I recently won the Minox BF 8x25 BR bino in Cameralands regular giveaway drawing.
I've always thought of these types of mini size binos were merely toys that couldn't possibly take the place of a set of full sized 8x42's.
From the minute I opened the box I began to be impressed by these binos. They are solid, with very nice twist up eyecups, a smooth but tight hinge, and an accurate focus wheel. They are small but they feel substantial in the hands.
The optics of this little Minox compares favorably to my Burris Fullfield II 8x42's and my Zen-Ray Vista 8x42's. While these are surely not close to top shelf binos they are still pretty good and they are full size. The clarity is every bit that of either of the big binos.
The part that I have really come to like about the Minox became apparent when I took these into the woods with me while archery hunting. I usually take the FFII's when hunting because they are significantly smaller than the Vistas. These Minox are in another league entirely as far as portability and handiness go. They fit easily into the pocket of my jacket rather than riding on my chest with a harness like the FFII's.
The Minox are also very nice to use with one hand which allows me to keep my bow in my other hand.
I've learned that using these small Minox binos increases the ease with which I glass while hunting and they give up VERY little optically compared to my full size models.
These Minox BF 8x25 BR's have earned a place in my hunting gear bag.
Here is the link to the binos on the Cameraland website.
http://www.cameralandny.com/optics/minox.pl?page=62033
