Review on Midas Binoculars: Waterproof and Durable for Bird Watching - Athlon Optics Gauges by Will Ridpath

Much better (brighter, warmer, sharper) look compared to my 10 year old Nikon Monarch ATB 8x42. However, do check your binoculars as soon as you receive them to confirm the minimum focusing distance because the first Midas 8x42 that arrived had a focus point at >3m so we brought it back. The replacement focuses at 2m (meets specs) which is good, but the eyepieces had water spots (how do they get there when it's new?!) which were 99% easily removed with my old LensPen The four pairs, The ones we tried had different design issues: two had focus knobs with noticeable play, two had near focus points that were longer than specs, one folded on its own when held on one side, one was too stiff and doesn't close easily bend, one had water spots on the eyepieces on arrival and one had a scratch on the objective lens and dust on the inside of the lens on arrival. In the end we gave up and left two of them behind. We're going to give the Athlon the benefit of the doubt because we love the two pairs we have. Should you encounter any serious problems in the short term, we will update this review. Updated 10/31/2019. While I still enjoy using the Athlon Midas 8x42, I prefer my 10+ year old Nikon Monarch 8x42. As an advanced ornithologist, I don't want great image quality so much as I want to get a sharp image as soon as possible. Songbirds are very fast, and the super-smooth Nikon focuses them almost instantly. In contrast, the Athlon takes much longer to focus, partly because of the shallower depth of field, partly because the focus knob is stiffer, and partly because the knob has to be rotated more than the Nikon. Update 12/2019: The strap of the binoculars recently ripped from the plastic attachment on one side of the device. I was lucky enough to get the binoculars before they hit the concrete!