I have had three Nikons over the years, but I had never had a Monarch. I have a 3-9x and a 2-7x that were purchased in the early 90's, when Nikon only offered one "grade" of scope. I also have a new Buckmaster 3-9x; it seems to be as nice as the others, but I admit I haven't used it much.

I like my Nikons, but they do not seem to have the generous & forgiving eye relief that the Leupold scopes do. My Nikons are a little more picky about where my eye is. I have no complaints with brightness or clarity with the Nikon scopes I have.

For the money, I think the VX-II is hard to beat. There are many scopes in that price range that are as clear and as bright as the Leupold, but the Leupold's eye relief qualities are their strength.