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Nikon Monarch 8x42 6.3% upgrading (1 Viewer)

Nikon Kid

Love them Sula Bassana
Nikon Monarch 8x42 6.3% they are about 6 years old.....
What would be a good upgrade at a reasonable price any make
 
Hello Terry,

Nice Gannet !

Did you have a budget in mind ?

These are a couple of very good binos that I think are reasonable and either would make a nice step up from your NM.

The Bresser is very keenly priced (as FrankD may agree) and the Opticron is a bin in it's own league altogether :

Bresser Montana ED 8.5x45 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Bresser-Fernglas-Montana-8-5x45-/171516897854?clk_rvr_id=730216770269&mfe=sidebar

Opticron Imagic BGA SE 7x42 : http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Opticron-Imagic-BGA-SE-7x42-binoculars-alpha-quality-6mm-exit-pupil-/171540803146?clk_rvr_id=730221960927&mfe=sidebar

Good luck with your choice !

Best wishes,
 
Terry,

The current Nikon Monarch 5 with it's ED glass and dielectric coated prisms is a big improvement over the MkIII (or would that be the Mk II six years ago?) However it does have a similar narrow FOV and at least the samples I've tried were not as sharp as some alternatives. The Monarch 7 has a much wider view but there were some teething problems when it was first launched, and it's one to check for yourself that the sharpness and size of sweet spot reaches your expectations.

Depending on your budget I'd have a look at the Hawke Frontier ED and Sapphire ED, the Vanguard Spirit ED and the Endeavour ED (I) and II and certainly the Opticron range including the Countryman HD Harold mentions. Most of these will be a bit bigger and heavier than the Monarch but mostly offer a wider, sharper views and generally better colour and contrast.

David
 
Thanks for the replies, reasonable price on OAP pension is the least I can get
away with, and the wife won't want a new wardrobe of cloths for her half :eek!:
 
:-O


There is a lot of choices out there in reasonably priced optics that just do a great job. The sightron blue sky II 8X32 has been getting rave reviews but I dont know how it would compare to the ED glass models mentioned. I looked through a Nikon Prostaff 7S the other day and was surprised at how nice the view was. I will say the slightly tacky feeling Nikon rubber armor is to me the most comfortable of all I have tried. Not sure if the original Monarch had it or not.
 
What about the Kite Optics Lynx HD 8x32? I am considering replacing my Monarch 7 with those! ;)

The Lynx seems to have it all: excellent optics, very light weight, sturdy eyecups (my only complaint about the M7!) huge field of view and the list goes on! :t:
 
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I guess that will be after your eye test as Kite don't offer the Lynx HD in 8x32 ;)

Kite do, however, sell a brown paper bag range of economy bins, very popular in Africa, under their micro-brand 'Bynnex' : http://bynnex.com/index.htm |=\|

... but they do have the Lynx HD 8x30.

HighNorth - my wife has the 8x30 Monarchs and I have the 8x30 Lynx so I've been able to compare the two closely. To be honest there's not a huge difference optically and I suspect that 95% of the time you'd be happy with the Monarchs. The Kite's eyecups have the irritating tendency of sliding down which I resolved by buying some soft rubber washers from 'Wilkinsons' to slip in place to keep them raised.

see the two threads on Monarch 8x30 vs Lynx 8x30s
- http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=271587
- http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=293413
 
I guess that will be after your eye test as Kite don't offer the Lynx HD in 8x32 ;)

Well, In case you didn't know; I've custom ordered a Lynx HD in 8x32 from Kite! :t: It's made with next-generation ultra-HD class from a factory in China that will blow all that Teutonic "alpha" rubbish out of the water! :-O
 
HighNorth - my wife has the 8x30 Monarchs and I have the 8x30 Lynx so I've been able to compare the two closely. To be honest there's not a huge difference optically and I suspect that 95% of the time you'd be happy with the Monarchs. The Kite's eyecups have the irritating tendency of sliding down which I resolved by buying some soft rubber washers from 'Wilkinsons' to slip in place to keep them raised.

see the two threads on Monarch 8x30 vs Lynx 8x30s
- http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=271587
- http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=293413

Well, I should have said "complement" rather than "replace", as I own the Monarch 7 in 8x42, and I'm looking for a good quality 8x32 bin to take on longer non-motorised trips in the wilderness where the size and weight of the full size bin is not welcome. That said, I am very satisfied with the Monarch "platform", except the poor quality eyecups, and I have been looking at the M7 8x30 as well.

It does seem like the Lynx HD has its own eyecup-problems though. Do you know if its a general problem with the Lynx, or just that particular pair?

Thanks for the links to the threads! I'll check them out! :t:
 
Well, I should have said "complement" rather than "replace", as I own the Monarch 7 in 8x42, and I'm looking for a good quality 8x32 bin to take on longer non-motorised trips in the wilderness where the size and weight of the full size bin is not welcome. That said, I am very satisfied with the Monarch "platform", except the poor quality eyecups, and I have been looking at the M7 8x30 as well.

It does seem like the Lynx HD has its own eyecup-problems though. Do you know if its a general problem with the Lynx, or just that particular pair?

Thanks for the links to the threads! I'll check them out! :t:

I suspect that it's a generic problem although those washers seem to help I'm considering contacting Kite to ask if they can provide a better solution,
 
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