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In the store I compared these with the same power Leica. The Leica was nice but a lot heavier. I could tell the Leica was better, but not three times the price better. It was dusk, overcast and drizzling (ideal conditions for trying out binoculars). For example, I was looking at the brick work under the awning on a building about a block away from the store. I could see more detail in the brickwork and felt more `there' with the Leica. In brighter conditions the difference is less noticeable and I like the lighter weight of the Monarchs.

On the Amazon trip I has the opportunity to compare binoculars with other people. Most people had brought cheaper binoculars and I think as a result their wildlife watching experience was compromised. The only people who had brought comparable binoculars were avid bird watchers. They had Opticrons which are in the same price ballpark as the Leica. Again, they are excellent binoculars but not three times better.

I like the hard rubber-armor construction. It does not become slippery when wet. They feel solid but light. I am not so nervous about dropping the binoculars as I would be with the Leica or Opticrons. The firm turn-and slide eyecups (like the Lieca) are a huge improvement over the fussy soft foldable rubber eyecups found on many other binoculars.

Looking for binoculars is a lot like looking for Hifi speakers. As the price goes up, the quality improves. At a certain price point you can no longer tell the next price level is clearly better; it is mostly just different. That is a good place to buy, and is something of a personal judgement. Minolta has some binoculars that are priced between the Monarchs and the high end and I think the Monarchs are every bit as good.

143 of 144 found the following review helpful:

Tack sharp, lightweight and well worth owning.Nov 19, 2005
By Eagle Eyes
I did alot of research before deciding on this pair. As an experienced photographer, optical quality was my top priority.
I originally purchased them for hiking and long range mountain scanning in southern Oregon, and while initially perplexed between the 10X or 8X version; I found the extra sharpness of the 8X resolution negated the need for a 10X magnification, because they rendered so much detail.
With the 8X, I spotted a fire lookout station that I'd never seen before, on a mountain 15 miles out of town. Quite remarkable. Added to that, was the research at Cornell University's Ornithology Center on the web. Birdwatchers extraordinaire; who called them a steal. I concur. I never thought I'd be so happy paying this price for binoculars, but it was a no brainer. Tack sharp, lightweight and well worth owning.

97 of 97 found the following review helpful:

Bargain of the century?Sep 30, 2005
By Mr. L. Hudson
Bought these bins recently, they really are excellent, very easy to use, good feel, amazing light gathering and reproduction, and only 1 and 1/2 pounds. If you read Cornell Lab of Ornithology review, there is only 1 set of binoculars under 1000 dollars that beat these,(and they are 6x lenses not really suitable for general birding.)Everything about them feels and works like 1000 dollar lenses with two exceptions, the lens cap and raingaurd, the former in particular would be a disgrace on 50 dollar lenses, i am going to see if i can buy generic replacements. Lots of other web reviews also rave about them, and 98% of people would not tell the difference between these and top range Zeiss, Leica etc. And for 300 dollars you can take them anywhere and enjoy them.

109 of 117 found the following review helpful:

great optics, questionable constructionNov 06, 2007
By LotusJones
I bought these to replace a pair of Pentax 8x42 WP's which I had scratched. For the money, I don't think you can do any better for optical clarity and resolution, in my amateur opinion. Not 'wow' better, but did seem a tad brighter than the Pentaxes. They are amazingly light and the overall ergonomics were good so I enjoyed using them. That 'quality feel' was lacking when compared to the Pentaxes, for whatever that's worth, and I don't think it was the lack of 'heft'. The twist out eye cups worked well when full out or in. The diopter ring was stiff and not so user friendly, it doesn't lock but won't likely budge anyway.
So why only 3 stars? For it's price class it deserves 5 stars, but my example began fogging internally on an Elk hunt in otherwise benign conditions. A fluke? Others on the net have noted significant variability within the model line suggesting quality control issues with these Chinese made binoculars.
I returned them to my local Cabela's and was refunded without question so did not deal with Nikon directly (25y warranty, FYI). If I can't find a better bin for similar money (considering Eagle Optics Ranger's, Vortex Vipers, Bushnell Elite e2, etc...), I may get another pair, after looking through several at the counter and doing my own 'testing' once I get them home. Hope that helps.

36 of 36 found the following review helpful:

Great binocular, excellent warrantyMar 30, 2009
By Thomas P. Mcfarland
First- the negative point. My first pair fogged up on the inside after a couple of weeks. I took them back to the store where I got them, but could have sent them back to Nikon just as easily, thanks to the excellent warranty. Point is- save the box and receipt. It is worth noting that I haven't heard of anyone else who had theirs fog up, I suspect that I had the bad luck of getting the one bad pair. Nikon has a no-fault 25 year warranty anyways. Covers are pretty bad too, but they had to cut costs somewhere to make binoculars this good for this cheap and better to cut corners in the covers than in the optics.

The good... pretty much everything else about them is perfect. For the price, you probably won't find anything better. I used some similarly priced Eagle Optics for a while (2 summers as a field biologist) and I like these a bit more. I have used a few pairs of Leica and Swarovski that are way outside of my price range: they are pretty similar optically (but great eyepiece covers...) $2,000 binoculars are better than these, but not all that much better, and certainly not $1,750 better. If you are in the under $500 budget- these are probably the best you can get. My mom has the 10x42 monarchs, they are just as good. 8x42 will inherently have better low light ability, better field of view, better depth of field, and less problem with shake; 10x42 will inherently have better magnification/detail. If you aren't sure what you are looking for or are a beginner birder, get 8x as they are a bit more versatile and easier to use (wider field of view). 8x will excel in the forest, with fast birds, at dawn or dusk, and anytime you may have shaky hands (while hiking up hill, for instance). The 10x are probably better for shore birds, hawks, and small birds that are still. Which ever pair you get, you'll probably like them.

Updated Feb. 2011
These monarchs are wonderful, no doubt about it. I recently bought a pair of top-of-the-line Carl Zeiss Victory - Binoculars 8 x 42 T* FL binoculars (retail is about $2,000). Here are my thoughts on how these stack up: Overall, these monarchs stack up with the most well regarded pair of binoculars on the market (costing close to 10 times as much money) very well. The zeiss's are definitely better. A bit nicer in the hand, very subtly better optics in good light, noticeably better optics in poor light. There is bit more "pop" to what you are looking at, colors a bit richer, things look a bit more 3 dimensional, subtle markings on birds are a bit easier to see. Note the extensive use of modifiers like "a bit" and "subtle." These monarchs are about 90% of what you get for $2,000. In contrast, these monarchs are 2 to 3 times what you get for about $100. I would describe these monarchs as the cheapest binoculars you should get, and frankly, they are good enough to be your only pair ever, even for really serious birders. Do I regret spending money I can't really afford for the top of the line zeiss? Nope, it is a rare luxury for me and the zeiss victory's are better. Did I need to replace these with the fancy/expensive pair? Absolutely not, for me to really see the differences, I have to look through them one after the other. Should you get these or nicer ones? Hard to say. The step up between these and the so called alpha binoculars (zeiss, leica, swarovski) is much smaller than the step between the best of the sub-$100 binoculars and these. If you are going to buy binoculars, don't waste your money getting anything cheaper that these. If you can afford the money and if you look through binoculars a lot and if you want to have the very best, there are better binoculars on the market (but they are painfully expensive, and improvements are subtle). The overall experience with the very best binoculars is a bit nicer than with these, but you can see everything with these that you can see with the expensive ones (except for very subtle markings in low light). I hope this helps. Every household in a America should have at least one pair of monarchs, even with my new Zeisses, I'll keep these for travel and for loaning out. For the price of a few months of cable bill you can have a lifetime of wonderful wildlife watching.

One more note: get the newer version of these Nikon 7294 Monarch ATB 8x42 Binocular, they cost a little bit more (about $50 more at time of writing) but have a better coating which supposedly improves lowlight performance, which is really the only area in which the monarchs are not stellar.

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