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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Kevin Purcell" data-source="post: 1307460" data-attributes="member: 68323">I went to the REI Flagship store (in Seattle, WA) today to check out the sale.Whilst I was there I went over to the binocular area and tried out a few bins that I'd not played with before. I brought my Pentax DCF WP as a reference (an early phase-compensated 8x32 - good sharpness and saturation)One thing to note the store is lit in a factory-style high pressure sodium (or mercury? though they don't look blue.green enough) discharge lights in glass shrounded fixtures. They're quite common, inexpensive and have a geeky style to them. They provide good lighting through out the store and provide an interesting light source for testing bins.Brunton Lite Tech 8x25: a field full of discrete stray colored light arcs. Looked like a kalediascope! Bizzare. Not very sharp. From a blister pack.REI XR 8x25: not too bad. OK bright view. Sharp with that hint of non-phase corrected softness.Nikon 8x25 ATB: not bad again for a non-phase corrected small bin. Good FOV. ER not great but not as terrible as i though tit would be (I wear glasses).As I'd never tried a Monarch I though I'd try the 8x36 as I like the exit pupil size (and though it's weight would be good).Picking it up I was impressed with the weight and size: a couple of ounces lighter than the Pentax with bigger objectives and for some reason not as big as i thought it would be. It's quite svelte.Up to the eyes. Nice wide view. Sharp. Good across the whole field. Very nice. I was pleasantly surprised. I think the view was rather better than I expected. Seemed quite relaxed too so the exit pupil does help.OK. A quick stray light and ghosting test by looking at the shrouded discharge lamps across the store (perhaps 40m or so).Yikes. Diffraction spikes. Just like one gets from a non-phase corrected roof. I'm very surprised. This doesn't match up with the rest of the view which seems sharp and contrasty. Try again. Oh, they're diffraction spikes. Blink my eyes to check out each barrel. Both have diffraction spikes and the orientations are different so it's not my bifocals (though they give stray light at the bottom of the FOV not spikes in the center) and it's not ghosting from say a line source. The left is not as bad but clearly seen. The right barrel is terrible with spikes perhaps across 20% of the field. Check the same lights this time without my glasses. Still see them.Try the same test with my Pentax DCF WP 8x32. A fraction softer than the Monarch by just a little and perhaps a little less contrast (just that overall feeling of a little less "being there" than the Monarch). But no diffraction spikes. No ghosting either.Looked down the barrel with a pocket flashlight and couldn't see the roof ridge in the prisms in either barrel (i.e. they were both pretty sharp). The thought crossed my mind that this is a very old Monarch (though to look at it it doesn't look at all dinged). I asked the staff how old they were but she didn't know (a general purpose retails sales twentysomething woman who is obviously not a bin geek!). I described the effect but she (using a different target) couldn't see the effect. Again not a bin geek. But I was rather concerned that they have a duff pair as a demo. She didn't mind I guess as she couldn't see the problem. So they're still the demo pair.So is this just a bad pair of Monarchs (or an old pair though their general view seemed to say phase-corrected to me).Anyone else see anything like this with Monarch's? Diffraction spikes from a high intensity (i.e. compact, star-like) source?I may go back and try them out again next week to see if I can see this effect again and perhaps bring a pair of "known bad" as well as the "known good" bins with me.</blockquote>

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