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Nikon 10 x 42 SE (1 Viewer)

Avron

Active member
Hi everyone,

I have a pair of Nikon 10 x 42 SE binoculars that need repairs to the collimation. Nikon Canada recently told me that this is no longer possible – that even the home office in Japan no longer manufactures the parts necessary to make the repair. Does anyone know of alternative repair options? Nikon offered a replacement – the Monarch HGs – but I would hate to give up the SEs. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Avron

P.S. I live in Toronto, if that's of any help.
 
Hi Avron,
Why does it needs parts for recollimation?
I think a good repairer should be able to do this. Not sure if there any in Canada.
If necessary I think parts could be made.

I have a new Avro Arrow boxed diecast model aircraft. Still don't want to unpack it.
 
You should contact Suddarth Optical Repair in Oklahoma and discuss it with him. He has been doing this kind of work for many years.

This binocular is a classic and is well worth fixing!

https://suddarthoptical.com/

Did any damage happen to the binocular?

Bob
 
Just a heads up. Nikon USA recently worked on a SE 10X42 I recently procured, the work was done in January 2018. Now it only got the rubber eye cups replaced, but it was cleaned and checked - all covered under Warranty.
Perhaps it is a Warranty issue outside the US. Different countries offering different warranties to the same product.
But like Bob asked, was there any damage to the glass that require
internal parts. Alignment - (collimation) alone, can be done by the company suggestion by Bob.

A.W.
 
I would take the Nikon Monarch HG's. They have at least as good of optics as the SE, a bigger FOV and they are waterproof. If Nikon can't fix your binoculars collimation for lack of parts I don't think anybody else is going to either and if they did and had to fabricate parts it would be expensive. Nikon doesn't make the SE anymore also so this makes me wonder how many replacement parts they are going to inventory in the future. If something else happens to your SE like you drop it is Nikon going to have the parts to fix it?
 
Too bad about the parts situation, I use the SE and Hg 10X42s primarily for stargazing, both give a nice clear crisp view, though limited to 6 degrees, stars are pinpoint and much better than 8X with larger FOV. Seems like Nikon over engineered some of their older optics, and now some folks still use them after 20 years, but Nikon has moved on to the next model. I guess I cannot afford to drop my SEs. There must be parts somewhere in a warehouse, somewhere.

A.W.
 
If I am not mistaken the Nikon SEs are collimated by adjusting an eccentric ring located by the objectives lenses.

I'm curious about what could be broken here that could not be replaced by spare parts. Could it be an objective tube?

That is one reason why I suggested that Avron contact Cory Suddarth about it.

Bob
 
Hi,

could be a procedures thing - company rules say after N years, we don't repair - offer customer a replacement. The reasons might be that one doesn't want a huge inventory of spares and keep old special tools and the knowledge to use them.

All this will happen w/o actually checking if the bins in question actually need spares or special tools/knowledge because for that they would have to be shipped to a repair center and placed in front of a technician...

So the o.p. needs to decide if he wants a good pair of bins - in that case the offer of a free pair of Monarch HG is certainly not too shabby - or absolutely wants his SE 10x42, in which case he should insist on return unrepaired and ask Cory Suddarth, who can probably fix collimation.
One could even ask him beforehand if he has experience with the type, would be willing to do it and maybe knows that in this special case spares are actually needed for a plain collimation job.

Or just take the Monarch HG and try if they work for the o.p. - if yes fine, if not, sell 'em and get another pair of SE, this time a good one...

Joachim
 
Another interesting tidbit. In dealing with Nikon Service in Los Angeles, I was told that they have a strict "all or nothing" policy when it comes to repairs. They won't partially repair a set of binoculars, even if they would still be usable. That seems to bolster jring's parts inventory thoughts.
 
Thanks, everyone, for the helpful feedback – and I apologize for taking so long to get back here.

Caesar: I did get in touch with Cory at Suddarth Optical Repair and I will likely send the SEs there. Nikon Canada seems to have no sense of what is involved in a collimation adjustment.

But before I go the Suddarth route, has anyone had the opportunity to compare the Ses with the Monarch HGs? Denco indicates that the HGs are just as fine optically. But if others can chime in, I'd be grateful.

Thanks,
Avron
 
Avron. I have had them both and IMO they are very comparable although either might be a little better in certain areas. It would be best if you could try a Nikon Monarch MHG yourself and compare them to your Nikon SE's. Here is the Allbino's review on both so you can review each one's strong points and weaknesses. The Nikon SE being a porro will give you a more 3D view than the Nikon Monarch MHG if that is what you like about it. Of course the MHG is waterproof and the SE isn't and the MHG will have all the modern updates like adjustable eye cups, tethered objective covers and scratch resistant lens coatings. They are ranked right next to each other numerically.

https://www.allbinos.com/314-binoculars_review-Nikon_Monarch_HG_10x42.html
https://www.allbinos.com/152-binoculars_review-Nikon_SE_10x42_CF.html
 
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But before I go the Suddarth route, has anyone had the opportunity to compare the Ses with the Monarch HGs? Denco indicates that the HGs are just as fine optically. But if others can chime in, I'd be grateful.

My 10x42 SE is a very early one, so it probably doesn't have the same coatings as late ones. In a direct comparison to the 10x42 HG I still found I preferred the optics of the SE, even though there's not that much difference. Resolution in the centre seemed better in the SE, and there's of course the 3D effect..

However, the HG isn't bad by any means and has several advantages like the larger field of view, and it's of course waterproof. I personally don't like using the SE is really wet weather myself, the HG shouldn't have any problems in such conditions.

Hermann
 
10x42se

I have a new EII 10X35 and getting some views with the 10X42SE, to me there is nothing better than these SEs for locking in on a target with clear resolution, granted mine is 005XXX serial No so I probably have the older coatings. I actually prefer it to my EDG 10X42 for isolating a target and astro, though the latter is a better all around glass.
The EII is slightly larger than the SE 8X32, and with the 7 degree view on bright days is great, I need to stargaze with it, however on the east coast here it is like Scotland.

A.W.
 
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The SE is one of the great porros of all time. The Monarch HG is just another upper-mid quality roof. I'd be reluctant to part with the SE. But if you aren't sentimental, and you want to spend the least...

--AP
 
The SE is one of the great porros of all time. The Monarch HG is just another upper-mid quality roof. I'd be reluctant to part with the SE. But if you aren't sentimental, and you want to spend the least...

--AP
I participated in the debates in Birdforum and other sitesabout the respective merits of the Nikon HG and Nikon SE series of binoculars. I also corresponded with some of the expert reviewers whose opinion I valued. Though I ultimately chose the Nikon HGs, it was not on account of superior optical quality. All in all, the Nikon 8x32SE and 10x42SE are the best porro binoculars ever produced. They are able to hold their own against so-called alpha roof prism glasses which sell at more than thrice their price when new.
 
I participated in the debates in Birdforum and other sitesabout the respective merits of the Nikon HG and Nikon SE series of binoculars. I also corresponded with some of the expert reviewers whose opinion I valued. Though I ultimately chose the Nikon HGs, it was not on account of superior optical quality. All in all, the Nikon 8x32SE and 10x42SE are the best porro binoculars ever produced. They are able to hold their own against so-called alpha roof prism glasses which sell at more than thrice their price when new.

Can't argue with that. Waterproof-ness and modern twist-up eyecups are the biggest reasons to switch to the HG or something else. Too bad it's not practical to retrofit the eyecups.

Regarding the need for parts to do collimation-- maybe the in-house procedure involves cutting off the rubber armour?
 
Wow, I am surprised that Nikon USA replaced your rubber eyecups. I have tried to order replacement eyecups for my SE binoculars a couple of times and have been told that the parts "are on backorder." The backorder seems to go on forever. Maybe I will try again.
 
GrandNagus50,

Do not say the rubber eyecups are for premier SE, say they are for a Superior E 10X42, the eyecups are the same for both the SE 8 and 10X42. The part # is 7636, they will send it to you.There are some historical threads that address this issue with Nikon, some are entertaining.

Andy W.
 
GrandNagus50,

Do not say the rubber eyecups are for premier SE, say they are for a Superior E 10X42, the eyecups are the same for both the SE 8 and 10X42. The part # is 7636, they will send it to you.There are some historical threads that address this issue with Nikon, some are entertaining.

Andy W.
Hi,
Thank you for the tip. I called Nikon and got what I feel was a quasi-Kafka-esque response. I asked about replacement eyecups, part number 7636. I was told that the service department could put in a request for the part, but it is now Nikon's policy NOT to send out parts. Instead, the customer must send in the binoculars for repair, no matter how minor the issue. The good news (such as it is) is that the repair is free. The bad news is that the customer has to pay for shipping to Nikon. Sending binoculars via a tracked method with insurance is not cheap, especially when the alternative is simply waiting for a small parts packet in the mail.

But wait, it gets weirder. I was told that since the binoculars have a lifetime warranty, Nikon would actually replace them if they cannot replace the rubber eyecup. They would send me a pair of Monarch HG roof prism binoculars. This is clearly a bad deal for everyone--for me, because I really don't think the Monarch HG's are the equal of the SE's, and for them because they are sending out an $900 pair of binoculars because they cannot come up with a couples of twenty-five cent pieces of rubber for an older pair. What kind of way is that to do business?

This was my second such episode involving minor issues with Nikon binocular parts. I also own a pair of EDG II 8 x 42's, which are optically excellent but in terms of fit and finish, not so much. The issue I had was that the thin rubber eyecup covers are prone to falling off unexpectedly. They apparently don't glue them on because users have the option of substituting the winged-type eyecup cover that also comes with the binoculars. As a person who wears eyeglasses much of the time, I did not wish to deal with the winged eyecups, so I stuck with the thin regular ones. But they fall off, and I finally lost one of them. I requested a replacement part from Nikon, and in fact, I asked for several, as I knew that a replacement piece might fall off eventually, as well. Nikon instead made me send in the binoculars for service. I did it, grumble. When the repaired binocs came back I finally got the bright idea that I should glue the eyecup piece on, which I did.

In both cases, I would be happy to pay for these parts--how expensive could they be? But Nikon has its policies! The man who took my call was perfectly nice and friendly, and I felt I had to assure him a couple of times that my incredulity was not directed at him personally.

That Nikon struggles so with its customer service policies pains me. It certainly gives me pause when it comes to considering future optics purchases. Why buy future headaches like these when I know that Swarovski, Zeiss, Vortex, and even Bushnell have much better post-sales service than Nikon?
 
I agree the HG is a mid range glass, if that compared to the SE, so I would say no. What I can tell you is that I bought an SE 10X42 earlier this year and the previous owner had sent his in for new eyecups in early 2018, they have the parts make no mistake, it really depends who you speak with. Anyhow, his SEs 10X42 were sent back good as new. Try e-mailing to Nikon list the part # and say they are for an old superior E 10X42 binocular, see what happens.

Andy W.
 
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