Hello Evert .... Welcome back to the Forum!
I have the Monarch 7 8X30 and it is a very good binocular. I do not have the Zeiss 8X32 Conquest HD but have looked at it multiple times and had an opportunity to use it in the field off and on at a festival last month. It was the one that impressed me the most of all the offerings at the festival, considering performance, cost, and my own needs and preferences.
The Nikon selling point is it's small size and especially the light weight. I consider it more of a special purpose binocular. I bought it for hiking when I wanted to have a binocular in case I came across something interesting to look at but did not want anything heavy. It is not my choice for when the goal is viewing specific, such as bird watching or game spotting.
As a general rule, there is no free lunch in optics. The price to pay for the small size and light weight with this Nikon is ease of use, specifically in eye placement. It is fussy in getting the binoculars lined up with the users pupils. If not right on, then one will experience black outs (flashes of black off to the sides). I suspect part of this is due to the small exit pupils and I also suspect a complex eye piece design to allow for that wide field of view. Also, the extended eye cups for viewing without glasses could be a little longer. The good news is that it is much friendlier than a small compact binocular.
One other issue is that it may exhibit glare under certain conditions. I have had very few problems with glare, but there are several posts here where members have returned the Nikon because of the glare handling.
The Zeiss 8X32 Conquest HD may be the most impressive binocular in the Zeiss lineup considering price, performance, and ergonomics. Optically it may not be up to the Zeiss HT or SF, but it is very good and it does it with a much smaller and lighter package and at a lot lower price.
Eye placement was no problem for me when using the Conquest last month. Although the Nikon has a larger field of view (FOV) at 435 ft or 145 meters, the FOV of the Conquest is 420 ft or 140 meters and that is also considered quite generous. I like binoculars with a wide FOV, but in this case, I prefer the easier eye placement of the Conquest over the somewhat wider FOV of the Nikon.
Zeiss had the Conquest on display each morning at various observation decks during the festival I attended. It never occurred to me to do a comparison between the Nikon 8X30 (which I had on the deck at the time) and the Conquest because I never thought of them as being competing products. They seem to me to go after different buyers.
Just going by memory (risky), I bet the Zeiss would edge the Nikon in brightness and contrast with a somewhat more neutral color balance. Build quality appears good on both, but the Zeiss seems more robust, probably because it weighs a little more. I did not experience any glare issues with the Conquest out on the deck during the several days I tried it, and from what I read, the Zeiss does not seem to have significant glare issues.
You might want to check into the customer service and warranty in your country. There are multiple posts on this Forum complaining about poor Nikon customer service in some parts of Europe. Overall, Zeiss seems to get good reports in Europe from what I have read.
Bottom line, if small size and low weight are a priority, then the Nikon is the way to go. However if you are looking for a general purpose binocular with full size performance and are willing to pay the extra money, then go with the Conquest. Both provide and excellent view. If I were looking for just one binocular and choosing between the two, I would easily go with the Zeiss Conquest 8X32. Actually, I suspect I will end up getting one sometime next year. Let us know what you decide.
