Alright. I made it to Sportsman's Warehouse today, with the Yosemites in hand. They were itching for a fight, and ready to stack themselves up against the field. To make a long story short, I walked away (VERY happily) with a set of 8x42 Monarchs. I love them. All I need to do now is put a bullet in my computer.
To make a short story long, for those of you interested, here's my first impression of a few different ~$300 roofs, and how they compare to each other and the Yosemites. I spent a couple of hours and hundreds of A/B comparison looking at these, so I felt like I didn't just make a snap judgement. The guy and the binocular counter must have been VERY bored, and thought me out of my mind. |:$|
The contenders: Leupold Yosemite (using at home for about 4 days) - $120; Nikon Monarch 8x42 - $289, Nikon Monarch 8x36 - $~265, Minox 8x42 BL - green - $309, Minox BD BR 8x32 - $450. You've already heard my thoughts on the Leupolds, but you'll hear a bit more as I get through this. I also looked at the Leupold 8x42 Cascades, but quickly discounted them (if you want more info I'll be happy to give my thoughts).
1) Nikon Monarch 8x42 - Overall winner for me. They were clear and sharp, with a bit of a drop off at the edges. They were a hair sharper than the Minox BLs. The Minox BD 8x32s were a hair sharper in the right eye, but not the left (sample variance?). The colors were natural, even across the spectrum, and a bit more vivid than the others. They were very bright, slightly more than the Minox 8x42 BLs. The eye relief was exceptional, allowing me full view with glasses. The Yosemites I needed to have the cups half way down with NO glasses to have a full view (strange). The handling was equal to the Minox 8x42s, being light, well balanced, and very secure. Focusing was smooth and easy, with no play/slop in the wheel. Exceptional warranty, and with small kids and packing it around in a backpack, the attached objective covers are quite nice. They suffered no flare, reflections, or glare that I could pick up in a in-store environment. Though tied for largest in size, they are no larger than the Yosemites. If you tipped the yosemites on their side, they would be the same size as these, so no real deficit there.
2) Nikon Monarch 8x36 - For me, not quite as sharp, or easy to focus with as the 8x42s. Just a bit of brightness loss, and the focus wheel was much touchier than the 8x42s. There was less eye relief, to the point where my glasses would not provide a full field. The cost difference, and size difference did not make up for the decreased handling/image for me. They, as the Monarch 8x42s, suffered no glare or reflections with all the light sources present in the store (numerous fluorescent lights, windows, and skylights).
3) Minox 8x42 BL. ALMOST went with these. Practically the same price, size, weight, balance, eye relief, and handling as the Monarch 8x42s. Nearly a clone! However, the image was just -slightly-, and I mean slightly less sharp, and the colors were a touch more "flat". Perhaps they were truly more natural than the Monarchs, but my eyes liked the colors of the Monarch a bit better, after many, many A/B comparisons inside and outside the store. The focus was slower (more revolutions to get the same effect) than the Monarchs. Some may like this. At first I thought I did, but as I played with them more, I liked the faster focusing of the Monarchs. Excellent binocs, great price. It really could have come down to pure sample variance. But in the end, I went with the Monarchs. They "spoke" to me..?
4) Minox 8x32 BD BR. These have been brought up in many discussions lately, and I was curious to try them. They are smaller than the 8x42s, but at least as heavy, and certainly feel even heavier/stouter. The eye relief was not as good as the 8x42s (either one). The focus wheel was smooth, but stiff, and this may have been just because it was new. The focusing was slower, like the BL 8x42s. The right side was tack sharp. Sharper than the Monarchs. The left was actually not quite as sharp as the right, and a bit softer than the Monarchs. This may have been a malaligned sample, but I thought that was interesting. No glare or reflections, as with all the roofs I evaluated today. Brightness was a bit less than the 8x42 Minox, and a fair amount less than the 8x42 Monarchs (not surprising) Handling was alright, but didn't feel as balanced to me. Overall, for my needs, not worth the extra money. If I HAD to have an 8x32, I'd certainly consider them, and look at another sample to check out the clarity issue.
5) Yosemite 8x30. As I really had a chance to give them a great A/B workout against many of the most popular $300 roofs, I must give credit where credit is due. These things are sharp. They gave up nothing to any of these binoculars in overall clarity, and they are surprisingly bright for a 30mm objective. There was some CA to be found with all these binos, and I think these had the least (by a small margin) of any of the above. The field of view is wider than all of them as well, which was quite noticible when compared, especially to the 8x42s. As a compact, lightweight, sharp, waterproof, inexpensive 8x bino that has great FOV, I don't think there's anything else in this price class. They aren't without flaw, however.
The things that made me spend nearly 3x as much for a PRIMARY set of binoculars are few, but important to me. First, the focus wheel issue. I may have an aberrent example, but it was smooth and heavy, not easy to turn in both directions with one finger. There was enough play/slop that it was not as easy or pleasant to hop from one focus point to another and feel like I had good control. If I overshot, it was not "graceful" to come back spot-on focus. The eye relief, while excellent for a non-glasses wearer was strange. I had full view with all the roofs with their cups fully extended, but I had to halfway retract the cups on the Yosemites, or suffer from left and right edge blackouts. I'm sure it was a combo of eye relief and a smaller, less forgiving exit-pupil. Handling is good with these, being light and well balanced, but my large hands prefered the enveloping feel of really wrapping around a set of roofs. I felt very relaxed and in control of the Monarchs and Minoxs. This is nothing against the Yosemites, just a preference that I have learned about myself about roofs vs porros. Also, and very importantly, is the issue of "flare". I likely misspoke earlier when I mentioned this. I don't see any "flare" with these, in the sense of "exploding" light point sources, but I do see a LOT of reflections and ghost imaging that is not coming from light behind, but in front. For example, indoors, when panning around the huge expanse of Sportsman's warehouse, I would constantly see ghost images of the ceiling fluorescent lights, windows, skylights, etc., when they were no where in my FOV. This happened with none of the other binocs I evaluated today. That was quite distracting.
In conclusion, for a combination of better focusing, glare/reflection resistance, handling, and warranty (in that order), I was willing to spend the extra for the Monarchs. Slightly better color rendition and low light performance were the icing. I was willing to accept the size of the Monarchs, as they are not any larger than my previous choice. Also, my wife, who was really driving the weight/size issue, had no issues with the Monarchs, as they are so well balanced.
Assuming most people's experience of no focus wheel slop, these would be a great second pair or backup pair for me. I may have to consider them in the future when the stores around here get them in stock and I can evaluate the focus on the pair I get. My wife and I can't look through the Monarchs at the same time, and these are a real bargain for the money.
If you got through all that rambling, I applaud you...
Best,
Christopher
