This has to be the best review i have seen for binoculars, thanks for a great review

This was hands down the best review I have ever seen on any product comparison. Thank You for sharing.

A rather long & comprehensive review of many binoculars, greatly appreciated. Have searched KZfaq on several occasions & not come across a review where a potential buyer got a lot of info. on what to look for in a good pair of binos. So congrats on attempting this not so easy task. I thought you compared & contrasted all the competing binos rather well. This was the class of binos I settled on for birding (primarily) but also great for quality images when travelling. I managed to check out the M7's in the shops & thought they were a quality pair though not able to view them outdoors. Because I wear glasses I needed a long eye relief as possible & so I settled on the GPO's Evolve 3x32's. Not had a chance to test them out in the field yet but hope they're at least the equal of the M7's. Look forward to your future reviews.

Very comprehensive and insightful review. So much choice it was very confusing for a beginner. This review really helped me narrow down the models. Tested the Nikons and the Opticrons at a local shop. As mentioned in the video incredibly similar and both excellent. I wear glasses and the Nikons were perfectly usable even with the shorter eye relief but the Opticrons felt better and won out in the end. Thank you for making the video.

Exactly the review vid that I was looking for. Well done. Have had a brilliant 10x42 Minox set for years and cheap olympus compacts for the pocket, but I'm looking for an 8x32 light weight set as a bit friendlier to the shoulders in the field than the >800g Minox. Although this is a few years old, the models are mostly still current. Saved me doing the spreadsheet myself !

Thank you very much indeed for this amazing review! Your detailed research and clear explanations are to be truly commended and indeed served as an invaluable reference point in coming to my own decision! I’ve opted for the Vortex Diamond Back 8x42 (wear specs) as these will afford best ease of use. Also the Vortex warranty won me over in comparison with the Viking Kestrel bins as I wanted the reassurance when negotiating the often wet and rocky Scottish Highlands. Many thanks once again for the great review!!

Really useful - your diligence and plain speaking is much appreciated

Awesome review and a great help to me in picking out binoculars. Thank you very much!

Thank you, that was very helpful. I'm buying my first pair of binoculars and didn't have a clue what to go for so have been binge watching KZfaq videos to try to figure out what I should be going for. I want them for when out walking or cycling just for generally looking at wildlife or anything interesting in the distance. Your sheer enthusiasm was pushing me to go for the Nikon Monarch 7s but I can't really justify the cost (although Jessops currently have them on offer for £249) and found a pair of the next best, the Viking Merlins, for £160 so bought those. I'm very pleased with them.

A great review. I have been dithering about getting the Viking Merlin or Kestrels, and this made my mind up. Thank you.

Bought the M7 7 years ago. Nice to watch your review and get confirmation of that buy

This appeared in my recommendations, no idea why (thanks KZfaq algorithm!) I’ve gone from not being interested in binoculars to searching t’internet for the best deal on monarchs 7s lol! Great review!

Excellent, very helpful review! Much more useful than a bunch of review videos by supposed professionals in this field.

That's a brilliant analysis John. I've been looking to buy binoculars and could see there is so much choice and wondered what would be the best ones for me. Your review helped me a lot. I'll probably save a bit more and go for the Nikon Monarch now. Thanks

I was totally at a loss. Thanks for this very useful, clear, complete and sincere review.

Thank you, John, that was brilliant. Very comprehensive. I've been going round in circles this week trying to decide on a pair of 8 x 32s for my hiking and nature-loving partner (her first binoculars). I haven't decided between the Kestrels and the Monarchs. I would prefer to buy a UK made product but am also tempted by the better performance of the Monarch. Thanks again!

Thank you for your great review of these 8x32 binoculars, John. Let me tell you why I am ordering the Opticron Travellers rather than the NIkon Monarch 7. I wear eyeglasses so it's all about the eye relief, and the 15.1 mm of the Nikons are just inadequate. I find that I need at least 17mm with my eyeglasses and the Opticrons have an excellent 19mm eye relief. Coupled with a 429 feet field of view that makes the Opticrons the best choice for me.

FYI - Vortex upgraded the model tested here and designate the new model as the Diamondback HD.

Opticron Traveller BGA ED 8 x 32 all the way for me. I highly recommend auditioning one if you get the chance, you won't be disappointed. Appreciations for the comprehensive review.

Absolutely highest level elite review style and delivery. This analysis approach can't be topped. The clear and logical decision structuring was as good as it gets! The amount of effort put into this presentation is much appreciated. THIS is how you do a detailed comparison review. You walk away feeling you have months of personal hands-on knowledge packaged into 45 minutes from a trusted expert that REALLY put these binoculars through their paces. Thanks a lot! 10+ out of 10.

Great and insightful review. Thanks a million!

Aweome job! I am in the market right now for a solid, high quality pair of this type of binoculars in these price points. I loves your honest ''I actually have experience with these'' type of review. There are so, so many videos out there where someone is basically just reading directly, word for word off of a product description that they cut and paste off the companies website. I really appreciate the hard work and long hours spent testing and breaking it all down. After watching I now have a truilly informed mindset to go out there and find what is best for me and what I am looking for. This isn't telling me what to buy or sell me anything. It's a real review based on experience. It's been super refreshing to come accross a video like this. I wish all reviews could be a 10 out of 10. Thanks a lot! :)

Love this size of these binoculars. They are light and super easy to carry. They are my go-to size for everyday walks and hikes. I have the Nikon 7 in 8x and love them. Thanks for the video.

Great review thanks, thinking of getting the viking Merlin with my budget. What size eye shield do I need to buy??

Great video. As a birder, for me, if I was to go 8x32 I would want another pair of binoculars for low light conditions, ie. overcast, dust and dawn, and the woods, or worst any combination there of. Under bright light conditions the 8x32s are great, but I find they suffer otherwise.

4:34 Nice catch. I'm considering this range too but leaning towards cheaper given the expected amount of use even though I spent more on camera/lenses.

A great in-depth review, if only everyone went into this much detail. You can find bins of equivalent IQ of the Celestron nature for around £35 - £30 in what look like rebranded forms, at which price they become great value, almost as a disposable item. One question, why choose such a small objective lens? The difference in brightness of image at 42mm is worth the extra ££ if IQ is more important than weight / size. Personally I'd choose a 10x over 8x too, and live with a tiny bit of CA at £200, but then I have a bag full of Canon L glass so if I really wanted to grab a quality image I'd shoot it, but that's just my preference of course.

I was for the Diamondback in the beginning. This is such an awsome Review, You helped me with my choice. I ordered the Kestrel. Many Thanks 👍

Outstanding review my man

By the way, having gone through the process of choosing a pair of binoculars, the best advice I can give to others is: find a well-stocked store in your area and go there to try out as many pairs as you can. I visited a store in Sheffield (Harrisons) and tried many pairs of Viking and Opticron binoculars. Some I instantly disliked. In fact, some of the cheaper Opticron pairs felt like they'd dropped out of a Christmas cracker, they were awful. However, to be fair, some of the more expensive options were excellent. Another thing is, the size and weight difference between some 8 x 32 and 8 x 42 pairs is very slight in some cases (for example, the weight difference between Viking Peregrine 32s and 42s is only 81 grams!). Therefore, unless you're a keen hiker like myself and want very light binoculars, you may prefer the 42s. Also, you can see for yourself the difference between cheap, mid-range, and expensive binoculars. For example, trying out the £200 Viking Kestrels, £240 Viking Merlins and £320 Viking Peregrines was a revelation and I could really see what I would be paying for. In the end, I went for the 8 x 32 Viking Peregrines because they felt right for me. Please don't blindly buy a pair of binoculars online and hope for the best - definitely visit a store to make sure you get the right ones.

Greatly appreciate your video! As a glasses wearer, my biggest concern is eye-relief. Which of these has the largest (or longest) eye-relief? Cheers.

Great comparison! What do You think about Viking Azura 8x32? They have very wide field of view (142/1000m). Are they a good choice around £120 price point?

Very professional review! Liked and SUBSCRIBED

Nice review! Are the Vortex Diamondback a HD model? As from other reviews that (recent?) upgrade changed the game a little...

A couple of very good manufacturers with fine examples in the price point are Athlon and Maven. I like 10x42 size but my favorites are 8x32 for the field of view and the ease of wearing around the neck for a walk. A 10x42 binocular gets uncomfortable real quick! Other than lens clarity from edge to edge and field of view, the depth of field is very important to me. I own over 20 pair of pretty decent binoculars from the high end to the mid range with a few cheaper outliers. I have gifted at least 10 pair because I had way too many. Using charts are how I used to judge them, now I just eyeball them and I can tell pretty quick if they are quality. I have new pair coming next week. I can't seem to stop buying the damn things, lol.

Hi, I’m a novice and looking to buy my first pair. I’m stuck between the viking kestrel 8x32 or the vortex diamondback 8x32 which would you recommend??? Thanks

It's a shame that John has disappeared from KZfaq following this truly excellent review. Most other binocular reviews on YT are basically just people reading out the specs of various pairs. Some, like 'Best Binocular Reviews' dress it all up with stylish videos but they just waffle and don't actually tell you anything pertinent. European company 'Optics Trade' release 'reviews' which are hilariously monotonous and boring! One exception is the American guy who runs the 'Optica Exotica' channel. He is good although as the name suggests, he tends to review generally high-end stuff. Italian channel 'Binomania' is also good, but obviously you'll need to speak the lingo, although he does caption some of his stuff in English. The trouble is, a lot of people who do these reviews are in the trade so they're compromised already & probably find it tricky to offer genuine criticisms as it may not go down too well.

Great review, this helped a lot. What do you think about Steiner Skyhawk 8x32?

great catch.and very informative

Where is the spreadsheet I’d like to use it to compare

Another review found that the Kestrel's focusing was a bit vague. What is your view?

Hi, how you find the nikon P3 prostaff 8x30 or the Eden 8x30 HD? Thanks.

Hello,those eyelids that you had on the Nikon Monarch .Where have you bought those?

Well done sir, you've sold me on the nikons

Small correction: the vortex Diamondback do have tripod adapter. Great video anyway!

Thank you. I am impressed.

thank you for most comprehensive review on utube.would you be able to review any compact minox? there are many modern designs in various price ranges from this company with traditions.

Thank you for such a good review, have just pushed the boat out and bought some Merlin's. I am really looking forward to using them

Binoculars in this video from high to low price (left to right): 1. Nikon Monarch 7 (Contains ED) 2. Opticron Traveller BGA ED 3. Viking Merlin (Contains ED) 4. Viking Kestrel (Contains ED) 5. Hawke Endurance ED 6. Vortex Diamondback 7. Celestron Traveller 8. Opticron Discovery 9. Celestron Nature DX

Trying to work out now if I can afford a pair of Opticron Travellers and a pair of bigger ones for astronomy (since 8x32 isn't a good size for stargazing).

Excellent review John. I'm in the market for 8/10 x 42 - so if you fancy doing a repeat review for the larger objective lens - that would be great! ;-) As an aside - I'm curious: did you buy all those binos in order to make this review vid' and, if so, how will you recoup your outlay? I guess you can sell them on second hand, but you'll still be out of pocket, no?

I'd look for the GPO Passion ED 8x32 if your budget is up to $500! According to Optics Trend (here on KZfaq) it's made out of magnesium and has amazing optical quality. No other binoculars of this price range can keep up with the GPO Passion ED 8x32.

I have a Swarovski NL Pure 8x42 and a Zeiss Victory Pocket 8x25. Do i need a 10x30/32? Or better go for 12x42?

Are you ever tempted to sell them all and get some ELs? Or do you think they’re not worth the price?

Great review 👍🏻 do another one on £300 upwards ...

Thank you Soo much for all your help and time you took in helping me decide... It's either; Monarchs 7 Diamondback Or Vikings

Hi, I really appreciate your work, one of the best reviews for this category of 30 / 32mm binoculars. I have had the Nikon M7 8 × 30 for a couple of years and consider it as exceptional, magnificent, extraordinary in every aspect. Now I would like to take a compact pair of binoculars for my daughter (10 years old) and I was thinking of the Vortex diamondback HD 8 × 32, but obviously I will also use it on certain occasions and I would not want to cry in comparison with the Monarch 7. And so marked the difference between the two in terms of sharpness, brightness, chromatism etc? I'd like to know your opinion, thank you

What about Carson or Vanguard? Both ED, I'm thinking about purchasing one or the other...

Very useful review set. I've been looking at 8x32s with the same budget range. The Opticron Traveller ED wins over the Nikon for me. The main reason is the minimum IPD of 51mm for the Opticron vs 56mm on the Nikon. It makes the former accessible to younger children and even some teen girls/women with smaller IPDs, an option you lose going bigger than 32s. It's otherwise very difficult to choose between the two!

Would have been great to see you compare the Viking Peregrine with the Monarchs. That's where I'm at, and can't decide.

What a video , thanks for all the effort , I was going to get the Hawke 8x32 but thought I would look at a few clips and reviews on KZfaq , I have now just purchased a pair of Nikon monarch 7 from Jessops with a 60pound discount , paid 259 with free postage , looking forward to using them , now going to try to get flip down shades

Incredible review ! I would love to see an updated version of this now in '21. Thank you so much John for sharing. I'm currently researching 8x32's for our fire dept. and really need this great information. Where can I find your spreadsheet ?

Great reviews 👌

why not the Wingspan 8x32 ?

Hi there, what do you think of zeiss terra ed 8x32..

Apparently it's hard to get Viking optics if you're in the US!

Just bought the Merlin’s so hope your right

awesome, real review. really helpful. made me laugh as well.

Super helpful review thank you! Is there is reason you have gone for 8x32 rather than 8x42?

Why some are sharp in the center but getting a little blurry in the edges ? I think this is depends of the company yes ? And its normal

I really want you to just continue with more expensive binoculars and say how much better they are haha

Fantastic review... Still out of my price range... I'm going to go for nikon 8x42 Pro staff.... I'm hoping they are good quality...

Where is that Google Doc? Could you add it to the description please?

Thank you for your review, John! Due to your recommendation I bought the NIKON Monarch M7 8x30 - and am VERY happy with it! All worked as described by you. However, your review video could be improved. Links to the binocs you reviewed. Video: on my screen you are often pointing to binocs in the foreground which are not visible to me…and lastly.. spreadsheet? what spreadsheet? 😊

Fantastic review.. Very informative

thanks for a brilliant review. Is exactly what I was looking for and helped me to choose the nikons which I have just ordered as a result. Stay safe god bless

May I have the link to the spreadsheet?

excellent and informative

Excellent review.

How about some closeups of the binoculars?

Brilliant, more please..

This video has got me in to trouble!! I think I've got a Mental obsesses disorder i haven't long bought the hawke ed 8x32 and the vortex diamondback HD 8x32 today i received my monarch 7 8x30 i tested them against the others and yes they are definitely better 👌I have promised my self im going to stop at the monarch 7 ...just like to say this guy is spot on with his review 👍

After watching this Review, I went and purchased the Nikon Monarch 7. Boy, what a disappointment. I could never get the Binoculars to adjust properly without seeing the dreaded black flashes on both sides while viewing. I tried adjusting the eye cups, diopter, etc.. never worked. I know you said it took you quite a while to get them to properly adjust. Well, this is a flaw. One should not need to fine tune these to get an impossible, ( in my situation), proper adjustment. Back they go. And even if I ever did get them adjusted, it would be hard to let anyone else use these I fear that I need to go through the process all over again. No thanks.

Voice sounds just like the actor that played Nate in Ted Lasso.

I wear glasses but still the nikons for me as I never keep my glasses on when I look for the binoculars anyway I just focus and go from there the glasses just get in the way.

Was looking for Leica

You forgot the superior eye relief of the Opticron 19 mm compared to the Nikon’s 15.1. Nikon’s almost unusable for people with glasses but with the Opticron you would get the full field of view. Quite a big fact to leave out.

I think im gonna buy the merlin on amazon for £199. Hope i wont be disappointed. :-)

Diamonbacks 8 x 42 have a tripod adapter. Not sure about the 8 x 32

As an eye glass user, the FIRST thing I look at is eye relief value. The Nikons only offer 15mm which is pretty awful for my use. I really love Pentax 8X32 which offer 22mm eye relief. The Opitcron travelers is better than the Nikons at 19mm, but still not ideal. That is the one thing truly missing in your review which is otherwise excellent. Several of the ones you reviewed are actually not available here in the US.

Tkank you for your help with comparing those binoculars, helped me a lot. 🙏God Bless You and May the Holy Mary protects You and Your Family🙏

Nice review of so many models. I’ve discovered that not all binos with super duper specs deliver in regard to glare and internal reflection management. Point them at a bright light source at night to look for internal relections, diffraction spikes and glare. Better still, turn on your iphone torch at its highest setting in a darkened room and focus the bins on the light. Compare the images they present. I’ll bet good money you’ll get some very surprising results. Glare in strongly backlit scenes is annoying and not all binoculars are not created equal in this regard. Good luck!

Hi John just ordered a pair of Avalon 10×42 PRO HD Binoculars before i watched your video have i made a mistake. i must admit I've not done as much research as i feel i should of done

Very food review. Vortex now have Diamondback HD with ED glass, does that make the new model better than Hawke ? I am undecided between the two.

I'd pick one of the Vikings out of all of these.

Viking Peregrine 8x32

What a guy to have a drink with

On the verge of buying Hawke Frontier EDX.... but now i have doubt in my mind..... Nikon M7 better?

Find a used Nikon 8x32 SE.....those roofers don't measure up in the view

You buy all these yourself?????