Monarch M7 (4 Viewers)

[dries1]

I contacted Nikon after waiting for their customer support, and they have no idea on when the new M7 will come off backorder, so if one is looking to obtain one, it could be a while if one wants to order directly from Nikon. They are some available on the bay.

 

[master5]

Nikon Binoculars MONARCH M7 8x42 Roof Prism Type Black w/ Tracking NEW | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Nikon Binoculars MONARCH M7 8x42 Roof Prism Type Black w/ Tracking NEW at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

 

[AlphaFan]

Crutchfield supposedly has all configurations of the new Nikon M7s currently in stock and ready to ship.

Nikon Monarch M7 8x42 Binoculars

Wide-field waterproof binoculars

www.crutchfield.com

 

[RustyHeadedJay]

I ordered an 8x30 M7 from amazon a few days ago and just received it. I'm not good at reviews but I can tell you that it is very nice. I have the former generation 8x30 monarch 7 and the image quality is pretty much the same with slightly better CA control. The focus wheel is phenomenal as it's less wobbly, faster, smoother etc. I think the eyecups are the same as before. The locking diopter is nice I guess but it's pretty weak and can be bumped out of lockup quite easily. The armoring is less "plush" and tighter than before. I can't think of anything else at the moment but I sure think they look great and I LOVE the focusing on them. Feel free to ask me any questions.

 

[master5]

I ordered an 8x30 M7 from amazon a few days ago and just received it. I'm not good at reviews but I can tell you that it is very nice. I have the former generation 8x30 monarch 7 and the image quality is pretty much the same with slightly better CA control. The focus wheel is phenomenal as it's less wobbly, faster, smoother etc. I think the eyecups are the same as before. The locking diopter is nice I guess but it's pretty weak and can be bumped out of lockup quite easily. The armoring is less "plush" and tighter than before. I can't think of anything else at the moment but I sure think they look great and I LOVE the focusing on them. Feel free to ask me any questions.

Thanks! can I have a photo please? made in China?

 

[Upland]

How is the glare control? Thanks

 

[ZDHart]

Nice to hear about the focuser. That's an important quality to me.

And yes, please, glare control evaluation, if you will?

 

[RustyHeadedJay]

Nice to hear about the focuser. That's an important quality to me.

And yes, please, glare control evaluation, if you will?

I’m really not a good judge of glare. My main binoculars I use all the time are Swarovski EL‘s and those supposedly have bad glare control, but I wouldn’t be able to tell you that. I will post a little review in the proper forum, and will link to it here.

 

[RustyHeadedJay]

I accidentally posted the review in the wrong spot🤦 So I guess I’ll just post what I typed there here.

I am a complete amateur when it comes to birdwatching and optics, but having the previous generation of these 8x30’s I figured I would do a quick review. My main binoculars I use when I go out birdwatching are Swarovski 8.5 x 42 EL field pros so I am pretty spoiled when it comes to what I’m used to for optical qualities. I’ve kept the previous generation Nikon monarch 7 8x30 on my desk at work for a few years, and sometimes take them on my lunch break when the weather is nice to do quick birdwatching. These new updated versions are not too far different, but a couple things really stand out to me.

First off, the neck strap is very comfortable, as it is contoured and has almost the same rubberized texture underneath it just like my Swarovski‘s. The binoculars are so light that you barely notice they are on.

The focus wheel on these feels superior than the previous generation. The depth of field is so much greater in these as well that you barely have to move the focus, and if you need to snap to something close up, the focus is very fast and buttery smooth. I’ve never used the Nikon EDG optics, but people always talk about that focus wheel as being the best ever, and perhaps this one is close to that level? I’m not sure.

One thing I was looking forward to was the locking diopter adjustment ring. Yes, it locks. Does it stay locked? I’m not sure in normal to heavy usage, but I would wager a guess that it would be coming unlocked quite often as it is very weak. On the other hand, the resistance while adjusting it is very firm so I would be very surprised if the diopter setting became knocked out of adjustment. Again, I am pretty spoiled with my Swarovski diopter adjustment/lock.

In use I find myself constantly searching for the perfect eye positioning just like I do with the previous generations. These new ones seem to be slightly even more temperamental with position. I do not wear glasses and have a great vision but it just seems frustrating to me. If these are going to be somebody’s main binoculars I would advise against that. I get a ton of blackouts, kidney beans, white fuzziness around the edges etc. Once I get the IPD set properly it’s just a matter of placing them up to your eyes exactly where they need to be. I know that this is to be expected with lower eye relief, smaller exit pupils etc. but again, different strokes. I wish that I got the 8 x 42 for this reason.

The rubber armoring is much different than the previous gen. It is tighter fitting and almost feels like Swarovski rubber. Not as tacky but the thinness and texture of it.

The eye cups must be identical to the previous generation as well. No improvements there but none were needed. Great eye cups.

Overall I would recommend getting the previous generation if you were looking to save some money or find a deal. The neck strap and focus wheel to me are worth justify and getting the newer generation. I think these new ones have some kind of scratch resistant and water resistant coatings if I’m not mistaken? Not sure about that 100%.

Jay

 

[ZDHart]

RHJ.... thank you for the commentary and the excellent photos! The M7s have a great "look", aesthetically speaking.

Do you find that the Nikon armor feels any more stable in your hands, perhaps a tiny bit "grippier" than the Swaro armor? I found both Zeiss and Leica armor to have better "stiction" in the hands than the Swaro armor, which felt slightly slipperier to me, when compared to Zeiss and Leica.

And, once you got the IPD set just right and kind of learned, muscle memory, where to hold the M7s to your eye sockets, that the optical issues you complained of mostly went away?

Lastly, are you going to keep the M7s or return them and look for something even better?

 

[RustyHeadedJay]

RHJ.... thank you for the commentary and the excellent photos! The M7s have a great "look", aesthetically speaking.

Do you find that the Nikon armor feels any more stable in your hands, perhaps a tiny bit "grippier" than the Swaro armor? I found both Zeiss and Leica armor to have better "stiction" in the hands than the Swaro armor, which felt slightly slipperier to me, when compared to Zeiss and Leica.

And, once you got the IPD set just right and kind of learned, muscle memory, where to hold the M7s to your eye sockets, that the optical issues you complained of mostly went away?

Lastly, are you going to keep the M7s or return them and look for something even better?

The armor is tight and very textured but not as tacky or grippy as my swaros. No where NEAR as tacky as the previous generation monarch 7’s. The texturing makes up for it though. It’s great.

The eye positioning thing is probably not as big a deal as I made it out to be as it’s probably more to do with going back and forth between the swaros and M7’s. The swaros are like an old broken in baseball mitt where you can slam the eyecups into your eye sockets and you’re instantly sitting comfortably in an iMax theater, and the M7s are like sitting in the work break room trying to watch the Walmart tv with coworkers constantly walking in front of it. This has MUCH to do with factors like the lesser exit pupil and eye relief of the 8x30 format.

I think there is a learning curve type thing with the 8x30 format and once used to it it’s a pleasant experience. I neglected to mention that I also have the previous generation 10x42 monarch 7 that I honestly think are just as pleasant as my swaros in regard to eye placement and lack of blackouts and kidney bean things. At the end of the day I still think that 8x30 is good for a backup or travel companion but it’s tough to beat a 8x42 or similar with comfy and forgiving eye placement.

 

[ZDHart]

The armor is tight and very textured but not as tacky or grippy as my swaros. No where NEAR as tacky as the previous generation monarch 7’s. The texturing makes up for it though. It’s great.

The eye positioning thing is probably not as big a deal as I made it out to be as it’s probably more to do with going back and forth between the swaros and M7’s. The swaros are like an old broken in baseball mitt where you can slam the eyecups into your eye sockets and you’re instantly sitting comfortably in an iMax theater, and the M7s are like sitting in the work break room trying to watch the Walmart tv with coworkers constantly walking in front of it. This has MUCH to do with factors like the lesser exit pupil and eye relief of the 8x30 format.

I think there is a learning curve type thing with the 8x30 format and once used to it it’s a pleasant experience. I neglected to mention that I also have the previous generation 10x42 monarch 7 that I honestly think are just as pleasant as my swaros in regard to eye placement and lack of blackouts and kidney bean things. At the end of the day I still think that 8x30 is good for a backup or travel companion but it’s tough to beat a 8x42 or similar with comfy and forgiving eye placement.

RustyHeadedJay said:
"...and the M7s are like sitting in the work break room trying to watch the Walmart tv with coworkers constantly walking in front of it. "

Well... that doesn't speak very well for the M7s, sadly. But, there's always the new Opticron Verano 8x32s?

I do understand that x30-x32 bins can be a bit trickier with regard to eye placement. I've found, though, that with Zeiss SF (8x32 and 10x32 SF) and Leica UVHD+ (8x32 and 10x32) issues with eye placement have disappeared for me. (I don't use glasses with my bins, either.) Of course, I have the IPD set well, and my muscle memory seems to have it down whenever I bring any of those four bins to my eyes.

The M7s being x30 is a tiny bit more constrained than the SFs and UVHD+ at x32, but I'm guessing that perhaps with good IPD setting and muscle memory for eye placement... they might be fine? I guess the only way for any individual to find out is with personal experience.

Are you keeping the M7s?

 

[RustyHeadedJay]

Are you keeping the M7s?

Yes I will. I think I’ll let my son use them in a few years once he’s old enough.

 

[Upland]

I tried a pair of the new M7s in 10x42 briefly yesterday. Was impressed by the optics and build quality. The only thing that didn’t seem right was the diopter. It wasn’t very sensitive. I had to move it quite a bit to change focus. Therefore I set it several times and got different settings each time. Bad sample?

 

[Felixtheelix]

I tried a pair of the new M7s in 10x42 briefly yesterday. Was impressed by the optics and build quality. The only thing that didn’t seem right was the diopter. It wasn’t very sensitive. I had to move it quite a bit to change focus. Therefore I set it several times and got different settings each time. Bad sample?

Do you have any binoculars you would compare the optic with?

 

[Bob_McBob]

In use I find myself constantly searching for the perfect eye positioning just like I do with the previous generations. These new ones seem to be slightly even more temperamental with position. I do not wear glasses and have a great vision but it just seems frustrating to me. If these are going to be somebody’s main binoculars I would advise against that. I get a ton of blackouts, kidney beans, white fuzziness around the edges etc. Once I get the IPD set properly it’s just a matter of placing them up to your eyes exactly where they need to be. I know that this is to be expected with lower eye relief, smaller exit pupils etc. but again, different strokes. I wish that I got the 8 x 42 for this reason.

This is a problem with many binoculars in the 8x30/32 size class. The eye cups just don't extend far enough to match the eye relief for non-glasses wearers, leading to blackouts, kidney beans, and generally extreme difficulty finding a comfortable eye position. The normal "solution" is to balance the upper edges of the eye cups in your eye sockets to get them eyepieces further from your eyes, but I don't consider this acceptable, and would not keep binoculars that required it. I tried the original M7 8x30 when I was looking for compact binoculars and ended up returning them because of it. The pair I chose in the end was the Maven B3 8x30; they're just as bad out of the box, but because of the design of the eye cups, it's possible to insert an o-ring that extends them just enough to be mostly acceptable. The original M7 8x30 didn't have removable eye cups, and I can't tell if this is possible with the new version. It's really beyond me how few manufacturers have made any attempt to address this issue, which must surely affect a significant number of binocular users.

 

[Upland]

Do you have any binoculars you would compare the optic with?

That’s a tough one. I think they are a step below Conquests, HGs, Trinovids, and Torics. A little better than Pro Guides, Vipers, Terras, and Meopros. Of course this is very subjective and I didn’t compare side by side. I have owned all but the Trinovids. Only checked those out at stores.

I do think they are the best in the 4-600!dollar class though. Widest fov and an easy view for me. Again this is very subjective and others may like the others better. Would be interesting to compare them side by side with the new Opticron Verano. They have gotten such good reviews here I ordered a pair in 8x32. Comparing them to the 10x42s would be apples to oranges though.

 

[Felixtheelix]

That’s a tough one. I think they are a step below Conquests, HGs, Trinovids, and Torics. A little better than Pro Guides, Vipers, Terras, and Meopros. Of course this is very subjective and I didn’t compare side by side. I have owned all but the Trinovids. Only checked those out at stores.

I do think they are the best in the 4-600!dollar class though. Widest fov and an easy view for me. Again this is very subjective and others may like the others better. Would be interesting to compare them side by side with the new Opticron Verano. They have gotten such good reviews here I ordered a pair in 8x32. Comparing them to the 10x42s would be apples to oranges though.

Thank you! It’s interesting that you would rate them better than the viper. I‘m still looking for a decent 8x30/35 pair to replace my Diamondbacks when I want to go lighter than the MHG 8x42. The verano should be a strong competitor in this price range.

 

[Upland]

I’m not a big fan of the Viper because I see lots of green reflections in the barrels. Also the QC had gone way down since the production was moved to China. When the new model came out I compared two side by side. One had a super tight hinge, the other super loose. One also had a focus wheel that almost needed vice grips to turn. Having said that if you find a good pair and like them that’s all that matters. Vortex has the best warranty in the business. Because of this I’ve always thought the way to go is to find a like new used pair at a reduced price. I’ve seen used Vipers in the $350 range. So you’ll get a great price and the unconditional warranty. You could look for pair of the discontinued Vipers in 8x32.They were all made in Japan and I liked the pair I owned except for the reflections. The only negative is if they ever need replacement you’d need to get the 8x42 Viper from them.

 

[Antho]

Does the new m7 8x30 have enough eye relief for glass wearers? This would be my first bino's. I wear glasses or sunglasses all the time..