Nikon Binoculars Binocle Mikron 6x15 M6x15

These are remarkably small, very high quality, delightful binoculars. Within their specifications they are just about optically perfect. That said, one should really understand there are of course a number of compromises made in the specifications to achieve such a small size.Specifically:- These are 6x binoculars and most people may be used to 8x or 10x binoculars. However, given their tiny size the lower power is useful in keeping the image steady as they are somewhat awkward to hold. In addition, because of their small apparent field of view the low power helps by creating a more useful true field of view so you can find your target and retain context of the target.- With only 15mm of aperture, and thus an exit pupil of only 2.5mm, these are not great for low light at all. In daylight our pupils are rarely wider than 2mm anyway and so the view seems plenty bright. In twilight our pupils open to 4mm or greater and the view will seem dim. This is again the compromise required for something so tiny.- There are essentially no eyecups to keep the size down, and so it is easy to get bright light in from the sides between your eye and the eye lens. This is fairly easy to deal with, however, because the binoculars are so small you can cup your hands around the sides of your face while holding the binoculars to create a nice dark and shielded environment on the eye side of the binoculars.- The apparent field of view is quite small and "soda straw like". This is actually very common for inexpensive binoculars, so if you aren't the type of person who has spent decent money on larger binoculars perhaps you won't be too surprised. But I suspect anyone ponying up the cash for something this tiny and expensive is probably used to spacious fields of view. Again, because these things are so small they also have absolutely tiny prisms which naturally restricts both the true and apparent fields of view.So, a potentially natural reaction to these binoculars would be "the specs are awful for something so expensive". This would of course be silly, because the whole point to these things is to be ridiculously tiny - which constrains those specifications - but also be of very high optical quality within those specifications and not some cheap, blurry toy the way many compact binoculars are.I think the real competition to these are high quality compact monoculars. For a similar price, size, and weight one can get a variety of monoculars with a different trade off in specifications. But then you are of course using a monocular. So this will come down to personal preference. I think monoculars are extremely practical for scouting out a route ahead, identifying wild life and such. On the other hand, if just looking to explore the landscape from a high vantage point I find binocular viewing much more satisfying.In summary, these are amazing for what they are - remarkably compact binoculars of very high optical quality within their constrained specifications. They might not be for you however! If the absolute smallest size is not critical to your application then you'd be better served by larger binoculars in the same price range.

this is an incredible replica of the early 1900's binocs... It requires a lot of precision optics and machining to make a product like this...only Nikon or Canon could make such a product and sell it for this low price point. However, as a pair of useful Binocs, they are average at best... why? A few reasons.... first, the light is folded through an extra prism to accommodate this design... which can slightly degrade the image quality. Next, for this price, u don't get Zeiss like glass, so contrast is mediocre at best. The exit pupil is 2.5mm, so it requires perfect alignment with your eye pupil in sunlight, when your pupil is stopped down to about 2-2.5mm. So you get a lot of black-out effect, or vignetting whereas the exit pupil (light circle from binocs) is missing your eye pupil opening... The eye relief is very short, not good for eyeglass wearers.So, to be fair...if you want this for your coffee table as a conversation piece, I would give it 5 stars, as its truly an amazing replica for the price. But if your looking for a good usable pair of 6x binocs, these will have inferior views to most binocs in this price range, or even much less. U are paying for added prisms, and sophisticated metal machining....Also, since the light path does not extend outward like normal binocs of this size, i.e. two straight tube monoculars.... the point at which you hold the binocs is very close to your eyes, vs. further away from your body...this makes keeping them still very difficult. The further out you hold the binocs, the less effect hand shake as on the image. double the hold distance, u cut the shake effect in half, the relationship is linear. Even at 6x, I have a horrible time holding the image still vs. tubular binocs at 6x.

I've lusted for these binoculars for some time now, and recently decided to take the plunge. I currently own Leica compact 8x20 binoculars, as well as a pair of Zeiss 7x50s and Nikon 8x32s. All of these are great for their intended purposes, but I was looking for something more appropriate for the theater or opera. For that purpose, and for casual glimpses of hummingbird nests around campus, Nikon Mikron binoculars excel.The all metal construction is a welcome feature for such a small compact design; most compact binoculars of this size and class are made of injection molded plastic, and the optics are often molded in place, making repairs impossible. These, however, appear straightforward to disassemble. The optics are as sharp as can be discerned in a glass with a 6X magnification. The 10mm eye relief is not really ideal for use while wearing eyeglasses, but I can still see about 80% of the field of view while wearing my glasses.At $200, these binoculars are not particularly cheap, considering they'll never serve as a main pair of binoculars. But for the opera/theater enthusiast, or for a person who likes small, extremely well-constructed products, these binoculars are heirloom quality glasses. They're also no longer in production, which means when these sell out, they're gone for good (unless Nikon decides to reissue them in the future).

One can see two dark dots inside the binoculars tube, it's most likely due to small particles of dust or debris trapped inside the lens during manufacturing.The second one has its prisms alignment issue. I guess it was dropped. The image is not wide as it expected.

I bought this for my boyfriend for bird-watching. We have these binoculars every time we go for a hike, it is very small and light to carryy with.

Excellent retro binoculars. Optics appear very good. Nice design. Will be a welcome addition to my collection

Fantastic. Thank you~!!