Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Minox HG 8.5x43 initial impressions

VERY nice glass for the money. Just a couple of issues with the fit:

1) They just barely open wide enough for my wide eye spacing. Could be wider just a bit.

2) Eye cups could be longer. Fully extended I have to still hold away from my eyes to get a clean view.

Haven't played much, just initial observations. Definitely points towards test/try before you buy suggestions.

I think that I'll be OK with the interpupillary measurement, but would really like a thicker eyecup to get me further away. Any suggestions?

Since I do not wear glasses they could be pretty thick without causing issue.

I really do like these units and would like to make them work. The other alternative would be to try the 8x33's with 16mm eye relief versus 18mm assuming the cup extension is the same.

Santa (with a little help from his friend Doug) brought a set just like yours to Riley last year and we have been looking through them a lot... I cannot imagine the eyecups being an issue. Holding them now and looking... it surprises me they could be a problem for some.

But I am one that cannot use any Swaro bin of size because they do not close tightly enough...
art

The eyecups are adjustable, have you adjusted them all the way out?

Usually the eyepiece at maximum extension pretty well matches the maximum eye relief for the binocular. But like 458 said, bu sure they are adjusted all the way out. Typically a lower power glass will have a little more eye relief, so the 8.5 will probably have as much as the HG will give you. You can maybe use a ring cut from a piece of bicycle inner tube to extend the distance on the eye cup. Maybe a slight switch of the way you hold the binocular will work, as it does for some. The typical switch is to place the top of the eye cup against your upper eye socket and slightly tilt the binocular. It sounds trickier than it really is. If that binocular is compatibale with you, the adjustment will become second nature. Alternatively, if the fault is not overly serious, you might find you simply adjust to it over time.

Yes I adjusted full extension. I've found that like Steve said if I put them up to my eye socket I can make them work. I guess I was being picky. I'd like to bring them in closer to shut out more external light.

What I'm saying is that the eye relief is good plenty and then some. Would be better for me with less eye relief.

Looking at this further I think they do open plenty wide enough, it's just the side light distraction that was bothering me. Some sort of flared eye cup would be nice. Then again I suppose they'd fog up if they came close to sealing.

It is not too hard to fabricate a winged eye shield with a half moon shaped piece of bicycle inner tube and a thin band cut from a tube. It works, but looks like you gave your binocular to Buck Rogers, and makes the ocular too big around for the rain guard to work right.

I do not know if there any intermediate eye cup stops on the Minox. Another thing you can do is get some O-rings, put a couple around the ocular under the eye cup and screw the eye cup back untill it contacts the O-ring. That sometimes works too.