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Nikon 10x56 Monarch ATB Review |
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Bigdaddy0381
MODERATOR Georgia peach Joined: February/27/2007 Location: Georgia Status: Offline Points: 13682 |
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Posted: February/24/2009 at 10:38 |
I have had the pleasure to test drive these binoculars out for the last few days. I was not able to do a side by side test as I don’t have abunch of binoculars lying around the house. While I had them I asked 5 other people to look thru them and give me there opinions. So I can give you something other than what I was seeing thru them. The appearance of the bino’s is great. They look very rugged and they will be able to handle a drop if it happened. The rubber coating is great and durable if scratches and or dinged. The coating also holds a little dust and dirt from your hands but it dose help you while holding them and cleans up easily. This is a big bino. With the 56mm objective they are a little odd when you first start looking thru them. The weight is a little much for free handed glassing over a small time period. The eye cups are adjustable and make it very easy to use while wearing glass. When wearing glass’s I have found it is hard to get a full picture (edge to edge) in most bino’s I have used or looked thru. Not with these it was a nice and easy to use. I first played with these around the house looking from 20 yards out to 300+ looking at houses, mail boxes, and street signs. I found the image quality was out standing. I could count the shingles on the house 300yards with no problem at all and could pick the edges out fairly easy. I also could read the street sign in front of the house at 300yards with no problems. The sign did not have a defined edge’s but it was easily readable and they are only 4 inches tall. The mail boxes I looked at were around 50 yards and the numbers were clear and the edges were defined. I also could see the screws that are holding the mail box together. This Saturday I took them out on a shooting session. We shot 100, 200,300 yards. First off as the targets were being set up I took the bino’s and looked into the woods ranging from 10 out to 600+. With me standing in field 10 yards away I could see a good distance into the woods with the bino’s staying clear and bright. I could pick out pine cones lying on the ground about 50 yards into the wood line. I then looked into the woods with me being 100yards away from the wood line and I could pick out limbs, Pine cones, and horned trees about 30 yards into the wood line. The focus would let me set the depth I would need to look past/thru all the brush on the wood line. I then moved to look across the field into the woods at 600+. I could see into the wood line maybe 20 yards and still be able to pick out little limbs and small tree bases. Now the targets are set up I’m move to them. All The targets have 6 inch shoot and see targets with an orange back ground. The 100yd target was very very easy to see 22cal holes. The shoot and see stood out like a sore thumb and was very easy to pick up. The orange back ground was easy but it took a second to find the small 22cal hole. Now seeing a 30cal hole at 100yd was easy as pie in the orange back ground or in the shoot and see. Now to the 200yd! It was still very easy to see the 30cal holes in the shoot and see but the orange background became tuff. You cold still see the holes but it took a few seconds to find them and they were not as clear as I would have thought them to be, but I was still amazed on how well they were able to be seen .Now 300yd. by this time it was 60+ degrees and the heat mirage was starting to play a roll in the shooting. At 300yd you could see the waves of heat being released from the ground and it made the target a little fuzzy. I could not pick out the 30cal holes at 300 yards on the shoot and see or the orange back ground, but my uncle could pick them out on the shoot and see but not the orange. If you took and made a circle around the hole in the orange with a black marker it then stood out and you could see it. We had our arms propped on the bed of a truck when looking thru these as they are heavy. After about 5 minutes of free handing them I was unable to keep them steady enough to see fine details I was looking for out past 100yds. The glass in these bino’s is great. It is very bright and clear and crisp. The image quality in my opinion was outstanding. The weight I didn’t care for and can be distributed to more of the center of the binos but they do have a 56mm objective. They started to feel better the more I used them and got more comfy with them. I think these would make great bean field bino’s. The lenses covers are staked/pushed in the objective end are a pain but you can pop them off and throw them in the box and put them back on later. The covers would just pop off with no warning and they also would get in the way of your hands while adjusting your grip to cover the heavy end. All in all I really enjoyed using them and they are really nice and easy to use. I would recommend them to my friends and family.
Thanks Chris for giving us the opportunity to try these items out!! |
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P&Z Firearms , Pro gun cleanings and gun repair and wood refinishing.
Ecclesiastes 10:2 |
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lucytuma
Optics Jedi Knight Joined: November/25/2007 Location: Wisconsin Status: Offline Points: 5389 |
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Thanks for the review BD, I've always thought that the Nikon monarch binos offered great value.
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"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not." - Thomas Jefferson
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Bigdaddy0381
MODERATOR Georgia peach Joined: February/27/2007 Location: Georgia Status: Offline Points: 13682 |
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Thanks. I do wish they were threaded for a tripod. It would help in glassing a big field from a box/blind stand.
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P&Z Firearms , Pro gun cleanings and gun repair and wood refinishing.
Ecclesiastes 10:2 |
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cheaptrick
MODERATOR Joined: September/27/2004 Location: South Carolina Status: Offline Points: 20844 |
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Thanks, Brandon. Well done.
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RONK
Optics Master Extraordinaire Joined: April/05/2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 3199 |
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Good report, Bigdaddy! Thank you.
They sound like very good binos, especially for the price!
I agree that they should be threaded for a tripod, though. That's a pretty big optical device to hold freehand!
Did you try them at dusk yet? Edited by RONK - February/27/2009 at 18:29 |
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Bigdaddy0381
MODERATOR Georgia peach Joined: February/27/2007 Location: Georgia Status: Offline Points: 13682 |
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Ronk, I have played with them at dusk and dawn. They work really well. I was able to see what before and after I would be able to legally shoot any game. I might have been able to see 5 yards with just my eyes but with the Nikons I was able to see 40+ and still see detail in limbs and mail boxes. In the snow I was looking thru them and to MY eyes everything was to bright for me to see fine detail but when the cloud cover was there they worked great I could see thru the woods for what seemed like miles. |
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P&Z Firearms , Pro gun cleanings and gun repair and wood refinishing.
Ecclesiastes 10:2 |
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RONK
Optics Master Extraordinaire Joined: April/05/2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 3199 |
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Great!
Thanks again, Brandon.
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Bigdaddy0381
MODERATOR Georgia peach Joined: February/27/2007 Location: Georgia Status: Offline Points: 13682 |
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yes sir!! |
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P&Z Firearms , Pro gun cleanings and gun repair and wood refinishing.
Ecclesiastes 10:2 |
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tahqua
MODERATOR Have You Driven A Ford Lately? Joined: March/27/2006 Location: Michigan, USA Status: Offline Points: 9042 |
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Nice report, Brandon.
I also agree with the tripod threads. These binos could benefit from that for long term glassing. Thanks, Doug |
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