I found a pair of Nikon Monarch 10x56 on Ebay that were second hand. I got them for $150-175 shipped to the house. They were in good condition and while they are not Swarovski EL 10x50's they answer the eye relief problem and questions I have.

I currently have the following binoculars.

Nikon Monarch 10x56 (usable, and an 80% solution for an eye glass wearer.

Minox 8x56 BF. I am not sure these are available in America I bought them in Germany. They are more usable than the 10x56 Nikons, and about an 85% solution for an eyeglass wearer.

Vortex 8x42 Talon HD These have sufficient eye relief for me for glasses, but are way less usable than the 8x56 Minox. I am not sure, but I think they have 15mm worth of eye relief.

Vortex 10x42 Talon HD, this is where the wheels fall off the bus. I am not sure if these even have 15mm worth of eye relief. They are clear, but man does the tunneling suck.

Bushnell Engage 10x50, a bit better eye relief and image quality than the Vortex Talons, but not as good as the 56mm binoculars.

I have yet to find a solution to my problem that cost less than $1800. I know I need really good quality glass, with big objectives and a ton of eye relief. So far the best I have tried has been the Swarovski 10x50 EL, and Swarovski 8x42 EL. The Leica is very good in the 10x42 Geovid. The Leica Trinovid is not so good.

I'll keep looking but now I have a pair of 10x56's that are workable, and I am happy.

Price Drop Announcement

The Athlon Cronus 8.5x42 ED & Cronus 10x42 ED are now on sale for only $319.99.

IMO, at this price point, this is a go to binocular.

Designed for serious glassing, with exceptional edge to edge clarity, sharp detail enhancement, ultra-clear brightness and true color representation. Whether you are on your annual hunt for whitetails on the family farm in Alabama or filling your tag on an once in a lifetime Montana Big Horn, don’t leave anything to chance. We designed these binoculars with our revolutionary E2ES lens system that gives you a flat field of view. We included ED Glass that results in clearer and sharper image to your eyes. Our state of the art ESP (Enhance Spectral Prism) dielectric coating that reflects 99% of the light through the prism assembly. We use a Magnesium chassis to reduce weight while keeping the chassis rugged to withstand the scrapes and bumps of constant use.

E2ES System- Edge 2 Edge Sharpness system: E2ES System is a field flattening system that produces sharper, clearer images all the way from one lens edge to the other
ED Glass- High definition glass: ED glass gives you an image with little or no chromatic fringe so the final result brings a clearer and sharper image to your eyes
ESP Dielectric Coating- Enhanced Spectral Prism Dielectric Coating: ESP Dielectric Coating is a multi layer prism coating that reflects over 99% of the light to your eyes bringing you a clear, bright image that displays accurate color reproduction.
Lightweight Magnesium Chassis: Magnesium chassis give you the strength of a metal chassis while reducing the weight as much as 35%
XPL Coating- Xtra Protective Layer coating: XPL Coating gives you an extra protection on the exterior lenses from dirt, oil and scratches
Phase Corrected prisms: Phase corrected prisms produce images that have better contrast, a higher resolution and better color reproduction
BaK4 prisms: Bak-4 glass prisms reflect more light to your eyes which will give you brighter and sharper image.
Advanced FMC: Advanced Fully Multi-Coated lenses gives you better light transmission to bring optimum brightness and true color across the entire light spectrum.
Locking Diopter: Locking Diopter keeps the diopter adjustment knob from accidentally moving from the optimal setting
Long Eye Relief: Long eye relief can be particularly important for eyeglass wearers because longer eye relief allows them to still see the entire field of view.
Close Focus: Close focus is important for those who are nature observers and especially important if you are going to watch butterflies or insects
Twist Up Eyecups: Twist up eyecups with intermediate stops allow you to set the eyecups to the ideal eye relief for you eyes
Waterproof: Waterproof to protects the binocular in the harshest weather conditions or if accidentally submerged underwater
Argon Purged: Argon purging gives you better waterproofing and thermal stability

How much do the 10x42s weigh, Doug?

Power 10X
Objective Lens Diameter 42 mm
Eye Relief 19.3 mm
Field Of View Angular 6.5°
Field Of View FT @1000 YARDS 338 ft
Field Of View M @1000 METERS 113 m
Close Focus 2 m /6.5 ft
Interpupillary Distance 56 mm-73 mm
Weight 33 oz

Thanks Doug. I guess they are very strong. My humble Nikon Prostaff 10x42s only seem to weigh about 20 ounces, but our kitchen scales may not be all that accurate.

Built extremely well and 19.3mm ER which is very long

Thanks Doug,

What is the $1000-1300 answer?

Kowa Genesis

Gentlemen,
Doug just hit the nail on the head. Outside of Swarovski which is unbelievably good, the Kowa brand is really good stuff.

I like my 8x30 Liecas in that I can glass a hillside off hand, and they make spotting game much easier and more often, to size up a trophy one I have an old Baush and Lomb spotting scope, Rochester NY...sometimes I carry it on a cut off rifle stock with a sling and the spotting scope with its 20X lens taped on the action part of the stock..Its handy if your hunting on foot or horseback.