Angus74

I was at Cabelas today and was looking at new binoculars cause im ready to get a new set. I really liked Leupolds Wind river Cascades in 8x42, but the guys at the store were really pushing Nikon Monarch 8x42s. They are about the same price and are right about what I want to spend, what does everyone think of either of these or anything else in the 300 dollar range. I think I liked the Leupolds better, but the Nikons have a no fault warranty, The Nikons seemed very touchy on focusing , if you barely moved the knob, they would be out of focus, as far as clarity and sharpness, I couldnt tell any difference, but I did look at Bushnell Trophys and theywerent nearly as clear..I dont know what to do, Help me out. Thanks

metro

I am also in the market for a new set of quality glass, I have been looking at the Nikon Monarchs also. In the last few days I have read almost every post on this site regarding the Monarchs as well as google searching them up one side and down the other and I have yet to find a bad review of them, on the contrary, reviews have been stellar. Several well qualified guys doing hands on comparisons have said they are definently the best in the 300 dollar range and quite possibly top of the line all the way up to the 600 dollar range. A few have gone as far as saying, "After the Monarchs the next step upis to go to the 1000.00 dollar plus Swarovskis, Zeiss etc..." and "I could see the difference between the Monarchs and Swarovskis but not 4 times the price difference" Toss in the no fault deal and I really think the Monarchs are tough if not impossible to beat for the guy that does'nt have the dissposable income for 1500.00 dollar binos.

Metro...

HuntElk4Fun

Guys-- I was in your shoes just about a month ago. I did the research, looked through endless binos and read the reviews. I bought the Nikon Monarchs 10x's. I'm a Leupold diehard with scopes and my father in law has a pair of Wind Rivers. A great review exists on the Monarchs on Cabela's website. They way he tested them for anti-fog by running them under water, then putting them on the heat vents is great. I have had the Monarchs for a month and feel like it was the right purchase. I really, really like them and feel I got a quality piece of glass without spending $1000. This is very rare on binos where $$'s usually equates to quality.

IMO - Nikon Monarchs

PABowhntr

It seems I was quoted up above. I am flattered.

One thing that pops out when comparing the Cascades and the Monarchs is the fact that the Cascades aren't Phase Coated. Phase coating or Phase correction is a process done to the prism in roof prism binoculars in order to get the maximum amount of clarity, sharpness and contrast. Without PC the image just doesn't look quite as good as a PC binocular or a porro prism model.

My two votes for binoculars in the $300 range would be the Monarchs and the Bushnell Legends.

missed_another

i believe if you look threw a pair of Steiners you will not interested in the Nikons or the Leupolds anymore. i have a set of the Steiner Predators. they are without question one of the clearest lenses that i have every looked threw. once you get them adjusted there is not need to refocus for differant distances. super clear and super fast to use. and they start right in your price range. i did the same thing i looked at the Nikons and Leupolds first then i went back to the Steiners.

rick_reno

I've got both Swarvoskis and Leica - both are excellent. If I'd bought them first I'd have saved a ton of money and time on buying crappy binnocs.

liquidorange

i spent a day looking through a pair of steiners and zeiss while on a hunt. not sure of the models but the steiners with the yellow lens i thought they were crap. the 700$ 10x40 zeiss were amazing. i also spent the day looking through binos at cabelas and the monarchs were close to the zeiss at half the price. i still want the zeiss though.

beulahboy

I bought the Nikons- best bang for the buck!

PABowhntr

The Classic Zeiss definitely are nice binos. The image is excellent and they have been highly regarded as excellent binoculars since their inception. The only negative thing I have heard about them is that they are not waterproof despite advertising claims to the contrary. For some folks that is not a big deal but for others it may cause problems.

The new Zeiss Conquests in 8x30 are waterproof though and provide an exceptionally sharp, contrasty image. Price is around $500 if I remember correctly.

HuntElk4Fun

Sums it up IMO. For $300, they are awesome and give you $500+ quality and one could argue not too far off the $1000 range either. Sure the others are nice, etc., but I had a very tight budget. If I had $750-1000 I wouldn't have bought Monarchs!