Hi guys,
I recently noticed that Doug, our Camera Land New York sponsor, was having a blow-out sale of Minox 6.5X32 and 9.5X42 binoculars. The prices were spectacular at $274.99 and $299.99, respectively. Optics are like most other things in life, however, cheap doesn't always make a great value.
Most of my hunting in the past has been in woodlands and my binoculars tend to be seven or eight power. The last few years, I've found myself hunting the prairie and I'm seeing the wisdom of "stepping it up a notch" and going for a bit higher power optics. Anyway, I truly saw the need for adding a pair of the Minox 9.5X42 to my arsenal of optics.
As most of you know, I recently had extensive shoulder surgery and I simply cannot shoot a rifle for a spell. The addition of the binoculars created an excellent opportunity to do
something gunny; I could test the new binoculars against my old ones and help my fellow Campfire members.
Minox, of course, is Leica's "companion line." In marketing Minox binoculars, Leica addes the manufactturing ability and the R&D of Leica technology into a lesser-priced unit. Obviously, this adds to Leica's market-share, as well.
As I stated, before, I now own the 9.5X42s. Let's take a look at my unit; I'll share the good, the bad.....and there is no ugly.
My 9X42s are a wonderful size and are not bulky in the slightest. The dimensions are 6.5"X5.1"X2.2" and the weight is about twenty-four ounces. Just right, in my opinion.
The exterior finish is a dull-green armored and the surfaces are ridged and very slightly "grippy." In other words, the armor is just soft enough to give the user a great grip and to resist noise in the bush. The unit comes with two attached objective lens caps and a common eyepiece cover that slides on the binocular neck-strap. The Minox binoculars also come with a nice protective case....it looks and feels like fine leather and prolly is.
The Minox binoculars are filled with argon gas, so that they will be fog-proof in the field. The exterior seals (screw-type) are obviously of high quality. I reversed the binoculars, to get a good look at the interior design. Viewed from this angle, the manufacturer has taken exacting care to create precision light baffles and screw-type lens seats. The finish of the inside of the binoculars is absolutely superb.
The eyecups are flexible rubber and they fold down for use with glasses. Interestingly, the common eyepiece cover will not fit over the folded eyecups, so guys who wear glasses will either have to go without a cover or will have to find a cover that will fit. Obviously, if the user does not wear glasses, this is not an issue.
Personally, being an old redneck mountain hunter, I usually build my own "eyepiece slider" from a 12"X12" piece of deer hide that protects the
entire binocular from snow, rain and environmental nasties. The deer hide cover flips instantly out of the way, when you need your optics, and it protects the lenses far better than the new-fangled stuff (my opinion only).
I tested the Minox binoculars against the rest of my stable of optics. Those include: a pair of Leica 8X32 BRF Geovids, a pair of 1950-something Bausch & Lomb 7X35 Zephyrs, a pair of Optolyth 7X42s and my Swarovski SLC 8X30Bs.
It would be good to note here that, even though the B&L Zephyrs were produced over fifty years ago, they were the "industry standard" for many years. Basically, new binoculars were always measured against the old B&Ls. This practice continues even today and the Zephyrs are still held in reverence in optic circles. Kind of like pre-'64 Winchester Model 70s, the Zephyrs may not currently be the finest of their kind, but they are a standard of excellence to be measured against.
Not being a professional binocular tester, my testing was somewhat simplistic. Basically, I used all five pairs of binoculars under various lighting conditions with one question in mind: Which are the sharpest, clearest and handiest? In the end, however, this is the truest test of a binocular.....How well can I see?
The binoculars were used off my deck in the mid-day, late afternoon and dusk. They were used one-handed, two-handed and off of a rest. The test
always kept in mind that the binoculars would be used in hunting conditions, which are seldom ideal.
Here are the results: Leica is still Leica and my 8X42s blew the Minoxs out of the water as far as clarity, definition and flat field. Hey, the extra $1,500 for the Leicas buys you a heck of a lot of optics. But then, I truly didn't expect the Minox binoculars to
equal the Leicas.
I will have to say that the 9.5X42 Minox binoculars were perilously close to my Swarovski SLC 8X30B binos. I tried for several hours to decide whether my five-year old Swarovskis or the Minoxs were more crisp and finally decided that the Swarovskis had it by a whisker (not a nose). The Swarovskis had a slightly flatter field, as well. Considering that the Swarovski glasses are word-renowned and expensive, this is a great testiment for the Minox binoculars.
By the way, I won the 7X30 Swarovskis by killing an unfortunate prairie dog at 684 yards with a witnesed "single declared shot" (no sighters) at a Swarovski-sponsored writers hunt. Yeah, I was using my Little Blue .223 Ackley, fireforming 40-grain Winchester Supreme ammo. The prairie dog was going to die that day, I just happened to make the lucky shot, winning the Swarovskis in the process. But I digress, let's get back to the binocular test. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
Now here is the interesting part. The Minox binoculars are much clearer, sharper and flatter of field than my B&L 7X35 Zephyrs. There was simply no contest, the Minox 9.5X42s were the finer binocular.
I have long cherished my Optolyth 7X42s and often grab them when I head out the back door. This is a little-known brand of binocular that has great optics and is known for its lightness. Frankly, the Minox 9.5s absolutely killed the Optolyths.
So there you have it, Steve's absolutely non-scientific binocular test. I have no idea what the "retail" price of the Minox binoculars is, but in comparing them to others, they look to me like a $700 set of optics. Obviously, at a price of under $300, they are an excellent, perhaps unexcelled, value.
Oh, before I leave you, I have to add two interesting things. The eye relief of the Minox binoculars is stated to be 19m/m. For the hunter who wears no glasses, the eyecups establishes the eye relief and there is no problem. I DO wear eyeglasses and I kept seeing two blue crescents in the bottom of my field of view. Then, I noticed that the nose-pieces of my glasses had been slightly crushed backwards. So, I took my jeweler's pliers and got the nose-pieces correctly adjusted. The result, of course, was that I could see better through my glasses and the blue crescent went away. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
Nineteen millimeters of eye relief is unusual in the binocular world. Most binoculars have from ten to fifteen millimeters of eye relief, so eyeglass wearers will really enjoy the extra eye relief that the Minox binoculars give you (if your glasses are correctly adjusted <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />).
The final thing is the individual focus adjustment. Man, it's been a long time since I've used individual focus binos and I can see why many purists rave about them. Basically, you cover one eyepiece and focus the other at a little over one-hundred yards. Then, repeat for the other barrel. This adjustment gives you a perfect focus from less to one-hundred yards to infinity. The "Set and Forget" principle really works. That's really cool.
OK guys, that's about it. I'm totally open to questions and I'm sure Doug will be monitoring this thread; so ask away.
Steve
![[Linked Image from monstermuleys.com]](https://www.monstermuleys.com/adimages/Camera-Land-728x90-120222.gif)
