

What's the secret to Nikon's success? Proper manufacture and assembly of the objective cell unit? Side-stepping most issues with prisms by using a porro rather than roof? Both of the above? Or something else?

Years ago there was some discussion of the prisms Nikon used in their Fieldscopes - oversized Schmidt prisms, that have some distinct advantages over SP prisms. That may well be another possibility.

Hermann

 

[kabsetz]

Henry,

Thanks for the update. Good information. I haven't looked at Monarchs recently, but maybe should take a second look.

Hermann,

While it is true that the oversized and offset Schmidt prism Nikon uses is "better" than the more common implementation used by Swaro, Kowa and Zeiss, it is better because of not being so critical with manufacturing tolerances. From what I've seen, Swarosvki seems to have their prisms pretty consistently at a high enough level that the roof edge does not introduce visible artefacts. Kowa perhaps not so much, as have been demonstrated by some star-test photos posted by Bolden Eagle last year (I have also seen some samples that look like this).

What I'm getting at is that although prism defects do occur in alpha scopes other than Nikon, more common defects spoiling the image are the usual suspects - spherical aberration and miscollimation as well as varying amounts of longitudinal CA.

- Kimmo

 

[Racuuna]

Bought one and all i can say is that i prefer i over my meopta 82 hd, much prefer the colors of the nikon over meopta using the same eyepiece on booth scopes(Baader morpheus) . Its also easy to adapt astro eyepieces to is thanks to the bayonet mount that is the same as nikon dslr cameras. Is using it up to 105x with very good result.

 

[henry link]

Hi Racunna,

I just noticed yesterday that the bayonet on the Monarch scope is the same one used on Nikon dslrs. I attached an old T-adapter to the scope body and was able to put a Baader 1.25" eyepiece holder on the scope (Baader T-2 system threads are identical to T threads), but none of my 1.25" eyepieces would reach focus. What are you using? I'm particularly interested in adapting the Baader Hyperion Zoom to the Nikon scope. Seems like there should be a Baader adapter ring for going directly from one of the threads on the eyepiece to the T thread on the scope.

BTW, a birding friend who ordered the two scopes has become the owner of one and my wife the owner of the other.

Henry

 

[jring]

Hi Henry,

Baader has a so called Zero Length Adapter from the 2" female threads in the Mk4 zoom locking ring to T2 female thread - part number 2454833

2"a / T-2i Zero-length reducing piece (zero optical length)

converts any 2" (SC) female thread into a T-2 (M42 x 0.75) female thread - without extending the optical length initially manufactured to adapt our Hyperion Universal Zoom Mark IV onto any photographic T-2 thread (see animation on the right) this adap

www.baader-planetarium.com

if you need a T2 male thread, they also have a (not very cheap) T2 gender bender... or use a generic one...

Baader T-2/T-2 Inverter Ring

Changes a T-2 female into a T-2 male threadOptical path length is zero.Free of reflections

www.baader-planetarium.com

That will give the shortest possible optical path for adaption to T2 - of course your Nikon T2 adapter also has a certain length - might be worth looking if a shorter non-standard one is available...

Joachim

​

 

[henry link]

Thanks very much Joachim, that should do it.

Henry

 

[Racuuna]

Hi Racunna,

I just noticed yesterday that the bayonet on the Monarch scope is the same one used on Nikon dslrs. I attached an old T-adapter to the scope body and was able to put a Baader 1.25" eyepiece holder on the scope (Baader T-2 system threads are identical to T threads), but none of my 1.25" eyepieces would reach focus. What are you using? I'm particularly interested in adapting the Baader Hyperion Zoom to the Nikon scope. Seems like there should be a Baader adapter ring for going directly from one of the threads on the eyepiece to the T thread on the scope.

BTW, a birding friend who ordered the two scopes has become the owner of one and my wife the owner of the other.

Henry

Hello! I made an adapter out of parts from an old Nikon lens i had. Btw, many thanks for the heads up for this scope. Wouldnt had bought it if it wasnt for your review.

 

[DRodrigues]

Nice to know that the Monarch use the standard Nikon bayonet - read some where that was the Nikon first mirorless camera bayonet that stopped production...
Henry, all mm saved count to reach focus so I would use something like short Nikon to T adapter