tomander:
I've had an old Nikon Monarch ATB 8x42 for over fives years and while the eyecups are a bit of a pain and the "accessories" on the old Monarchs were junk, it was and still is a great binocular. It has never given me any functional problems, the hinge, focus mechanism and the optics train all continue to work perfectly today. It's image is very, very good; a bit on the warm side due to its silver coated prisms (which I love). Certainly not the sharpest or the brightest of binoculars, but it is so good, I could see no point in "upgrading" to an 8x42 Vortex Viper as the "upgrade" was so very, very slight for $500! I know what Viper quality is as I owned an 8x32. Additionally, my old 8x42's light weight and perfect focusing make it absolutely the best handling full size (42) binocular that I've ever encountered.
Recently, back in March, I purchased a Nikon Monarch 5 10x42, it was on sale on Amazon, Murphy Camera was the Amazon third party merchant. The price was $327, less the $50 Nikon Instant Rebate that was also available for the 8x42. Thus I paid $277 for the 10x42, which included shipping. I have not really fully run it out yet, but my early findings are that it is excellent! The printed specs that came with the bin state its weight is 21.2 oz which is actually lighter than my old 8x42 (21.5 oz). The new 10x42 barrel diameter is very slightly larger then that on my old 8x42, possibly due to slightly thicker armor; however due to its light weight it too could be used with a one hand hold, providing you can hold it steady. That's always been a problem with me and 10x binoculars; consequently I have to hold it with two hands and there is still a little bit of shake. Presently, even with some shake I can still use these binoculars to good effect. My new 5 10x42 has eye relief (ER) of 18.4 mm which is perfect for my eyeglasses. I can not understand how Nikon was able to increase the ER of the old ATB 10x42 from 15 mm to 18.4 without changing the overall length of the binocular which remains at 5.7"? But they did! If my old ATB 8x42 is an A+ in handling, then the new 5 10x42 is an A in handling.
The image is superb, both brighter and sharper then the old 8x with the same excellent contrast, yielding excellent resolution. It's hard to believe that this image could be this good. I've always been suspicious of ED glass claims, but in the Monarch 5's case it appears to work? Prior to purchase, my greatest concern was that the dielectric coatings on the 5 would yield slightly washed out colors as I've seen on other inexpensive binoculars. That is not the case, the colors are excellent, fully saturated and true; although slightly cooler then my old ATB's colors. The FOV is 288', which will cause many birdforum spec warriors to coke and gag, but its perfectly acceptable to me as the sweet spot is a widish 80%. I was not overly impressed with the 7's that I've seen, with the exception of my Sightron Sii 8x32, I do not like binoculars with small sweet spots.
So far, this Monarch 5 10x42 has impressed me greatly in all respects except for the eyecups and the accessories which although they have been improved are still not yet where they should be. The eyecups have shallow twist notches that are very, very slightly better than the old continuous twist eyecups. The new strap is not bad, but not as good as the Viper neck conture strap. The new case is padded; who cares? You can not use a binocular that is in a case. The new objective lense covers are far more complex then need be. They snap into the inside of the barrel armor. Maybe these will continue to work in the long term, maybe not? They certainly take longer to snap into position then generic objective lens covers. The rain guard is the same stiff plastic as before with very slightly longer lens covers; they still bounce off while walking in the rain. Monarchs have never been binoculars to purchase for the accessories.
The big news is the image - it is superbly bright with excellent contrast, resolution and colors. According to the review that I read the new 5 8x42 is supposed to be even better then the 5 10x42. If I were you I would look around and see if I could find a Merchant that still offered the $50 Nikon Instant Rebate. I may even purchase a 5 8x42 as an actual, viable (financially as well as optically) upgrade of my old, much beloved ATB 8x42 Monarch? However, even if I could not find the rebate, I would still purchase them as you are likely to get more than $50 of use out of them before a rebate reappears. The only alternative that I know of - would be to spend $1,000 on the Zeiss Conquest HD 8x42 which is certainly an outstanding optical instrument, but it is in a heavy, bulky package that delivers an outstanding image with terrible handling. Good luck!
bearclawthedonut
