Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Minox 6.5X32 vs. the Leupold 6X30 Yosemite, and some 8's.

What I did in this comparision is test them for their compatibility as short range, heavy cover binoculars. Some evaluation as to their overall usefulness, but with the emphasis on their "look through cover" capabilities.
First, the usual quick 280 yd. stack test. The 6.5 IF's came out a bit better than the 6X30 Yosemites, but not alot. Not quite as good as my 8X32 Nikon LX's, but very close. At least in this rather casual comparision. I'd rate them closer to the LX's than the Yosemites. A virtual tie with my 8X43 Pentax SP's.
Hand held however, it's a different story. From standing, the Minox are easily better than the Yosemites. Why ? Because they weigh a full 25 ozs. vs. the 19 ozs. for the Yosemites. They are better for close cover work than the Nikon LX too. Why ? More later.
The real testing I did was to check depth of focus of them vs. the other binoculars I have. Here's how that came out.
The Minox 6.5X32, when focused at 32 yds., had a depth of foucus (dof) of 19-55 yds. With a 76 yd. focus, the dof was 54-188 yds. plus. And with a 280 yd. focus, the figures were 78- infinity.
The Yosemites were pretty close. At 32 yds. focus, they were in focus from 14-56 yds. At 76 yds. they were in at 54-188 yds, plus. And from a 280 yd. focus, I got 129 yds to infinity.
The Pentax was different as were all of the 8X bins. At a 32 yd. focus, the dof was 23-50 yds. With a 76 yd. focus, the dof was 60-150 yds plus. And with a 280 yd. focus, it was 129- infinity.
The Leica 8X42 BA were even better. With a 32 yd. focus, the dof was 21-60 yds. With a 76 yd. focus, it was 38-188 yds. plus. With a 280 yd. focus, it was 76- infinity.
The big difference, as I've suspected,were the binoculars, which when I bought them would be the best for this work. The Nikon LX 8X32. With a 32 yd. focus, the range was 27-49 yds. With a 76 yd. focus, the range was 60-134 yds. And with a 280 yd. focus, the range was a 129- infinity. Much more critical than any of the others.
Why is all of this important ? Well, two things come into play here. One is image shake. Not a big factor when glassing at the shorter ranges, but it is a factor which you don't want. Makes it harder to see really fine details when looking through cover and it takes longer to pick them out. All of this adds to eye strain.
The other is the need to readjust the focus of the binocular to see those fine details. Odviously the greater depth of focus, the less you have to do this. This factor, I've found is even more important than image shake.
Based on everything I understand at present, the best of the truly all around binoculars tested here is the Leica BA 8X42. Works better than all of them at the longest ranges. That's because it's the heaviest (34 ozs.) and as sharp as any of them. But, for a short range wooods glass, I find it simply too heavy to carry around my neck all day. If I carry it over my left hip, crosswise, it works, but it takes alot of movement - something I do not like doing much of in close cover - and it takes alot more effort to get into action. So as an ideal woods glass, it has that against it.
That leaves the rest of them.
Frankly, I hadn't considered,or tried out,the Pentax SP much. But it should do quite well. Better for wooods hunting than the LX for a couple reasons. The chief one being it's extra depth of focus.
The Yosemnite is a very close second as a woods glass. For the guy that wants a good bino that he can carry all day and hardly know it's there, it has much to offer. At $80-$90 a piece, do yourself a favor and get one. If day long comfort in carrying it is the prime factor in deciding which is best for you, then this binocular would be no. one.
The Nikon LX 8X32 I like very much. When I need a long range, very light glass, that is the one I pick. But, as a woods glass, I'm rating it dead last.
That leaves the Minox 6.5-32 IF. I rate it No. One as a woods glass. And not far off as an excellent,all around choice unless you need to glas way out thereon the order of 1.5 miles or more. Might even work prety well theretoo. But I suspect the more powerful 8's will have an edge there.
But for woods hunting where the ranges are on the order of 30-40 yds. to not more than 100, it is the best I've seen. Less image shake than the Yosemite 6X30's. Best of all, no eye strain from refocusing it. Almost all of the time, based on using both in the wooded area around my home, it just isn't necessary. If I set the focus for say 50-60 yds., it's good right down to the point where it isn't needed up close and plenty good enough all the way out to over 100 yds. If you might need to reset the focus, a couple of memeorized settings are all you need to make it show you what you need to see plenty well enough.
This is a binocular that ain't going back to Doug due to any form of disappointment.
I might add that the rubber, fold down eye cups might not make eye glass wearers happy. Don't know as I don't use them. I suspect the carrying strap could be a bit wider for more comfortable carrying.
I suspect the guys that really dig the 7X42 bins may well find this one really appealing. For $179 bucks, I think you owe it to yourselves to try one out. E

Nice review E, thank you.

Even though I hunt mostly in wooded country, I find myself looking accross clearcuts a lot as well as closer ranges so the Minox don't often go hunting. Maybe that should change. The little Minox is my truck bino where the focus is never adjusted and I just grab them and look at stuff. They're pretty good for the boat, too.

Thanks, E, for the detailed review and your surprising conversion to individual focus

Very nice review, Eremicus. Thank you for taking the time to share this with us.

Roy

But they weren't the same exact power.

I haven't done any real long range stuff with it yet. Or the Yosemite. So I can't be sure just what it will do. Alot would depend on the ranges involved. In general, a really sharp binocular, and this one is in my book, does quite well if it's heavy enough. This one has enough weight too, I suspect. Still, it wouldn't be my choice for those long 1.5 mile glassing jobs. Even the best of the 8's, like the heavy Leica, are straining to do that job. The heavy 12X50's and the tripod mounted, really sharp binos are the best tools for that, odviously. E

I'm glad after dismissing IF binoculars on every thread you finally caved and bought a pair. I agree, they're quite useful as a woods bino . . . and appreciate the writeup.

I totally concur with cfran here E. You were overdue to try the Minox 6.5 IFs out. And to read that you too have found favor with them might mean that other great IF bins might also float your boat! Yowser!

You're right too about the 7x42 business. Except I went the other way having acquired the Minox first before the Swaros. They're both great glass.

I dunno about that. With more magnification, and the need for the very best in image clarity, that would tend to cut down on the depth of focus of any really good IF binocular. Might or might not be a good combination.
One more thing which I haven't seen in a post. The Minox came with a little tag indicating that they are filled with Argon, not Nitrogen. That would tend to do two things. The larger molicules (Sp ?) would tend not to leak out as readily as the smaller nitrogen ones, and it is even more inert than Nitrogen. A nice effort to keep them fog proof. E

Good review, I'm happy to have others confirm my positive opinion on that little 6x30 Yosemite. My wife and I are heading to Alaska next week for a two week vacation and I have been trying to decide which two of my five pair of bins to take. I think I got it figured out, the 8x42 Ultravids and the little Yosemite, my 10x24 SEs, 8x42 Pentax DCF and 7x50 Fujinon MTRC stay behind.

Nice review,thanks for all the work.

I agree that the little Minox binos are great woods glass,I focused mine at about 45 yards for my woods hunting and with my eyes they are very quick to use from 25 yards to 300 or so.

I have a pair of 6x Yosemites ordered to try.


Britt

Suggest you try focusing them for about 50-60 yds. That seems to be the best compromise for those ranges to me. E

70 yards for me and as I mentioned earlier twist up a rubber band around each IF adjustment and they'll never move on their own - perfect setup if you just hunt the woods . . .

Thanks for the reminder on the rubber bands. I've got some nice thick ones for that job.
One thing I didn't mention is that their adjustments didn't strike me as overly easily moved. The focus wheel on the Yosemites moves much more easily. Like I said, focusing with the bin up to your eyes is not something you want to do very much if you can avoid it. One of the big advantages of these 6-6.5X binoculars is that you need not do that as often as most of the 8X models. E

Thanks for the excellent review. I am interested in a pair of dedicated woods glasses as increasingly I hunt in thick timber. I have never held a pair of either the Minox 6.5's nor the Yosemite's in hand, which leads to my super dumb question.

I understand that IF means individual focus, which I assume means you have to turn each eyepiece seperately on the Minox to focus it. Is that correct so far? If it just means you focus one eyepiece independently and then both together, the rest of this post is irrelevant.

If each eyepiece has to be focussed seperately each time you refocus, how do you focus in and out, closer and farther, to see things in heavy cover close to you? I use binoculars to screen out irelevant brush and focus on game hidden in it very close to me. Like many of us here, to do that I look through the binos while turning the center focus back and forth. The question is: "How do you do that with individual focus?" Maybe you all covered that in some previous thread.

FWIW, my most recent use of binoculars in such circumstances was blood trailing a black bear in cover where I could see at most ten feet ahead at times. I would focus up that close to see which way his blood trail went. I didn't want to be surprised by any sudden turns to the side that I didn't see until I got to where he turned. I've focused on elk at closer than 40 feet in such brush, deer even closer. On the recent bear, when I got to a spot where I could see 40 feet, I focussed ahead till I saw a small patch of bear fur. I sat and watched it till I decided with some relief that the bearer of it was deceased. But I knew where he was, dead or alive.

Maybe the depth of field described at 32 yards elminates the need to focus in and out at closer ranges? One of my tests of carry binos is how close to me I can focus a sharp image, and I like 10 feet or closer because I use them that close sometimes.

I need to find an optics store and try them out side by side. Meanwhile, I will let my ignorance hang out here in confidence that you can remedy it.

Excellent review E! Thanks for taking the time to do it.

Bill

E,

Good review.
Your words above are a perfect description of what Northern Michigan hunting is like. And, I have a pair of those Minox 6.5x32's that I like a lot.

The way you focus an IF binocular is to close one eye and look through the other. Turn the focus ring until the image is sharp. Then do the other side the same way. Then you simply use it.
I don't know about the super short distance needs. If the depth of focus isn't very long at those ranges, or long enough, then I'd say the Yosemite is a better choice. I would also consider the Leupold Katmai in 6X32.
The distances I've always needed to glass were very seldom under 20-25 yds. Even with the image not perfect, at 60 ft., a 6X puts you at 10 feet. Plenty close enough to see the details I'd need to see.
If you really needed to do very short ranges, I'd set that bin for a good average distance, and memorize the settings for the longer distances. I found that that works well with this bin and avoids the eye strain of refocusing while viewing through the bin. Which, BTW, gets pretty mean if you are working at really short ranges. An IF might be better for that reason alone. I'm not sure but that's an educated guess.
One more thing. Some binoculars will not focus down to 10 feet. If you select a 6-6.5X to try out, make sure they will do this. E

Eremicus, if you want a little tip on IF bino's, here it is. Instead of closing one eye when focusing the opposite ocular lense, instead, place a lense cover over the objective lense not being focused and keep both eyes open during focusing. Not sure why, but it increases visual acuity. You can thank me later.

Roy

E;

Friend, that is EXACTLY why I wanted you to try them out. Hella good glass for less than $200, by far.

Thanks for taking the time to look into them, through them, and to compare them. I know I dote heavily on my little Minox 6.5s....