Binoculars review
Minox BL 8x56 BR
The Minox company from Germany has one of the widest binoculars’ offers on the market and recently, it has been launching new products quite often. As it befits a German company on its offer we’ll find typical night binoculars for hunters, foresters or astronomy enthusiasts. Not so long ago only quite expensive BD 8x58, 10x58 and 15x58 models, equipped with low-dispersion glass, had been available but, for some reasons unknown to us, they were withdrawn from the market. The empty niche was filled by Minox with cheaper models: a BL 8x56 BR and a BL 13x56 BR.
These are roof binoculars with Schmidt-Pechan system prisms, made of BaK-4 glass with phase correction coatings. The binoculars’ body is aluminum with a high class rubber armouring.
The buyer gets a case, a strap and caps for lenses and oculars included in box. The binoculars come with a very good, 30-year-long guarantee.
| Magnification | Lens diameter | Angular field of view | Prisms | Eye relief | Weight | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8x | 56mm | 109/1000(6.2o) | BaK-4/roof | 20.8 mm | 1040g | 1859PLN |
Results of the review
| Real front lens diameter |
Left: 56+/-
0.05mm Right: 56+/- 0.05mm |
8/8.0 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Real magnification | 7.91+/- 0.15x | 3/3.0 | ||||
| Transmission | 87.1+/- 1% | 12/15.0 | ||||
| Chromatic aberration | Medium in the centre and at the edge. | 6.3/10.0 | ||||
| Astigmatism | Low. | 7.2/10.0 | ||||
| Distortion | The distance of the first curved line from the field centre compared to the field of vision radius: 58.5% +- 4% | 6.5/10.0 | ||||
| Coma | Starts to appear in the distance of 70% from the field of vision centre and it is medium at the edge. | 7.5/10.0 | ||||
| Blurring at the edge of the FOV | The blur appears in the distance of 65% +- 3% from the field of vision centre. | 2/10.0 | ||||
| Darkening at the edge the FOV | Medium. | 3.4/5.0 | ||||
| Whiteness of the image | Very good. | 4.4/5.0 | ||||
| Collimation | Exemplary. | 5/5.0 | ||||
| Internal reflections |
|
2.3/5.0 | ||||
| Housing | Quite solid. Convenient to hold in hand and by the eye. Rubber eyecups with four- degree click stops. The rubber by the front lenses sticks out a bit. | 7.3/8.0 | ||||
| Focusing | Comfortable central screw is well-damped and works smoothly. Full turn takes 680 degrees. Individual click-stop focusing on the right ocular moves the outer lens. | 4.5/5.0 | ||||
| Tripod | Average-comfortable tripod exit. | 2.5/3.0 | ||||
| Interpupilary distance | from 60.5 to 75.8mm | 4/6.0 | ||||
| Closest focusing distance | 3.8 m. | 1.5/2.0 | ||||
| Eyepieces FOV | Apparent field of view of 49.8 degrees. | 4.5/10.0 | ||||
| Field of view | Measured by us amounted to 6.30 +- 0.03 degrees and was a bit bigger than stated in the technical specifications. The field typical for the equipment of this class. | 5/8.0 | ||||
| Quality of the interior of the barrels | Inner tubes are black and matt inside, the bottom is black; there are slightly shiny fragments near the prisms. Some small specks of dusts and a small scratch on a prism. | 3.8/5.0 | ||||
| Vignetting |
|
6.5/8.0 | ||||
| Prisms quality | Very high quality BaK-4. | 8/8.0 | ||||
| Antireflection coatings | Greenish on front lenses, blue-green on prisms, yellow-green on eyepieces. Medium intensity. | 4.5/5.0 | ||||
| Warranty [years] | 30 years | 5/6.0 | ||||
| Final result | 124.7/170
73.4% |
|||||
| Econo result | 0pkt. |
Summary
Pros:
- good transmission,
- low astigmatism,
- slight coma,
- high class coatings and prisms,
- very good white reproduction,
- ideal collimation,
- solid barrel with a good grip,
- good blackening inside the tubes,
- good guarantee conditions.
Cons:
- low image sharpness at the edge of the field of vision,
- a bit too intensive inner flares.
 |
In the absolute scale the Minox fared very well. In fact the only thing the tested binoculars can be accused of is a quick loss of sharpness at the edge of the field of view. Regrettably it is a serious flaw but fortunately just the only one. The binoculars compensate for it performing well in other significant categories: we have here good transmission, good colours rendition, a solid barrel, good coma and astigmatism correction and a decently corrected chromatic aberration. The constructors didn’t save on prisms too much so the exit pupils are tolerably nice and circular and the brightness loss at the edges – acceptable.
 |
The price of the Minox is a problem though. We deal here with a 500 Euro level so a sum that can buy you several serious rivals of the tested lens too – like e.g. a Steiner Ranger 8x56 or a Nikon Monarch 8.5x56. Both these binoculars fared a bit better in our tests and they aren’t significantly more expensive. It’s not the end of it. There are other well-made models on the market, like a Vixen Ultima 8x56 or a Delta Optical Titanium 8x56 – both cheaper than the Minox and reaching, by and large, identical results.
These pieces of news are perhaps not very good for Minox, as the binocular is a very good device after all. The situation is very comfortable indeed for the Readers, though. A wide selection of well-made, solid binoculars on the market, which fared well in the tests and cost from less than 250 Euro to a bit above 500 Euro, put them in the catbird seat. If the performance is very much alike and the price differences – small we can be guided only by our taste and personal preferences. How conveniently a pair of binoculars is hold in your hand and by your eye is often more important than a dry test result or a bargain price.
