I am looking for a set of waterproof binoculars as my best ones are not.
Nikon Monarch in 8x36 and the Pentax DCF HRC 8x42 are currently available at about the same price and seem to offer all that I need. I am not able to find both locally in order to test drive them.
Has anybody been able to check out both of these models or offer me any advice on which to choose?
Many Thanks
Steve
I always prefer 8x42 somehow with Nikon or Pentax though field of view varies a bit, in favor of 8x36.
In Bushnell, I am quite able to use 8x32, so I prefer it to the 8x42 Legend there.
I have the 8x36 Monarchs. Just going by the specs, the biggest difference between them and the Pentax 8x42 HRc model seems to be the size. The weight is similar (19 vs 22 oz), but the dimensions of the Monarchs is 4.9 x 5.1" (w x h) versus 5.2 x 5.8" for the Nikons. Although specs are sometimes misleading, you would expect the Nikons to be larger, and that is what the specs say too. The Monarchs look and feel like somewhat compact binocs, whereas I'll bet the Nikons look and feel full-sized.
Another issue is eyerelief (if you wear glasses) - 21 on the Pentax, 17 on the Monarchs. Here the Pentax seem to be better, but there is such a thing as too much eyerelief. I have an older pair of Pentax 8x28 DCF MP binocs, which have a 20 eyerelief and I find that I have blackout problems unless the binocs are perfectly positioned against my glasses. When I got the Monarchs I was hoping that the somewhat less eyerelief of 17 would solve this problem and still allow me to see the whole field of view. Indeed it did. So for me and my particular glasses, 17 is a perfect eyerelief and 20 or higher is too much.
The Monarchs are also somewhat less expensive.