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Nikon Monarch HG 8×42 & 10×42 Binoculars Review- Tested In fields!

Nikon has been making optics glass for over 100 years. They have managed to perfect the glass quality in their binoculars.

Today we are reviewing Nikon Monarch HG 8×42 and 10×42 binoculars. These binoculars house the highest quality glass that Nikon makes

If you have got past the beginner level and doing glassing sessions for a long time, an urge to get those high-end alpha glasses must have crossed your mind.

Monarch Hg’s are some serious optics in this game. As an outdoorsman, your path would have definitely crossed along searching for a set of these awesome Nikon Monarch HG range of binoculars.

If you are looking for whether these binoculars will justify the upgrades.

I must tell you that you are in the right place!

Here we will see whether the Monarch Hg 8×42 and Monarch Hg 10×42 binoculars meet our expectations in rigorous field testing and extreme weather conditions.

We will also see some of the alternatives to these popular binoculars.

Let’s move to build quality and ergonomics first;

Design, Construction & Build Quality

The binoculars are aesthetically beautiful and feel well-balanced in the hands. 

The short bridge configuration is wide enough and can even be handled with gloves on.

The leatherette panels on the body provide a decent grip and I could simply grab these slim body profile binoculars with confidence. 

Moreover, The panels seem to be tough and are well made to protect binoculars against drops and knocks and withstand extreme conditions.

MONARCH HG’s body is made from magnesium alloy. The alloy Provides optimum strength, impact resiliency and weight reduction.

The binoculars are equipped with lead and arsenic-free Nikons Proprietary extra-low dispersion (ED) glass.

The lenses game has been upped in the Monarch Hg’s by the use of Nikon’s field-flattener system, producing crisp details along the whole field of view eliminating distortion at the lens edges.

The optical path is fully multi-coated with anti-reflection coatings, which increase light transmission, contrast, and sharpness and provide a true colour rendition.

Also, The roof prisms housed in these Monarch HG binoculars are phase-corrected and dielectric-coated. 

These binoculars possess all-terrain capability since Monarch HG 42mm binoculars are O-ring sealed and nitrogen purged, making them water- and fog-proof to even at 16,000 feet.

I must say, The Monarch is solid, compact and well-built.

Image Clarity And Optical Performance

When these binoculars arrived, I was eager to test these immediately from my apartment window. 

When I first saw trees, sky and birds from my window, I was amazed to see all the colours just popping up right in front of me. The view through the pairs is just gorgeous. I was able to note amazing edge-to-edge sharpness in both models.

Light transmission is really bright and the Colours in the image of Nikon Monarch Hg Binoculars are excellent. The colours seem to be balanced too. I don’t see any weird overly greening or blueing of the image

The lens coating in these Monarch HG binoculars is excellent. The best Anti-reflective coatings reduce the light reflected from lenses, thereby increasing the light transmitted through the lens.

The prisms are also well coated with dielectric prism coating resulting in high reflectivity across the entire range of visible light.

Nikon field flattener lens system has effectively managed to keep image sharpness across the entire fov which is really impressive.

Owing to all these features the binoculars provide excellent Colour rendition & image sharpness, I am giving them a high compliment in this regard.

Also, I didn’t see any internal reflections on bright daylight in these Monarch Hg models and The focus depth is decent too in both the 8×42 and 10×42 HG models.

Both models have large exit pupils, so they are pretty decent low-light binoculars with even 42mm objective-size lenses.

Coming to the CA, The Chromatic aberration is under good control in these pairs of binoculars. I was hardly able to catch CA while looking through these pairs of binoculars. Both the 8×42 and 10×42 monarch HG models had minimal CA in our tests.

There is a very little bit of sharpness falling off at the edge of the view in both models. However, I can say that The fall-off in  Monarch HG’s definitely better than the Nikon Monarch 7 models.

Another observation was that the image on these binoculars is just too wide for me at 8 power. The image is so wide that I feel my eyes get lost in it

Also, When scanning or panning with them- the rolling ball or the rolling cylinder effect is present.

The binoculars give the feel of an alpha level binoculars however, They are not as bright as the Zeiss Conquest HD, and Ultravid HD + range, I can say they are close but not at par. Also,  I must say that at this price range, They are on-point and no-nonsense glassing pairs.

Overall, The binoculars provide a rich and immersive experience and I can confidently say for the 8×42 Nikon Monarch HG that This a binocular that will serve a birder very well for observing birds and tracking flight at relatively close distances also.

Moreover, These binoculars are not just good for forested habitats but can equally serve the purpose in open to looking for bears or wolves. They can be excellent for sporting events too.

I must say, You won’t be disappointed with these flagship Models of Nikon Binoculars in their performance.

Weight & Size:

Nikon Monarch HG 8×42 Binoculars Weight & Size.

The 8×42 Nikon monarch HG is 145mm (L) by 131mm (W) with 666gm or 23.5 ounces. They feel compact. I noted that It’s much more compact than some alpha binoculars like Zeiss victory Sf or Swarovski el.

Nikon Monarch HG 8×42 Binoculars Weight & Size

The 10×42 Monarch HG is also lightweight for its size. They weigh about 681 gms or 24 ounces. They have also the same dimensions as Nikon Monarch HG 8×42 i.e 145mm by 131mm.

Both these binoculars weigh less than 700gms with caps on and this is really impressive for 42mm binoculars.

One reason for that class-leading weight is that the Monarch HGs use magnesium alloy for the body.

Another way Nikon may have achieved the low weight is to use a thin, partial leatherette-style covering instead of rubber armour, but at least it doesn’t attract dust and fluff like some do.

Field Of View

The Nikon 8×42 Monarch Hg model has a real field of view of 8.3 degrees and an apparent field of view of 6.3 degrees. The linear fov is 145m @ 1000yds or 435′ at 1000 yds. 

I must say that the 8×42 Monarch HG binoculars have a really wide field of view to pick up the subjects easily.

To enhance that wide field of view, Nikon also comes up with an incredible system for their lenses. It’s called a field flattener lens system. Both models are equipped with a field flattener lens system.

Monarch 10×42 HG has also a generous 362′ field of view at 1000 yards. 

The Wide 62° apparent angle of view in the Monarch HG 10×42 produces an immersive observational experience with less disorientation when used on rough or rolling seas and minimized appearance of visible hand shake common when holding high-power optics

So what does a wider FOV mean for you?

Field of View is so much more important as I use binoculars for bird watching or scanning a large area.

I can watch a bird hopping from branch to branch without keeping the binoculars aside and again tracking with the eye. 

With less field of view, the bird may hop out of view. You’ll have to put your binoculars down to re-spot the bird with your eyes.

Another advantage is that It’s easier to spot animals without scanning or moving the binoculars, simply because they take in a wider section of the landscape. 

Waterproof/Fogproof

As you can expect from binoculars in this price range they are Nitrogen purged to make them fog-proof when moving through extreme changes in temperature or environmental conditions such as at low-pressure altitudes and O-ring sealed to make them waterproof and submersible to a depth of 16.4′ (5m) for up to 10 minutes.

Focus Wheel & Eye Cups

I have always liked the Nikon Monarch’s focus wheel. These binoculars have very nice, responsive and even focus wheels. 

Focus goes from closest to past infinity in 1.5 turns of the large rubber central focus wheel.

The Knob is definitely fluid, it’s very accurate and can rival top-of-the-line binoculars.

With our testing for years, we observed that some binoculars focus faster, some slower, and many have a bit of free play when switching directions of focus travel. In these, Monarch Hg’s speed seems just right and they are well-damped with no free play. Moreover, The grip on the focus wheel is a nice grippy rubber which was a pleasure to fiddle with.

In my opinion, The Monarch HG binocular’s eye cups are a sign of great workmanship. I have fairly deep-set eyes, and this is the first pair of binoculars where the eye cup was actually sufficient to put my eye socket completely against while viewing. For some pairs, I have to rest the eyecups below my eyebrow, even when fully extended, which is annoying because of the stray light that gets in and because it is more difficult to keep the correct eye placement.

The diopter adjustment works fine. I haven’t had any issues with the locking ring not staying locked. Also, there has been no sign of diopter drift, which has been reported by some users. Maybe that was a defect in a specific model.

Eye Relief

The adjustable eye relief is really helpful. It has steps so you can easily set both eyes at the same level. 

Let’s see the numbers;

The eye relief is 17.8 mm for the 8×42 Monarch Hg model and I can say they are good enough for people wearing glasses.

The eye relief is 17 mm for the 10×42 binoculars which is again good for those long glassing sessions.

I wear glasses and I haven’t had any strain on my eyes while using these pairs on close or far away objects.

Close Focus Distance

The Monarch HGs both 8×42 and 10×42 models sport a 6.6′ close focus, and these are really nice for binoculars like these.

One of the closest competitors Zeiss Conquest HD has the same close focus.

With a good close focus of 6.6’ feet, I could see birds clearly in the nearby bushes. You can go confidently for butterfly and dragonfly watching without missing the detail.

Alternatives: Monarch HG 8×42 & 10×42 Binoculars.

Zeiss Conquest HD is the closest contender price-wise. The Zeiss Conquests are optically very similar to the Monarch HG’s, but when the Monarch’s were focused correctly, I would have given a slight edge to them.

Full Review Of The Zeiss Conquest HD 8×42

Full review of The Zeiss Conquest HD 10×42

Also, in price wise they compete against the Vortex Razors HD binoculars. I found that the Vortex was a bit brighter, but these had the clarity edge.

Let’s see how they compete with the real alpha binoculars:-

I am not stating that these are the same as top-end alpha binoculars like the Swarovski el, Swarovski Nl Pure or Zeiss 8×42 Victory SF. 

The build quality and overall refinement aren’t at that level, but one thing is clear these offer essentially Alpha binocular optical performance at less than half the price.

If you want that extreme refinement and the best of the best glassing experience you should go for the Zeiss Victory SF or Swarovski NL Pure, Leica Ultravid or Trinovid range of binoculars. The image is brighter than the Monarch HG’s with very less distortion at the outer regions of the field of view in all these alpha binoculars

Check Out Our Swarovski Nl Pure Binoculars review

Also, Check Our Swarovski Binocular reviews here: Swarovski El 10×42 Review

If you already have a monarch 7 and want to up your game and get high-end binoculars without denting your pocket, you can choose the Monarch HG range. There’s a difference if you compare them side by side, wider field in focus and overall slightly better image quality and feel. However, If you don’t want to spend that much now and keep the Monarch 7 for some more years, you can definitely do that without feeling guilty for yourself!

Overall, The binoculars seem to be flawless in this price range and they can compete with the Zeiss, Leicas and Swaros considering you have to spend 2x or 3x to get one of these real alpha binoculars with viewing upgrades that might not be proportional to the price jump.

Also Check Our Updated: Best Binoculars Under $1000 Here.

FAQs Regarding Monarch HG Binoculars

What does HG stand for in binoculars?

HG in Monarch HG binoculars Means “High Grade”

Where are Nikon Monarch HG binoculars made?

MONARCH HG binoculars are premium Nikon binoculars that are manufactured and assembled in-house at multiple production facilities in Japan.

What is the difference between Nikon Monarch HG and Monarch 7?

The big difference is that it has the field flattener lens system used in the Monarch HG’s range. Field Flattener Lens System is an optical system that minimizes the curvature of the field across the entire optical system. This system improves edge-to-edge sharpness and lowers distortion.

What are Alpha binoculars?

Alpha Binoculars are top-end binoculars that provide the best of the best glassing experience.

They consist of the top of the line binoculars like Swarovski El, Swarovski NL Pure, Swarovski Sec, Leica Noctivid, Leica Ultravid HD, Zeiss Conquest HD, and Zeiss Victory SF.

What is Included In The Case?

Included In The Box are the:-

• A good soft case for protection, it’s a bit bulky though
• Padded Neck Strap
• Rubber Rainguard
• Objective Lens Covers, Some people have complained about eyepiece covers going so deep that it becomes difficult to take them on and off, however, mine were ok.

Nikon Monarch HG 8×42 and 10×42 Warranty Information

Nikon offers a 10years warranty on Nikon Monarch HG 8×42 & 10×42 binoculars.

For the first five years, the repair and replacement material is fully covered. For the next five years, only the replacement materials are covered, and you will be charged the cost of repair work.

Specification- Nikon Monarch HG 8×42 Binoculars

Magnification	8x
Objective Lens Diameter	42 mm
Angle of View	8.3° (Actual)
Field of View	435′ @ 1000 yd / 144.4 m @ 1000 m
Minimum Focus Distance	6.6′ / 2 m
Exit Pupil Diameter	5.3 mm
Eye Relief	17.8 mm
Interpupillary Adjustment	56 to 74 mm / 2.2 to 2.9″
Diopter Adjustment	Yes
Focus Type	Center

Specification- Nikon Monarch HG 10×42 Binoculars

Magnification	10x
Objective Lens Diameter	42 mm
Angle of View	6.9° (Actual)
Field of View	362′ @ 1000 yd / 120.2 m @ 1000 m
Minimum Focus Distance	6.6′ / 2 m
Exit Pupil Diameter	4.2 mm
Eye Relief	17 mm
Interpupillary Adjustment	56 to 74 mm / 2.2 to 2.9″
Diopter Adjustment	Yes
Focus Type	Center

Key Features

• Extra-Low Dispersion Eco-Glass
• Phase-Corrected Dielectric Roof Prisms
• Fully Multi-Coated Optics
• Wide field of view for both the configurations of 8x and 10x
• Nitrogen Filled, Water and Fogproof
• Short, Closed-Bridge Configuration
• Lightweight and Strong Magnesium Chassis
• Large and smooth Center Focusing Knob
• A solid 1/4-20 receiver is in the bridge for easy mounting of a tripod adapter.
• Twist-Up Eyecups/Locking Diopter

What we Liked

• Nice fov in both the models as per magnification
• A good option for alpha binoculars within the $1000 price range
• Bright, crisp and CA-free images
• Lightweight and compact even with a 42mm objective lens

What we didn’t liked

• Eyepiece lens covers quality can be improved
• The carrying case is bulky and its quality can be improved

Conclusion: Should You Buy the Nikon Monarch HG 8×42 & 10×42 Binoculars?

The binoculars are located in a range of prices at which they can compete with top-of-the-range ($1500-$2500) binoculars. 

They create an option for enthusiasts who don’t want to spend a hefty amount for a very small difference in the glassing experience. 

Sure there are better models out there, but are there better models out there for the same price point?

If you cough 2 times or 3 times, would that extra spend be proportional to the quality improvement?

You have to ask these questions. This is a fact that you get diminishing returns with most product upgrades.

These are all-around lightweight binoculars suitable for hunters, hikers, and birdwatchers and are easy on the pocket.

In a Nutshell, they seem like a good binocular for people who like high-end but not the highest-end alpha binocular prices. 

More Review: Nikon Monarch 7 8×42 Review, Nikon Monarch 7 10×42 Review

You might be interested in the comparison: Nikon Prostaff vs Monarch

We hope you enjoyed our review of the Nikon Monarch HG 8×42 and HG 10×42 binoculars whether watching birds, butterflies, or any wildlife! Let us know what you think when you get to enjoy one of them!

A Useful Video Review Of the Monarch HG Models.

More Read: Are Nikon Binoculars Worth The Money?

Last update on 2024-04-18