Carson 8x42 XM HD

I was recently sent a Carson 8x42 XM HD binocular for review and testing. The new HD represents Carson's finest and their first viable entry into a very competitive price point. Unseating the king of the $300 roofs, the Nikon Monarch 8x42, would be no easy task, so I was curious as to how the Carson HD would compare.

The Carson HD, like the Monarch, is made in China. There are those, of course, who will hesitate at a product made in China, but these days, almost everything at this price is made there. Furthermore, this is not necessarily a sign of poor quality as Chinese production has made great strides in recent years. In fact, these binoculars will exceed the performance of similarly priced models made ten years ago due to continuing advances in optical manufacturing technology.

Enough of the background. How did they test out? On my resolution charts, the Carson HD edged out the Nikon Monarch by a slight, but detectable margin. To my eye, it also appeared brighter. Color and contrast were good, edge sharpness was excellent and there was only the barest hint of pincushion distortion. Overall, for the asking price of $280, this is optically a great buy.

There's more to a binocular than optics, however. Handling for one. Here I also liked the Carson. It balanced perfectly in my hands and passed the "hard to put down" test with flying colors. In fact, after I started passing it around the staff here at OpticsPlanet, it grew harder and harder to get it back. That's saying a lot.

Will the Carson HD unseat the Nikon Monarch? That will be an uphill battle, given the lack of name recognition facing Carson. Will it make a dent in the Monarch"s sales? I don't have a crystal ball, but if I have anything to say about it, yes. The Carson HD definitely makes "Joanie's List" for a binocular at this price.