AllBinos.com

Cons: Case could provide better protection. Tiny amounts of fringing on bright objects. Not much bad to say about them.

Pros: Locking diopter control and +/- 4 diopter range which is what I like. Field flattener optics, great viewing edge to edge.

Summary: I got these from a Canadian retailer and I believe the package was open-box. I saved a few hundred and they were in perfect condition. Bright clear flat images. Good build quality. I am happy to use them.

Cons: I can find very little to gripe about with these superb binoculars. I do like the smoother focusing mechanism on the swaro is was comparing them to.

Pros: I love the optics of these binoculars. I was comparing them next to 8x32 swaros and they were very good. I just like the the ergonomics ot the swaros better and they are lighter but the 42 objective lens on the Nikons provided a slightly brighter view in dim conditions. I thinks these are an Excellent value !

Summary: I don\'t think you can find a better binocular for the money with a field of view like the hg\' s . I also love their lightweight construction and size to boot.

Cons: - Very strong rolling ball effect (globe effect). - Device had a focus defect after 13 days of use (maybe just bad luck?) - Central hinge rather too loose (just about acceptable) - Rainguard is a silly plastic thing (if you have this bino and use it in the rain, try to get a rainguard for the Celestron Trailseeker 8x42 or the Vortex New Diamondback 8x42 - they are made of good rubber and fit the Monarch HG perfectly and yet are easy to remove; I wonder why Nikon can\'t produce something of the kind themselves)

Pros: - Perfect in optical specifications, weight and dimensions - Excellent optical quality (I took 2 stars away because of the globe effect) - Build quality seems generally good - though durability is doubtful - Very good focusing mechanism, works smoothly even at lower temperatures (not quite as perfect as the EDG´s, but good enough) - Eyecups very solid, stops clearly marked (better than the EDG´s) - Classic design, neither old fashioned nor blatantly modern - Objective lenses hidden rather deeply inside the tubes (for me a more important safety-feature than a lot of rubber armour) - Rubber armour used very sparingly (saves weight; however, if you tend to drop your binos, this may not be an advantage …)

Summary: This could have been the perfect bino, and at a very reasonable price: I had the opportunity of comparing it directly to the Nikon EDG 8x42 in a variety of birding situations, lake and forest, sunlight and near dark, and usually I just wouldn\'t note any difference. Only in critical situations (sun very near the field of view) the EDG somtimes showed better contrast. On the other hand, better optical specs (field of view, near focus) and a much lower weight clearly spoke for the Monarch HG. - Unfortunately, when designing this bino Nikon obviously followed the incomprehensible fashion of correcting pincushion distortion to the bitter end, which results in a severe globe effect (a continuous warping of the image when panning or tilting the bino, especially when you have a strongly structured background like tree foliage etc.; some people don\'t even notice it, some get used to it after a while, some get sea sick). I personally could live with it if I had to, but even after extended use I found it distracting and annoying. What is worse, after 13 days of birding (and I handled the device with great care) suddenly left and right tube didn\'t focus identically anymore; I had to turn the dioptre ring far out of the neutral position to get them equal again. I had experienced this defect before more than once, but with cheap binos made in China. Fortunately, there was still time to send the bino back - and that was that. Conclusion: There have been some comments on the web that a low weight, excellent optics and a wide field of view are a dangerous combination: either the ocular lenses and prisms may be too small (making the bino unpleasant to look through), or robustness and durability of the device may suffer. For me, looking through was absolutely comfortable. When it comes to durability, I´m not so convinced. Maybe the focus defect was just bad luck; or maybe this bino is really to light to be true.