Nikon Monarch 7 8 x 30 Review (4 Viewers)

[brocknroller]

Well I caved and ordered a pair from B and H. I hate to rely on Bill Me Later but the temptation was too great after my experience with them at Cape May. They are due in later today. I plan on comparing them directly to the Leupold Mojave and the Sightron SIIs. Will report my findings as time allows.

I knew you couldn't resist the temptation, you devil! I'm trying Phil's after Steve C. Thanks, Phil!

If I like it, I will ask B&H if they also have a Bill Me Much Later plan.

Brock

 

[FrankD]

They are over $250 Brock. No payments and no interest for six months....

....just sayin'.



Just a brief comment or two....

I got the same beautifully comfortable feel from the ergonomics... Shape, texture of the armor and the focusing tension and speed. Excellent for my preferences.

Neutral comment- I have yet to find the perfect "hold" for them. The eye relief level coupled with the narrow width eyecups/ large oculars have me searching for the perfect position for my facial dimensions. I don't have this issue with the Mojave or the Sightron.

The "bad"- my unit has the same uncoated "ring" that Binoboy's did. Subsequently the micro contrast just isn't there. The Sightron is better than the Nikon in this optical area.

 

[ceasar]

Frank,

Regarding the uncoated "ring:" Reading Binoboys comments about it we find out that Nikon knew about this problem. Specifically see his 2nd paragraph.

http://www.birdforum.net/showpost.php?p=2942619&postcount=15

Are you going to send it to Nikon to be fixed or ask B&H that it be replaced by another one; preferably one with a higher serial number?

Bob

 

[FrankD]

I haven't decided yet Bob. That is the quandry at the moment.

I didn't check the unit I tried at Cape May but am left with the impression it must have been one that was coated completely as contrast was better in that unit.

 

[henry link]

Often the offending spot doesn't show in Allbinos' review images, but the image taken through the M7 eyepiece in their new review shows exactly what's wrong. The photo below is a screen grab of two Allbinos images, the M7 on the left and a very well baffled binocular (Leica 8x32) on the right.

The Nikon is full of light leaks, but most of them are probably fairly harmless because they are so far from the exit pupil and in actual use some are probably masked by the eyepiece field stop. The real problem reflection is the thin bright ring near the edge of the exit pupil. That's glancing non-image forming light that goes right back to the eye, possibly from the metallic objective cell, focusing lens cell or the front prism aperture. Looking into the binocular from the front doesn't reveal much about these glancing reflections. It's what you see from the eyepiece end that matters.

 

[NDhunter]

Henry:

I find your photos interesting, but they are not on the Allbinos review of
the new 8x30.

Where has Allbinos posted these?

Jerry

 

[Steve C]

Jerry,

Allbino's has posted the picture in Henry's post right on their review page. As Henry told you it is a direct screen grab.

 

[eitanaltman]

Jerry -- Allbinos posts internal reflections photos in every single review about half way down. The Monarch 8x30 is no exception: http://www.allbinos.com/index.php?test=lornetki&test_l=272

It's very interesting if there was some baffling defect detected that was fixed at some point during production. Frank, if I were you it would be a no brainer, especially because you can get to Mike F directly on this forum. Veiling glare drives me nuts and if there was a fix available for a binocular that I otherwise liked, I would take care of it ASAP.

 

[ceasar]

In Albino's overall ranking of 8x32 binoculars (including some 8x30s) it ranks 14th of 24.

Bob

 

[NDhunter]

Jerry,

Allbino's has posted the picture in Henry's post right on their review page. As Henry told you it is a direct screen grab.

Thanks, I saw the picture, but it was enlarged so much, it looked
different to me.

Jerry

 

[FrankD]

In Albino's overall ranking of 8x32 binoculars (including some 8x30s) it ranks 14th of 24.

Bob

I wonder if it would have a faired a little better if they had a specimen that was fully-blackened internally.

Just as a point of reference the serial number on my M7 8x30 is 0001845.

I will send Mike F. a PM and see what he has to say.

 

[henry link]

Blackening a reflective surface is at best only a partial solution. Even flat black surfaces can be reflective if light strikes the surface from a highly obtuse angle. The best way to deal with potentially reflective internal surfaces is to completely block them from view from the eyepiece end with proper baffling.

 

[brocknroller]

I wonder was passiert hier? if the unpainted ring was a design flaw and if Nikon plans to correct it in subsequent production runs or if it was a manufacturing defect, i.e., someone in China forgot to paint those rings on a batch, and that error was already found and corrected? The latter seems possible since not everyone experiences this problem. But is this due to sample variation or user variation?

I suggest that everyone who has an 8x30 M7 take a photo through the EPs as Henry has done. If they all show the same bright arc near the exit pupil, but some users still don't see the flare/loss in contrast, then it's user variation, and Nikon still needs to fix this problem.

Brock

 

[FrankD]

Here you go Brock. A pic of the eyepiece internal reflections and a shot of the uncoated ring.

 

[FrankD]

Uncoated ring

 

[NDhunter]

I wonder if it would have a faired a little better if they had a specimen that was fully-blackened internally.

Just as a point of reference the serial number on my M7 8x30 is 0001845.

I will send Mike F. a PM and see what he has to say.

Frank:

This issue with these is interesting. Has anyone found out what has
been changed with the later models, to improve things ?

Jerry

 

[stereotruckdriver]

Uncoated ring

Excellent, that's why I don't buy newer binoculars with out first hand knowledge.

I know Mark had problems to but, thanks Frank for showing what is causing the problem!

I do like the look of this binocular but until I know the problems are sorted out I won't purchase one.

Bryce...

 

[FrankD]

I was asked to post a follow-up of my experience with the 2nd Nikon M7 8x30 that I ordered. The first unit's serial number was 001845. The second unit's serial number is 0001877. The second unit displays the same set of uncoated internal components that the first unit did. To illustrate this I took a pic of both internal components. It was a bit difficult getting the angle right with the flashlight, the camera (phone) and the binocular.

Looking at the picture below the first uncoated component roughly intersects the purple reflection in the objective lens. I believe this is the "clip" that Binoboy was referring to as it doesn't completely encircle the barrel. The second component looks like either a retention ring or spacer and can be seen intersecting the same reflection right at the point where the purple reflection turns blue.

 

[Hermann]

It would be interesting to see a comparison between the Kite and the Nikon with regard to these issues.

Hermann

 

[BruceH]

I was at the Mesa, AZ Bass Pro store were I found a 10X30 model of the Monarch 7 on display. I held the eye piece away from my face with the objectives pointed toward a bright sky lit south window, and then slightly tilted the binocular till the exit pupil started to darken. The circular edge of the exit pupil lit up like a BMW Halo Headlight!

I also did a side by side with a Vortex Viper HD 8X32 to get a relative comparision. The Nikon struggled when looking at objects (mounted animals) near both the south and north back lighted windows. The contrast was much better with the Vortex.

I found this Nikon unacceptable for my purposes and cannot give them an unqualified recommendation. That is too bad, because other than these particular lighting conditions, it seemed to be an excellent binocular.