More Information  · Supplied Accessories  · Images of Some Features

The 8 x 36 Monarch is a center focus H-body roof prism that is sealed and nitrogen-purged to be waterproof and fogproof in all weather extremes. It is surprisingly light, weighing in at only 20.1 ounces, making it easy to carry all day long.

The Monarch is fully multicoated with proprietary Nikon antireflection coatings and uses high-quality BaK-4 roof prisms for excellent light transmission and contrast. The prisms have additional phase-correcting coatings for extra contrast and resolution. The effect of these phase coatings is particularly visible when looking into the rising or setting sun, where you’ll see more color and detail in the shadowed areas of backlit or silhouetted birds. The Monarch has a good color accuracy that takes much of the guesswork out of judging subtle species differences.

The optics are more than the equal of other roof prisms in its price range. Distortion and astigmatism are well controlled for such a reasonably-priced binocular. There is some field curvature visible in the outer third of the field, so that the edges of the field are not as sharply focused as the center, but the images stay usably sharp across most of the field. The sharp images combine with good color rendition and minimal chromatic aberration for a view that is easy on the eyes during extended observing sessions.

The Nikon Monarch’s close focus is specified at a good 8.2’ (although we typically measure it as being considerably closer-focusing than that). That makes the 8 x 36mm Monarch a good choice for close-in warbler, woodland, and backyard feeder birding, although some might prefer the brighter low-light images of a larger aperture binocular (such as the 8 x 42mm Monarch). The good resolution and brightness of its 36mm objective lenses make it equally at home examining the details and colors of distant birds in open field, lake, and shore-side birding in all but the lowest light situations. It is a surprising performer across a wide range of observing conditions, bright sunlight and dim twilight alike. All in all, a good value in an all-weather binocular.

Features of this binocular . . .

Roof prism optics. H-body roof prism design with internal center focus. BaK-4 prisms for high light transmission. Its 4.9” length is easy to handle, although it might be a little short for those with oversized hands. Its very light 20.1 ounce weight won’t weigh you down during all-day birding.

Fully multicoated optics. The 36mm objective lenses are surprisingly bright in twilight or overcast conditions, although their twilight factor is 16.97, right at the threshold of the twilight factor of 17 generally recommended as a minimum for a low light binocular. Nikon’s proprietary multilayer antireflection coatings, developed for their multi-thousand dollar camera lenses, have very good light transmission to get the most light possible out of the 36mm objectives.

Phase-coated prisms. Special phase-correcting coatings are applied to the roof prisms for peak contrast, color fidelity, and resolution. The resulting improvement is easily seen when looking for color and detail in the shadowed areas of a silhouetted or backlit bird.

Waterproof and fogproof. Dry nitrogen-filled and O-ring sealed to be waterproof and fogproof in all temperature and climate extremes. Designed to operate reliably in rainforests and deserts alike.

Armor. The body of the Monarch is rubber armored. The lightly-textured very dark green (almost charcoal grey) armor absorbs noise and shock and has subtle thumb grooves and ribbed surfaces for a more secure grip in wet weather.

Twist-up eyecups. An eighth of a turn of the rubber-rimmed turn-and-slide eyecups retracts them into the binocular body for eyeglass or sunglass use. An eighth turn in the opposite direction extends the eyecups for non-eyeglass use. The eyecups have four separate stops at varying heights so you can set the eye relief precisely to suit your personal preferences.

Long eye relief. Eye relief is specified at a 17mm. While this is technically correct, we typically measure the actual usable eye relief as being a few mm less (typically 15mm) due to the recessing of the eyepieces when the eyecups are in the down position for eyeglass use. A shorter eye relief than specified is typical of all binoculars. Even at somewhat less than the specified 17mm eye relief, there will be only minor vignetting of the field for eyeglass wearers.

Very close focusing. Focusing is quick, with only a tad over a full turn of the large ribbed rubber focus knob taking you from a very good specified 8.2’ close focus out to the horizon and beyond. While Nikon specifies 8.2’ as the close focus, we invariably measure it as several feet less. Since we can’t guarantee that your eyesight will let you focus at the 5’ to 5.5’ distances we measure, we’ll go with Nikon’s specified 8.2’ focus. Even at that distance, the Monarch’s 8x magnification effectively is the same as getting your bare eye no more than one foot away from your subject, be it butterfly or bird. That’s close! The 8.2’ close focus and bright images make the Monarch a good choice for close-in woodland and forest birding.

Rotary diopter correction. A continuously variable diopter ring on the right eyepiece allows you to match the binocular optics precisely to your individual eyesight’s normal right eye/left eye imbalance for a sharp image. The diopter adjustment ring is quite stiff, making it less likely that the setting can be accidentally disturbed during use.

Tripod adaptable. A standard 1/4”-20 thread socket for attaching an optional tripod adapter is located at the front end of the binocular’s center hinge. A thread-in plastic logo plate covers the tripod socket when not in use.

Supplied accessories. The Monarch’s woven neck strap is 1.5” wide and makes the very lightweight binocular even less of a burden to carry during all-day birding sessions. A water-shedding padded Cordura-style nylon case with a belt loop is standard equipment. There is no separate neck strap for the case, as the binocular neckstrap itself serves that purpose. An eyepiece rainguard helps keep raindrops from pooling on the eyepieces if you’re caught in a sudden rain shower. Snap-in lens covers protect the objective lenses when the binocular is stored, but are generally removed from the binocular and stored away before going out into the field.

25-year warranty. In addition to the 25-year limited Nikon USA warranty, the 8 x 36mm Monarch is also covered by Nikon’s unique no-fault warranty. If anything happens to the bino that’s not covered by Nikon’s normal 25-year warranty, it costs you only $10 and return shipping and handling to get it fixed or replaced! Whether your Monarch is kicked by a kinkajou, swallowed by a snake, or gobbled by gerbils, there’s no need to worry. If you can send the mangled Monarch back to Nikon, you’re covered by Nikon’s no-fault warranty.