I just bought a pair of Minox HG 10x52 binocular yesterday and Wow It’s truly amazing. I compared it to my old Zeiss 7x50 binocular and the Minox is clearer and better to my eyes. Clearly there has been a major development in lenses in the past decade.

I chatted with Neil at Cameraland yesterday about the Minox HG's. Apparantly they use the same glass that's in Zeiss' own Victory line of binoculars but with a few minor changes (argon gas as opposed to nitrogen, etc.).

The set of HG 8.5x43's I looked at were every bit as bright and sharp as the Leica 8x32 HD Ultravids. Of course, the Leica's were a whole lot smaller...and $1700 more money! (Compared them at Bass Pro...)

I ordered a set of Minox HG 8.5x43's yesterday at the new C-Land price of $539 for a factory new set. What sold me is the 30 year no-fault warranty...I've ended up using the "no-fault" part of a warranty more times than I care to remember!

PS: Yeah, I'd have loved to have the Leica HD's...it's just plain not in the budget.

Thanks guys for your appraisals. I have been hearing of the Minox line but have not spoken to or heard from anyone who owns them. This is good information to know.

Speaking of Minox, I do not have any of their binoculars but I was so impressed with the MD62 Spotting scope, which I use on the bench, that I bought their MD50 for on the go. Really decent spotters that don't cost over a grand. I wouldn't hesitate to try Minox binoculars, but have a good set already, Waidmannsheil, Dom.

Has anybody tried the Minox BL 13x56 BR (man, these designations kill me, how can anybody remember or tell the different series apart...??)??

http://www.cameralandny.com/op.../minox.pl?page=62166

I have been looking for a pair of high magnification binocs (e.g. for tripod use) for a while. I'm too cheap to buy the Swaro 15x56 SLC (at about $1K more than the Minox...), and the Minox BD 15x58 ED BR (see what I mean about product designations...) are a bit on the beefy side, although the price is certainly right, and the quality supposedly very decent.

So, although the Minox BL 13x56 BR sadly only offer 13x magnification, at least they should be easier to get around with...

Anyone try 'em??

- mike

For reasons I won't delve into here, I much prefer an IF binocular. Minox offered one in 9.5x42 a couple of years ago (may still offer them, not sure). I bought one and find it to be a very servicable instrument. Barrel collumation, the very most important and overlooked quality of a binocular, is good, and there is only minor distortion near the outer fringes of the field. Minox probably represents one of the better values on the current market.