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Nikon Monarch M7 / Kite Lynx HD x30s - Still Veiling Glare? (2 Viewers)

To reduce reflections Tobias Menle (see link in one of the above posts) removed the eyecups of the Habicht! That puzzles me: without eyecups the set should be susceptible to reflections in the eyepieces from side/back light. His claim was that by removing the eyecups he prevented them from reflecting light back into the eyepices; but then how about the light going directly into the eyepieces from a side sun?
 
Bruce,

Thanks for clearing up that "711" issue.

The Nikon Monarch 7 8x30 must be selling OK. Nikon's USA website says they are back ordered should anyone want to order it from them.

http://www.nikonsportoptics.com/Nikon-Products/Binoculars/MONARCH-7-8x30.html

Maybe Nikon has been doing something with them to correct the glare issue?? I think I'll wait a bit before I decide to get one.

An 8.3º FOV is pretty ambitious for a lower priced 8x30/32 roof prism. You don't see more than 8º on the Alphas and Nikon never made a low priced or mid priced 8x30/32 roof prism before this one. They did have a Monarch 8x36 ATB which, based on the reviews I read about it on Eagle Optics, was well regarded and sold well but it only had a 7º FOV.

Bob
 
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I purchased a Nikon USA imported Monarch 7 8X30 from B & H Photo of New York about the first week of September, 2014 and the end cap over the focus knob says M711. A picture is attached. The serial number is 00042xx.

This is the same as mine, (serial no. 0005053). When i saw it advertised, i read it as Monarch 7 II, and assumed it was an updated model, but perhaps it's an import (although why it would have a different number from others escapes me).
I think this is something only Nikon can answer.
I can only repeat that i'm very pleased with them, particularly as they are around £100 less than the Kite Lynx in the UK, which - from reports - has its own problems....
Paddy
 
Just to reiterate, the deal-breaking problem that I've encountered with the three M7 10x30s and one Kite Lynx 10x30 I've (quite extensively) tried is low light veiling glare.

Though this can raise its unwelcome head in all sorts of lighting conditions, dull grey days are the most likely to provoke it. I'm not talking about flare / glare caused by near-sun (or other bright light sources).

I'm specifically talking about dull conditions where a partially washed out image - the wash out often notably crescent shaped - ruins the image when looking at uniformly coloured subjects, usually in the same plane - like, for eg, a row of conifers or a tall hedgerow.

With the M7s and Lynx 10x I see it repeatedly. Lifting one of my other bins (Trinovid / Ultravid / Swaro CL-P) onto exactly the same subject sees the issue instantly disappear.

I've faffed about with shading the objective lenses with my hands and with eye placement and IPD and none of it makes a jot of difference. I can't avoid the veiling glare in M7s or the Lynx; neither can I provoke it in my Leicas or Swaros by changing eye placement or IPD.
 
crinklystarfish said:
Just to reiterate, the deal-breaking problem that I've encountered with the three M7 10x30s and one Kite Lynx 10x30 I've (quite extensively) tried is low light veiling glare.

Though this can raise its unwelcome head in all sorts of lighting conditions, dull grey days are the most likely to provoke it. I'm not talking about flare / glare caused by near-sun (or other bright light sources).

I'm specifically talking about dull conditions where a partially washed out image - the wash out often notably crescent shaped - ruins the image when looking at uniformly coloured subjects, usually in the same plane - like, for eg, a row of conifers or a tall hedgerow.

With the M7s and Lynx 10x I see it repeatedly. Lifting one of my other bins (Trinovid / Ultravid / Swaro CL-P) onto exactly the same subject sees the issue instantly disappear.

I've faffed about with shading the objective lenses with my hands and with eye placement and IPD and none of it makes a jot of difference. I can't avoid the veiling glare in M7s or the Lynx; neither can I provoke it in my Leicas or Swaros by changing eye placement or IPD.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the pointer. I'll be able to check for it.
I've been looking for a lightweight 7/8x30/32 for a while and have just ordered one each for me and my wife (with a nice little order discount of £50 from Uttings).

Dave
 
Agreed on what to look for, and indeed, these were the conditions exactly for the majority of Sunday morning's walk. Occasional breaks with strong, low sun gave the opportunity to check for flashes, but most of it was grey, low light and a lot in scrub and woodland with plenty of bare branches and hedgerow to check against.
I'd checked the veiling details from the previous threads on how to create the circumstances in which it would occur, and what it looks like - and it didn't happen. Maybe i just got lucky with this pair, or the M711 is an upgrade on the M7?
 
Very interesting paddy - maybe there is something in this whole 711 thing, or maybe the 10x is more prone than the 8x. Without wishing to pry, why buy from New York? Was it just to bag the '711' derivative or simply a matter of logistics?
 
crinklystarfish said:
...maybe there is something in this whole 711 thing...
Click to expand...

Or maybe not...

I just had a quick look at images of M7 x30s on the internet and the '711' designation appears on the focus knob on many images, even quite old images.

I also just dug out my Monarch 5s (8x56 and 16X56) and the focus knob proudly boasts '511'.

FWIW, both x56 ers are very good indeed image quality wise - no hint of veiling glare.

Conversely, I also recall an encounter with a Monarch 5 12x42 and it too threw up the dreaded crescents of fug. A veritable Nikon lottery seems to be amongst us.

Still interested in the concept of the Kowa 10x25 BD even though FoV is a bit restricted - can any owners tell me if they handle like a typical 'fiddly' compact, or - being single hinge - are they more like a mini-mid size (like the M7 and Kite Lynx etc).
 
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Hi Mr Starfish -
I didn't buy mine from NY, but CleySpy in Norfolk, UK, and had a good long test of them first, plus a talk with one of their specialists about veiling glare, the possibility of unblackened internals etc.
Neither of us could find anything wrong with them, so i bought them....
The serial number seems higher than those previously reporting problems, so it may have been addressed by Nikon in the interim.
This 711 thing remains interesting though - if that's what they're called, why not call them that?
 
No, it was my fault for misleading - i was having trouble getting my computer to quote a previous post, so i cut and pasted the relevant bit (which was the first par of my post) - the bit about buying the bins in NY. I bought mine in NN (North Norfolk) - or Kensington-on-Sea, as us Suffolk boys call it...
 
My two M7 8x30 units arrived today, in time for a walk in the woodlands for the last hour of reasonable light.
My wife and I tried them out in the snow covered countryside as the sun set, not really the conditions that they would be used normally.
I found it to flare when the sun was in front of me, but no more than I might expect. As the light became poorer, I did see a crescent (almost kidney-bean) shaped white area in the lower left of the vision in my left eye. I saw this several times, each time I had to carefully reposition my eye on the exit pupil. I believe that this was my pupil straying outside the exit pupil and picking up some of the significant leakage seen outside of the exit pupil. I guess (and will check when I can) that in the lower light, my pupil had expanded, making alignment between my eyes and the exit pupil critical. Perhaps, with a little more use, correct eye placement will become second nature and that in the good light I had intended to use these, this won't be an issue.
 
Cluster said:
My two M7 8x30 units arrived today, in time for a walk in the woodlands for the last hour of reasonable light.
My wife and I tried them out in the snow covered countryside as the sun set, not really the conditions that they would be used normally.
I found it to flare when the sun was in front of me, but no more than I might expect. As the light became poorer, I did see a crescent (almost kidney-bean) shaped white area in the lower left of the vision in my left eye. I saw this several times, each time I had to carefully reposition my eye on the exit pupil. I believe that this was my pupil straying outside the exit pupil and picking up some of the significant leakage seen outside of the exit pupil. I guess (and will check when I can) that in the lower light, my pupil had expanded, making alignment between my eyes and the exit pupil critical. Perhaps, with a little more use, correct eye placement will become second nature and that in the good light I had intended to use these, this won't be an issue.
Click to expand...

I recognise that, and i think you're right in the evaluation. It will be interesting to hear how this goes in these days of winter light, particularly the 'experiment' of looking obliquely at bare hedgerows with the hedge itself filling the view. As i mentioned earlier, i've done this and i just get a perfect view of a bare hedge! (i.e. none of the 'veiling glare' or washed-out, lack of contrast others have seen). It has to be in poor light, apparently - of which there's plenty about round here at the moment!
 
Veiling glare can make it's unwelcome appearance in different lighting conditions but it's true - in my experience anyway - that dull days and walls of vegetation are the 'best' mix.

Anyway, encouraged by the good reports of late model M7s I've ordered a 10x30 from a high-turnover dealer in the hope that I'll get a late model - and that Nikon have indeed worked some sort of fix on their Chinese production lines.

Will feed back with an update as and when.
 
Well, I have in my possession a 10x30 Monarch 7 S/N:30042XX.

I've used it this past weekend in a variety of lights and habitats. I can still see the crescenting veiling glare in some circumstances but it isn't as bad as it was with the three M7s I had a go with about this time last year.

I was most notably met with the milky fug when: 1) watching a pair of goldcrests in the top of a hawthorne with uniformly grey sky behind and a large clump of very dark green ivy in the lower right of the image, 2) looking out over a 'grey' scene of open water at gulls with tall leafless willows making up the backdrop, and 3) scanning a row of conifers on the horizon that were backlit by a brighter part of sky where the sun was not quite making its way through grey cloud.

Though the smokescreen is still there, it isn't the show-stopper it used to be and it has to be said that at well under £300 this is a good bin. I'm keeping it.

I do wonder if it's less prevalent on the 8x version.

I also tried a Kowa BD 10x25 as per one of the suggestions up thread. I liked it ergonomically and build-quality wise but found the FoV just way to restrictive. I'm not usually bothered by a small field of view but the sweet spot on this particular derivative was tiny.
 
crinklystarfish said:
Well, I have in my possession a 10x30 Monarch 7 S/N:30042XX.

I've used it this past weekend in a variety of lights and habitats. I can still see the crescenting veiling glare in some circumstances but it isn't as bad as it was with the three M7s I had a go with about this time last year.

I was most notably met with the milky fug when: 1) watching a pair of goldcrests in the top of a hawthorne with uniformly grey sky behind and a large clump of very dark green ivy in the lower right of the image, 2) looking out over a 'grey' scene of open water at gulls with tall leafless willows making up the backdrop, and 3) scanning a row of conifers on the horizon that were backlit by a brighter part of sky where the sun was not quite making its way through grey cloud.

Though the smokescreen is still there, it isn't the show-stopper it used to be and it has to be said that at well under £300 this is a good bin. I'm keeping it.

I do wonder if it's less prevalent on the 8x version.

I also tried a Kowa BD 10x25 as per one of the suggestions up thread. I liked it ergonomically and build-quality wise but found the FoV just way to restrictive. I'm not usually bothered by a small field of view but the sweet spot on this particular derivative was tiny.
Click to expand...

Prompted by this discussion, i took my 8x30 out all day into a range of habitats and a variety of light (although was back before dusk). I really didn't experience any problems other than the 'kidney bean' of glare in a bottom corner when looking directly under the sun. As mentioned above, this may be something to do with the small exit pupil (3.75 in the 8 mag model) and i can lose it with eye adjustment, or moving the IPD.
I wouldn't expect perfection at this price range, but the great FOV, clarity almost to the edge and ergonomics have really endeared them to me.
Next time i take them out, i'm not going to try and make them cause problems! It's time to relax, i think.....
 
crinklystarfish said:
Well, I have in my possession a 10x30 Monarch 7 S/N:30042XX.
.....................................
.
Click to expand...

It is good that you are pleased with them. My wife and I are both impressed by our 8x30. Their size allow them to fit a niche between very light compacts and the often too heavy 8x32s.

Dave
 
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I've just noticed this thread and I have the Kite Lynx HD 8x30, bought last year in the UK and I have no problems with them at all. In fact I can't rate them high enough. We also have a current model Swarovski 10x42 SV and the new Zeiss Victory SF 10x42 and for day to day use the Kite is the first one I go for when taking the dogs out. It more than holds its own up against more expensive and prestigious binoculars.
 
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