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Nikon Monarch 5 - spots on lenses (1 Viewer)

samsa

Member
Hello all,

I bought some Monarch 5s earlier this year (my first pair of binoculars), which I have been using and mostly happy with.

I noticed that the eyepiece lenses have developed spots on them that I cannot seem to remove (using compressed air to blow off dust, them wipe gently with microfiber cloth). I have attached a photo, hoping that someone with more experience can tell me what these are and if it's something I should be concerned about. I am wondering if they are on the inside of the lenses. However they have never been exposed to water or extreme weather, so I don't know how that would happen.

So far they do not seem to affect image quality. Any help you can provide would be much appreciated!
 

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Hi and welcome.

They could be small areas of coating removed by rubbing but I don't see signs of fine scratch marks that usually accompany hard rubbing.

Are they on both eyepieces?

Photos from another angle might help.

Regards,
B.
 
Hi and welcome.

They could be small areas of coating removed by rubbing but I don't see signs of fine scratch marks that usually accompany hard rubbing.

Are they on both eyepieces?

Photos from another angle might help.

Regards,
B.

Thanks very much for your reply. They are definitely on both of the eyepieces. I've taken new photos of each and attached them to this post.

As to rubbing, I have only attempted to clean the lenses twice. The first time about a month ago after first noticing the spots (with a microfiber cloth), and then again today, also with a microfiber cloth. Having researched binoculars to death before buying these I knew they had had special coating and have been super gentle with them, I'd be disappointed if the coating was that finicky but if so lesson learned!

Edit: I will add, these look a lot like spots I frequently get on my eyeglasses. However I know using eyeglass lens cleaner on binoculars is a no-no, so have not been using any liquid to try and remove these spots.
 

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It may be an imperfect coating.
Strange though on both sides.

Close up photos of the spots would be more revealing.

Because you have hardly touched the surfaces it is possible a replacement binocular is needed.

Perhaps send the photos also to Nikon for comment.
With your comments on cleaning.

It could be some type of liquid drops were sprayed onto the binocular by mistake.

Regards,
B.
 
At the moment I am inclined to think that some slightly corrosive drops of liquid got onto both eyepieces by accident.

This is because the spots are on both eyepieces.
However, it could be faulty coating.

Either way, at the moment the view should not be impaired unless more or larger spots occur.

Regards,
B.
 
Thanks everyone. It is entirely possible I'm being too gentle, I am just super conscious of the ED coating and not wanting to ruin the first "proper" set of binoculars I have ever bought.

I sent the photos to Nikon to see what they think.

@Pileatus, I had the thought of using some kind of liquid to clean them but the internet as it is wont gives inconsistent advice - some say to never use soap, others say do use soap, Nikon references "pure alcohol", whatever that means.
 
I've used pure alcohol (ethanol) on my ED telescope. Works very well. You can get some at the pharmacy. I've also used Baader lens cleaning liquid on a variety of optics, I believe that's based on isopropanol, a different alcohol.

By the way, ED is not a coating on the eyepieces, it's a glass type in the objectives.
 
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It may be an imperfect coating.
Strange though on both sides.
This would be my guess, especially as it's relatively new, and a low/mid priced model. I saw just such coating flaws on the ocular of a Zeiss 8x25 Victory Pocket (~$700, made in Japan) that I tried a couple of years ago, brand new out of the box. I forget whether it was both sides or only one, but in any case terrible QC. Don't mess with it, return for a replacement (and examine that carefully too).
.
[Edit: I see now it turned out to be spots after all... good. Mine weren't.]
 
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I use Baader Optical Wonder fluid, but I don't think this is allowed for import to the U.S. or Canada.

It may be that the spots are just stubborn.

There must be U.S. advice on cleaning not using Baader cleaner.

It is difficult to get pure alcohol here even from a pharmacy.

B.
 
I've always just used a bit of dish soap and warm water and a clean finger to gently wash the lenses, then a microfiber after. I've probably done this 500 times by now, and have never seen any damage from it. On the contrary, I feel that using water reduces the chances of scratching that come from trying to clean lenses while dry.
 
So, after hearing from Nikon ("don't know what this is, send it in for repair") I took your advice and used a little bit of water on my microfiber cloth, and lo and behold the spots are gone! They must have been stubborn sweat/sunscreen/water residue.

Thanks to everyone who replied to my n00b question!
 
To be fair to Nikon, they probably didn't read this thread.

It is difficult to be sure from photos and descriptions without actually seeing the binocular.

Glad it's sorted.

Regards,
B.
 
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