I finally took a drive this evening and found some deer, and looked at something besides stop signs, license plates, and the neighbors house.
This is not a very in depth review, as I was short on time, and just resting my tripod on my leg and the binocs on my window. I was very happy with my initial views. I was looking at deer from 150 yards out to a good 1/2 mile, and was shocked at the amount of detail I could make out on the close deer. We're talking splits in ears and eyelashes. The long range stuff was impressive too. I was easily able to pick out deer before they made it out of the edges at a 1/2 mile. I was able to find them with my 7x40 zeiss edf's, but probably would have missed them had I not known they were there. I was looking into some fairly heavy cover and bare ground.
I looked through 4 different sets of glass today- granted none with the magnification that the minox have, but some pretty good glass. (Swaro slc's- 2 different pair, zeiss edf 40, and some brunton epoch). I thought they were as sharp as the Swaro, and as clear as my zeiss, and better than th epochs. Now, I wil freely admit that I love my zeiss edf- I wouldn't trade them for anything, they just work for me. I also feel that the epochs are really good, not quite slc's, but very good for the deals that can be found. I didn't see any runaway winners in the group.
I just think these minox 15 x 58 are going to be a perfect fit for my style of hunting. I haven't looked though a pair of vortex, of any style, but I don't think I would trade for the money. This was a great value, and I am glad I had the opportunity to grab a pair before they were all sold.
As the weather breaks, I will start shooting again. I will really be able to get a feel for them when I start looking for bullet holes down range. I'll try to offer up a little more feedback when that happens.
