Minox MD Monocular
- Binoculars Type: Monocular
- Max Magnification: 6x
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Quality Construction Marred by Poor Design
Pros
Convenient size, looks sharp, sturdily built, close focus, can be used one-handed.
Cons
Focusing is finicky, image stability is sketchy (especially without glasses), overpriced.
Recommended it?
No
The Bottom Line:
Intriguing, but attempts at innovation come up short. Other monoculars with tried-and-true designs work better for less money. Not recommended.
SPECIFICATIONS
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Magnification: 6x
Objective Lens Diameter: 16 mm
Eye Relief: 14 mm
Field of view at 1000 yds: 420 ft
Prism Type: BAK-4
Lens Coating: Multi-Coated
Weight: 3.7 ounces
Length: 3.2 inches
Close Focus: 5 feet
LOOK AT ME! I HAVE OPTICS FROM A HIGH-END COMPANY!
-------------------------------------------------------------------
German optics company Minox makes binoculars that sell for up to $2,000, so while this monocular has a suggested retail price of less than 1/10 that amount, it still seems reasonable to expect high quality. After all, would such a company want its less-expensive products to tarnish its good name? Such was my thinking when I ordered my Minox MD 6x16 monocular. Was my thinking correct? Find out…
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
-------------------------------------------------------------------
In other optics reviews I’ve written, I don’t spend much time giving a physical description, because most have a common design of one form or another. However, the Minox 6x16 is hardly common, and while simply looking a picture might best demonstrate some of its unique traits, I’ll spend a little time mentioning a few of the design choices and their effects on the user.
First of all, the 3.2” Minox 6x16 is shaped like a rectangular prism (box) instead of some variation of a cylinder as per usual. This flatter design that may fit more nicely in pockets. However, my fingers don’t grip it as naturally as they do around more rounded monoculars.
Next, while most modern optics have polymer and rubber exteriors, the Minox MD has a smooth metal body (there is a Minox 6x16E polymer version). The metal housing gives the little monocular a solid feel and somewhat elegant appearance, though I found it more slippery than those monoculars with more texture and rubber.
Efforts to maintain smooth, flat surfaces apparently led Minox to place a flat glass pane on the front end ahead of the objective lens. On the opposite end, the eyepiece is simply a small opening ringed by a bit a rubber. There are no moving parts on the eyepiece and the rubber barely protrudes from the body of the monocular. (These and a couple other design features will be addressed in the next section as well)
FUNCTION AND USE
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The Minox MD has just one moving part--the focus slide. Unlike most monoculars that utilize a circular focus device (usually around the eyepiece), the Minox uses a small ribbed slider that is on top of the monocular. Instead of rotating a eyepiece focus ring, which usually requires two hands, the slider can easily be moved side to side with one finger using the same hand that’s holding the object. This is quick and convenient, but for some purposes, it may be too quick….
The slide’s entire range of movement is about 1 centimeter. Moving the slider all the way to one side lets you focus objects as close as 5 feet. Moving it to other side focuses on objects as far as you can see (including the moon). This means that 1 cm of slider movement covers the entire range of focus between 5 feet and infinity, making precise focusing very touchy, and being a hair off can mean being out of focus. While adjusting from near to far or vica versa, I often overshoot my intended focus. By the time I adjust to where I want, it takes just as long--and is far less precise--than more traditional focusing systems. Also, because the monocular is so small and the focus slider is not out of the way, it's easy to accidentally bump the slider and lose focus while viewing.
Moving on, another important function aspect of optics is “eye relief.” Eye relief simply means the optimum distance your eye should be from the eye piece to get the fullest, clearest picture possible. For glasses wearers, I’ve often heard that 15mm or more is a good distance. Non-glasses wearers can get by with less. The Minox 6x16 monocular has a listed eye relief of 14mm. This is reasonable for glasses, though you may lose a little bit of the image around the edges.
For non-glasses wearers, many optics have eye cups that can fold or twist up. These eye cups often make light contact on your brow and/or cheek to promote optimum eye relief, block out peripheral light, and keep the optics better aligned with the user’s eye. The Minox has no eye cups whatsoever, so there is no built-in “guide” keeping the monocular in the correct place in relation to your eye.
This is somewhat related to my last “function and use” topic: stability. If an optical instrument shakes, so will the image being viewed through it. Small objects are less resistant to subtle tremors and movements, and are generally less stable. The Minox monocular is a tiny instrument, and will be susceptible to some shakiness. The previously mentioned lack of an eye cup could further hinder stability for some users. That said, lower magnification optics emphasize these tremors less than high-powered optics. The modest 6x magnification won’t amplify unwanted movement too badly.
OPTICAL QUALITY
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Regardless of the design and features in any given optical device, in the end it all comes down to how well you can see what you want to look at. And regardless of design differences, I expected that the Minox would stand out from other cheaper monoculars when it came to optical quality. It is difficult to quantify how good optics are, but I will begin by going over some of the more measurable traits.
A characteristic know as “exit pupil” refers to how wide a beam of visible light reaches your eyes when looking through a monocular. A wider beam of light generally means a brighter image, particularly during darker parts of the day. A wider beam of light is also easier to line up with your eyes. Exit pupil is calculated by dividing the diameter of the objective lens by the magnification. Optics intended for use in dark conditions may have an exit pupil up to 7mm. Common full-size optics often have exit pupils around 4 or 5mm. Compact optics with small objective lens may be around 2 or 3mm. The Minox, with its listed objective diameter of 16mm and magnification of 6, would have an exit pupil of about 2.67mm. 2.67 is fairly small, and because the design is rectangular, the objective lens is not a full circle, so I wonder if the exit pupil is even a little smaller. Either way, the monocular is fine for brighter places, but appears dim around dawn or dusk or in less illuminated indoor environments.
As a side-note, I wrote above about the front end of the monocular having flat piece of glass in front of the objective lens. This may affect optical quality in two ways. First, it means the objective lens has to be recessed into the body of the monocular more than normal, which could limit its light-gathering capabilities. Also, I noticed glare in some situations that I believe resulted from that extra layer of glass.
Most monoculars have lens coatings on them. These are chemical coatings that generally enhance image brightness and contrast. Lens coatings are broken into 4 categories: coated, fully coated, multi-coated, and fully multi-coated. I have listed them in ascending order. They range from a single coating on some lenses to multiple coatings on all lenses. The Minox MD is multi-coated.
A specification that has more to do with how much you see rather than how well you see is field of view (FOV). FOV is basically how much space you can view at a given distance (usually measured in terms of feet viewable from one edge of the frame to the other when viewed from 1000 yards away) This can indicate how large the viewing frame (circle) is, but FOV is affected by magnification as well, with higher power often resulting in smaller FOV. The Minox MD has a FOV of 420. This is a little narrow considering the magnification is only x6, but it’s not too far from average.
Speaking less technically, I compared the Minox MD to two other monocular I have. Compared to the larger Carson 7x32 monocular, the optical quality seems similar, but due to design and size differences, the Carson is brighter, more stable, and easier to focus (for less than half the cost). For more of an apples-to-apples comparison, I have the Audubon monocular with the same 6x16 specs as the Minox. The clarity of the Minox is a little better, but its focusing is less precise and its FOV is worse--despite costing about four times as much.
EXTRA NOTES
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- NOT rated as waterproof or fogproof
- Included “case” is a felt bag that seems similar to those that kids keep gift store stones/gems in.
- Attached strap allows monocular to be worn around neck
FINAL EVALUATION
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The Minox MD 6x16 monocular was a disappointment to me overall. It seems sturdy and the optical quality is decent, but design choices involving the focus mechanism, the eye cup (or lack-there-of), and the glass front all seemed inferior to more traditional designs. The fact that so many traditional optics are so similar is telling of how proven those designs are. The fact that the Minox MD is one-of-a-kind and no other companies have copied it may be telling of how well (or poorly) it measures up to traditional designs.
If this monocular were around $30 or so, I could maybe recommend keeping one in a pocket, purse, or glove box for those just-in-case moments. For its $100+ asking price, I wouldn’t recommend it for any purpose.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Magnification: 6x
Objective Lens Diameter: 16 mm
Eye Relief: 14 mm
Field of view at 1000 yds: 420 ft
Prism Type: BAK-4
Lens Coating: Multi-Coated
Weight: 3.7 ounces
Length: 3.2 inches
Close Focus: 5 feet
LOOK AT ME! I HAVE OPTICS FROM A HIGH-END COMPANY!
-------------------------------------------------------------------
German optics company Minox makes binoculars that sell for up to $2,000, so while this monocular has a suggested retail price of less than 1/10 that amount, it still seems reasonable to expect high quality. After all, would such a company want its less-expensive products to tarnish its good name? Such was my thinking when I ordered my Minox MD 6x16 monocular. Was my thinking correct? Find out…
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
-------------------------------------------------------------------
In other optics reviews I’ve written, I don’t spend much time giving a physical description, because most have a common design of one form or another. However, the Minox 6x16 is hardly common, and while simply looking a picture might best demonstrate some of its unique traits, I’ll spend a little time mentioning a few of the design choices and their effects on the user.
First of all, the 3.2” Minox 6x16 is shaped like a rectangular prism (box) instead of some variation of a cylinder as per usual. This flatter design that may fit more nicely in pockets. However, my fingers don’t grip it as naturally as they do around more rounded monoculars.
Next, while most modern optics have polymer and rubber exteriors, the Minox MD has a smooth metal body (there is a Minox 6x16E polymer version). The metal housing gives the little monocular a solid feel and somewhat elegant appearance, though I found it more slippery than those monoculars with more texture and rubber.
Efforts to maintain smooth, flat surfaces apparently led Minox to place a flat glass pane on the front end ahead of the objective lens. On the opposite end, the eyepiece is simply a small opening ringed by a bit a rubber. There are no moving parts on the eyepiece and the rubber barely protrudes from the body of the monocular. (These and a couple other design features will be addressed in the next section as well)
FUNCTION AND USE
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The Minox MD has just one moving part--the focus slide. Unlike most monoculars that utilize a circular focus device (usually around the eyepiece), the Minox uses a small ribbed slider that is on top of the monocular. Instead of rotating a eyepiece focus ring, which usually requires two hands, the slider can easily be moved side to side with one finger using the same hand that’s holding the object. This is quick and convenient, but for some purposes, it may be too quick….
The slide’s entire range of movement is about 1 centimeter. Moving the slider all the way to one side lets you focus objects as close as 5 feet. Moving it to other side focuses on objects as far as you can see (including the moon). This means that 1 cm of slider movement covers the entire range of focus between 5 feet and infinity, making precise focusing very touchy, and being a hair off can mean being out of focus. While adjusting from near to far or vica versa, I often overshoot my intended focus. By the time I adjust to where I want, it takes just as long--and is far less precise--than more traditional focusing systems. Also, because the monocular is so small and the focus slider is not out of the way, it's easy to accidentally bump the slider and lose focus while viewing.
Moving on, another important function aspect of optics is “eye relief.” Eye relief simply means the optimum distance your eye should be from the eye piece to get the fullest, clearest picture possible. For glasses wearers, I’ve often heard that 15mm or more is a good distance. Non-glasses wearers can get by with less. The Minox 6x16 monocular has a listed eye relief of 14mm. This is reasonable for glasses, though you may lose a little bit of the image around the edges.
For non-glasses wearers, many optics have eye cups that can fold or twist up. These eye cups often make light contact on your brow and/or cheek to promote optimum eye relief, block out peripheral light, and keep the optics better aligned with the user’s eye. The Minox has no eye cups whatsoever, so there is no built-in “guide” keeping the monocular in the correct place in relation to your eye.
This is somewhat related to my last “function and use” topic: stability. If an optical instrument shakes, so will the image being viewed through it. Small objects are less resistant to subtle tremors and movements, and are generally less stable. The Minox monocular is a tiny instrument, and will be susceptible to some shakiness. The previously mentioned lack of an eye cup could further hinder stability for some users. That said, lower magnification optics emphasize these tremors less than high-powered optics. The modest 6x magnification won’t amplify unwanted movement too badly.
OPTICAL QUALITY
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Regardless of the design and features in any given optical device, in the end it all comes down to how well you can see what you want to look at. And regardless of design differences, I expected that the Minox would stand out from other cheaper monoculars when it came to optical quality. It is difficult to quantify how good optics are, but I will begin by going over some of the more measurable traits.
A characteristic know as “exit pupil” refers to how wide a beam of visible light reaches your eyes when looking through a monocular. A wider beam of light generally means a brighter image, particularly during darker parts of the day. A wider beam of light is also easier to line up with your eyes. Exit pupil is calculated by dividing the diameter of the objective lens by the magnification. Optics intended for use in dark conditions may have an exit pupil up to 7mm. Common full-size optics often have exit pupils around 4 or 5mm. Compact optics with small objective lens may be around 2 or 3mm. The Minox, with its listed objective diameter of 16mm and magnification of 6, would have an exit pupil of about 2.67mm. 2.67 is fairly small, and because the design is rectangular, the objective lens is not a full circle, so I wonder if the exit pupil is even a little smaller. Either way, the monocular is fine for brighter places, but appears dim around dawn or dusk or in less illuminated indoor environments.
As a side-note, I wrote above about the front end of the monocular having flat piece of glass in front of the objective lens. This may affect optical quality in two ways. First, it means the objective lens has to be recessed into the body of the monocular more than normal, which could limit its light-gathering capabilities. Also, I noticed glare in some situations that I believe resulted from that extra layer of glass.
Most monoculars have lens coatings on them. These are chemical coatings that generally enhance image brightness and contrast. Lens coatings are broken into 4 categories: coated, fully coated, multi-coated, and fully multi-coated. I have listed them in ascending order. They range from a single coating on some lenses to multiple coatings on all lenses. The Minox MD is multi-coated.
A specification that has more to do with how much you see rather than how well you see is field of view (FOV). FOV is basically how much space you can view at a given distance (usually measured in terms of feet viewable from one edge of the frame to the other when viewed from 1000 yards away) This can indicate how large the viewing frame (circle) is, but FOV is affected by magnification as well, with higher power often resulting in smaller FOV. The Minox MD has a FOV of 420. This is a little narrow considering the magnification is only x6, but it’s not too far from average.
Speaking less technically, I compared the Minox MD to two other monocular I have. Compared to the larger Carson 7x32 monocular, the optical quality seems similar, but due to design and size differences, the Carson is brighter, more stable, and easier to focus (for less than half the cost). For more of an apples-to-apples comparison, I have the Audubon monocular with the same 6x16 specs as the Minox. The clarity of the Minox is a little better, but its focusing is less precise and its FOV is worse--despite costing about four times as much.
EXTRA NOTES
-------------------------------------------------------------------
- NOT rated as waterproof or fogproof
- Included “case” is a felt bag that seems similar to those that kids keep gift store stones/gems in.
- Attached strap allows monocular to be worn around neck
FINAL EVALUATION
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The Minox MD 6x16 monocular was a disappointment to me overall. It seems sturdy and the optical quality is decent, but design choices involving the focus mechanism, the eye cup (or lack-there-of), and the glass front all seemed inferior to more traditional designs. The fact that so many traditional optics are so similar is telling of how proven those designs are. The fact that the Minox MD is one-of-a-kind and no other companies have copied it may be telling of how well (or poorly) it measures up to traditional designs.
If this monocular were around $30 or so, I could maybe recommend keeping one in a pocket, purse, or glove box for those just-in-case moments. For its $100+ asking price, I wouldn’t recommend it for any purpose.
