Minox v Swarovski

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Monkey Spanker

Monkey Spanker

Well-Known Member
Had the misfortune to drop my Swaro Bright 8.5 x 42 bins last week!:( They have now gone on holiday to Austria for repair!
Can't be without a good set so I thought I'd buy a spare pair to tide me over until the Swaro's return. Read lots of reviews and eventually went for a set of Minox BV 8.5x42's which are the mid-range version and cost £149.99 from Amazon. Took them out today and was completely amazed at their quality and performance! Considering they cost 10% of my Swaros, I reckon they are pretty much as good!:shock: If you are looking for some good binos on a budget, then look no further! I am going to look at the higher price ones next and may well sell the swaros! Very impressed!
MS
 
I liked the glass on the Minox, but found the ergonomics awfull.

Try Opticron DBA`s see how much they impress you for less than £600
 
I have the minox , my old mentor has swarovski , after mentoring me twice he bought some minox .
 
I have a pair of minox & they are very very good optically and they are solidly built - My only gripe with them is that the focus adjustment is too coarse i.e. the slightest tweak changes the focus a lot when compared to all my other bins.
This makes target acquisition that bit slower than ideal.
When using them I find I'm twiddling them much more than I like and I end up concentrating on the bins rather than what I'm looking at.
Great value for money though!!

Ian
 
I had a set of minox till i left them on the roof of my van and drove home:oops: I was talked into buying a pair of zeiss but i cannot find any difference at all to be honest, i would say to anyone coming into the sport who cannot afford expensive gear to buy minox i grassed alot of deer from using minox and never had any bother at last light. i can however agree with the adjustment is a little course but you do get used to it ,atb wayne
ps i also used the hg version and the coating on those seemed to make the colours pop and they were very nice indeed
 
MS, I am in the same position as you, my 10x42's were not focussing together, I picked a set of Minox up off here.

I don't intend to sell them on once my Swarovski are returned, £ for £ I don't think you can beat the quality.

TJ
 
Had them out at first light this morning and compared them to my old Leica Trinovids (which my mate now has). They weren't quite as good, but not much in it at all. My Swaro's were also slightly better again when we compared Trinovids against Swaro Brights so there will be some difference which will be interesting to compare when I get them back. I still managed to spot a cheeky fox at a very good distance with the Minox though which didn't look much clearer through my 2-12 x 50 Z6i scope either! I certainly couldn't see it at all with the naked eye. He went over nicely, as did a Roe Doe shortly after!;)
I'm still very impressed with Minox - excellent value for money! For £150, I wouldn't have believed such quality bins existed.
MS.
 
Monkey Spanker said:
Had the misfortune to drop my Swaro Bright 8.5 x 42 bins last week!:( They have now gone on holiday to Austria for repair!
Can't be without a good set so I thought I'd buy a spare pair to tide me over until the Swaro's return. Read lots of reviews and eventually went for a set of Minox BV 8.5x42's which are the mid-range version and cost £149.99 from Amazon. Took them out today and was completely amazed at their quality and performance! Considering they cost 10% of my Swaros, I reckon they are pretty much as good!:shock: If you are looking for some good binos on a budget, then look no further! I am going to look at the higher price ones next and may well sell the swaros! Very impressed!
MS
Click to expand...

I have the same ones for my stalking, great binos!
 
Ok then guys,

It looks like Minox are the way forward for someone starting out on a budget.

​So for those of you out there who are using them, what model and mag should I go for?

Cheers,

Jim
 
The model you go for pretty much depends on your budget as some of the top end Minox will be taking you near Swaro money.

In terms of magnification then, again, it depends to a great extent on your circumstances and requirements but there is a good reason why the vast majority of people go for something around 8X42. Unless your stalking is different from that of every other stalker in the UK you'll not go wrong to "follow the herd."

I use the 8.5X43 HGs and am very pleased with them. At the time I bought them, a long time ago, I brought them in from the USA and paid £400 for them with all the tax etc. In my view, having played with a few, Swaro don't offer an upgrade to the HGs but top end Zeiss do however neither are going to see me shooting more deer so there is no practical advantage. I believe that both Minox and Zeiss use Schott glass and must say that I thought all the big names were going to have to move that way as it seems to me that no one can touch Schott at the minute.

I believe Devon Deer Stalker, who posted in this thread, sells Minox (and probably others as well) so it might be worth getting in touch with him as he probably gets to look through most things that are available and so can give good advice directly comparing your options.
 
You can still buy the 8.5x43 HG's from the states for under £400. Best value in binos by a mile. It is hard to estimate relative performance, but to me the Minox are at least 95% of the Swaro's for 20% of the price.

I have Swarovski on all my rifles, but the Minox bins can't be beaten.
 
I like my Minox binos too, cant really argue with quality at the price they are!! Obviously not in the same league as some top end stuff, but they hold their own
 
Jim xyz said:
Ok then guys,

It looks like Minox are the way forward for someone starting out on a budget.

​So for those of you out there who are using them, what model and mag should I go for?

Cheers,

Jim
Click to expand...
Hi Jim, ive just started out and I managed to get a pair of minox hg 8.5x52s from the shooting show, they were ex demo jobs and I got them for £500, when they arrived at my house they were like they hadnt been touched so I was well chuffed, theyre excellent at low light and didnt cost the earth like a lot of higher end bins, having said that I still think 500 notes is enough. I reckon you could still get a pair direct from minox here in the uk, why not give em a bell, cos their website is pants.
 
First binoculars I bought for stalking were Minox 10X42 BV. I paid £200 just as the prices seemed to come right down.

The clarity and quality is really good for the money. I can see more for longer with my Zeiss, but by the time it was so dark not to see with the Minox I very much doubt I'd pull the trigger.

Still love my built in RF.
 
Monkey Spanker said:
Had the misfortune to drop my Swaro Bright 8.5 x 42 bins last week!:( They have now gone on holiday to Austria for repair!
Can't be without a good set so I thought I'd buy a spare pair to tide me over until the Swaro's return. Read lots of reviews and eventually went for a set of Minox BV 8.5x42's which are the mid-range version and cost £149.99 from Amazon. Took them out today and was completely amazed at their quality and performance! Considering they cost 10% of my Swaros, I reckon they are pretty much as good!:shock: If you are looking for some good binos on a budget, then look no further! I am going to look at the higher price ones next and may well sell the swaros! Very impressed!
MS
Click to expand...

MS you sure you never knocked your head as well as the bins :rofl: regards pete
 
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