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Real front lens diameter	Left:   42.1+/- 0.05 mm Right:  42.1+/- 0.05 mm	8 / 8.0 pkt
Real magnification	8.2+/- 0.05x	3/3.0
Transmission	89.1+/- 1.5%	17/25.0
Chromatic aberration	Negligible in the centre, on the edge reaching the borderline between medium and low level.	7.6/10.0
Astigmatism	Corrected in the right way but without any sensational results.	6.4/10.0
Distortion	The distance of the first curved line from the field centre compared to the field of vision radius: 57% +\- 3%	6/10.0
Coma	Appears in the distance of about 50-55% of the field of vision and getting near high values on the very edge.	3.3/10.0
Blurring at the edge of the FOV	The blur occurs in a distance of 73% +\- 3% from the centre of the field of view.	4/10.0
Darkening at the edge the FOV	Noticeable.	3.6/5.0
Whiteness of the image	Good but around 10% of difference between the red and blue light transmission values makes it hardly perfect.	4.2/5.0
Collimation	Perfect.	5/5.0
Internal reflections	Left: Right: Quite bright and you can see noticeable arches near to exit pupils.	2.3/5.0
Housing	Compact and handy – covered with good quality rubber padding which sticks to your hands. Comfortable to hold and to look through. Rubberized eyecups with 4 regulation stops. The casing is compact and solid – it moves without creaking while under pressure. The rubber next to objectives is a bit too slack and sticks out, the same near the bridge. You can shift the rubber on the tube if you make a sufficiently strong move. The gauge of the tubes is too loose, being on the border of collapsing under its weight. The binoculars produced in China.	5/8.0
Focusing	Huge central wheel covered by rubber ribs. It moves smoothly, evenly and is well-damped. Running through the whole range takes a turn through 540 degrees. Individual focusing through a comfortable ring on the right eyepiece. The ring moves the outer element.	4.5/5.0
Tripod	Quite easy to access.	3/3.0
Interpupilary distance	from 55.1 to 74.5mm	5/6.0
Closest focusing distance	1.90 m	2/2.0
Eyepieces FOV	Apparent field of view of 65.8 deg (according to simple formula) and 59.8 deg (according to tangent formula).	14/20.0
Field of view	Measured by us amounted to 8.02 +\- 0.04 degrees and it was in perfect accordance with the specifications. A wide field of view for this class of equipment.	7/8.0
Quality of the interior of the barrels	Black and ribbed tubes. Black bottom. Both elements are slightly shiny though, not matted properly. Relatively clean – just a few specks of dust.	4.1/5.0
Vignetting	Left: Right: OL: 1.69%, OR: 2.31%	5.5/8.0
Prisms quality	Good quality BaK-4.	8/8.0
Antireflection coatings	Purple-pink-ornage on objectives. Prisms flash with green. Mainly green on eyepieces. Medium intensity.	4.5/5.0
Warranty [years]	10	4.5/6.0
Final result	72.4%	137.5 / 190 pkt
Econo result		0pkt.

Summary

• handy casing,
• huge field of view,
• good transmission,
• well-corrected chromatic aberration,
• moderate astigmatism,
• sensibly corrected distortion,
• good whiteness rendering,
• high quality of prisms and coatings,
• clean and black inside the tubes.

• too high coma,
• the casing made a bit carelessly,
• slightly egg-shaped exit pupils.

The Nikon company has lately swamped us with new roof prism binoculars. After launching the top-of-the-range EDG series they added Sporter EX, Prostaff 5, Prostaff 7, Monarch 5 and Monarch 7 as well. We were especially interested in the last instrument because, theoretically, it features everything a good, modern device should have. You get a nicely-designed casing, moderately heavy and fully waterproof. The parameters are interesting as well. The fields of view are wide, the eye relief – comfortable and the minimum focus, if not record-breaking, then can certainly be called sensible. Add to it low dispersion glass in objectives, good quality prisms with dielectric coatings and multi-layer antireflection coatings on all air-to-glass surfaces. If I had to compile a list of qualities that make up a perfect pair of binoculars I would include practically every feature of the Monarch 7 series.

However specifications and claims of the producer are one thing, the practice is quite another. At the beginning we decided to check the parameters and compare them to those stated by Nikon; here we had no reservations whatsoever. The field is indeed very large and in perfect accordance with the specifications, the magnification a bit higher but still within the norm, the minimum focusing distance amounts to less than 2 meters. What’s more the objective lens’s diameter is exactly as it should be and the gauge between the tubes is sensible. Let’s pass to the optics.

First, have a glance at the transmission graph which is presented below.

You cannot call this performance outstanding but still it looks very sensible. In the red part of the spectrum the transmission reaches 92% which is a very good result for a moderately priced roof prism pair of binoculars. In the centre of the visible spectrum the transmission decreases to 88-90%, a value which still remains good. Only for blue and purple light the transmission level is a bit too low to meet our heightened expectations.

When it comes to the correction of most of optical aberrations the binoculars perform well too. Neither chromatic aberration nor distortion nor astigmatism will disturb you here; you can have just slight reservations concerning the coma which level is a bit too high. Still it is not easy to correct the resolution of such a wide field of view and the Monarch 7 wasn’t entirely successful but the result of 4 out of 10 points in this category can be still perceived as moderately good.

When it comes to the optics I like this pair of binoculars well enough. In my opinion a wide field of view, corrected a bit worse on the edge, is far better than a narrow keyhole, be it even perfectly corrected from rim to rim. It is worth noticing that a lot of 8x42 binoculars, tested by us so far, feature fields as small as 6.-6.5 degrees. Compare to that the 8 degrees of the Monarch and you have to admit it is a serious advantage.

The build quality worries me the most. So far the price division point between China-produced binoculars and those made in Japan has been situated near 300-350 Euro. You could still find solid 42 mm roof prism devices produced in Japan even cheaper than that. Now the limit is shifted and both Monarchs 7 are the proof – they cost significantly more than 300 Euro and they are made in China. The saving on build quality and quality control can, unfortunately, be noticed. Not very well adjusted rubber of the padding, too loose gauge of eyepieces, a bit egg-shaped exit pupils, a tad too shiny paint inside the tubes. Such flaws can be forgiven in the case of cheap roof prisms devices, perhaps even those which cost about 200 Euro, but when you reach the level of 400-500 Euro you should expect something better. Mind you here you deal with an optical instrument from a reputable producer, a company which has been manufacturing binoculars since 1917 and is boasting one of the most interesting offers on the market. Noblesse oblige.