Nikon 12x56 Monarch ATB Binocular (Black)

Comments about Nikon 12x56 Monarch ATB Binocular (Black):

glassing for deer across gullys.
excellent vision.
not to heavy.
Ideal for deer hunting and wildlife watching.

Comments about Nikon 12x56 Monarch ATB Binocular (Black):

Used for wildlife sighting.
Excellent optics, magnification, light capturing.
Bulky.

Comments about Nikon 12x56 Monarch ATB Binocular (Black):

I have the smaller nikon 10x42's and the 10x50's but these are a ton better. They pull much more light which is perfect for dawn and dusk spotting. They do add some weight but are worth packing in for the better image. I checked several places before buying these and they've beaten everyone else by at least $100. Thanks!

Comments about Nikon 12x56 Monarch ATB Binocular (Black):

This is my third pair of Nikon binoculars and overall they deliver the quality and performance that I've come to expect. Housing is solid and shock-resistant, fog/waterproof construction makes them usable over long periods of time. I noticed comments about the eye cap not fitting properly and this seems like a design choice to me to allow for the cap to stay fit when the binoculars are articulated. Only drawback I would identify is that the focus knob is not as smooth as I'd like or expect - works fine, just a peeve on my part.

Comments about Nikon 12x56 Monarch ATB Binocular (Black):

They are very nice. I am amazed at how much light comes through the lenses. The image is bright and clear. They have a nice solid feel
to them and are comfortable to use. They have a good adjustment for wearing or not wearing glasses. For this you rotate a little sleeve on each eye piece in or out to adjust the eye relief. It is the most comfortable pair of binoculars I have used with glasses. The 12 power works great for me. Two of the knocks these binoculars got in reviews were the lens caps and the width of the lenses. I can see how the lens caps on the front may wear out over time. They are attached and fit inside the tube. The back lens caps do not seem to fit very well.

Comments about Nikon 12x56 Monarch ATB Binocular (Black):

Camo was a bonus option i wanted that other binocular makers didn't seem to offer. How I decided on this pair was I looked through a pair of Swarovski 8x36's as a standard and compared them to 7 or 8 different binoculars. I tried the Leupold, Bushnell, Barska and Nikon in a couple different powers and the Nikon really stuck out. The Nikon Monarchs were the closest in clarity and quality to Swarovski and at a quarter of the price. The next week I tried multiple brands at Cabelas and still didn't see what i was looking for for the price. Last week I went out and bought the Nikon Monarch ATB 12x56 Camo Dream Season Binoculars for 449 bucks. What I found after a weekend of heavy use hunting coyote and glassing was that the 12 power was tough to keep stable while standing but sitting with my elbows to my knees solved the problem. They are fairly heavy but well worth it for the confidence you get knowing you have an advantage once you stop and settle into your glassing position. The 56mm objective lenses really brought out the light in last hours of hunting. Although these binoculars have some minor limitations the pluses with the Nikon 12x56s greatly out weighed the cons on this trip. The eye relief could be better. The screw cap on the other side of the focus fell off and is gone now, and the Monarch emblem is falling off already. I'm not too worried about those because they really haven't affected their performance.

Comments about Nikon 12x56 Monarch ATB Binocular (Black):

I am very satisfied with the quality of this binocular.
Picture is clear and sharp.
The only cons I can think of is the weight. But for such type of binocular this is normal.

Comments about Nikon 12x56 Monarch ATB Binocular (Black):

Adjustable eye cups are weakest point of design.

Comments about Nikon 12x56 Monarch ATB Binocular (Black):

My 12x56 Monarch ATB Binocular are all that I hoped they would be. An excellent product for watching sports, nature and even the stars. The price was right [...]

Comments about Nikon 12x56 Monarch ATB Binocular (Black):

Great: Focus control is smooth and precise; lenses are sharp and bright with apparent wide FOV; weight and balance in the hands allow easy hand holding despite 12x; comfy neck strap;
Not So Great: Touted as an astro entry level, but chromatic abberations are very apparent, however, at this price point cannot expect too much; min inter pupil distance is almost not close enough for my rather wide head and not workable for my wife's normal width head - try before you buy; minimal eye relief does require straight ahead eye orientation to avoid black outs, but very workable, 2mm more would be great -- try before you buy;
Bottom Line: Quality matches the price, but I was left hoping for a bit more