Very good binoculars, solid buy - Athlon Optics Midas Gen II UHD 8x42mm Roof Prism Binoculars

I wanted an 8x wide angle binocular to replace my old Nikon Monarch 10x with 5.5 deg FoV. I did a deep dive on just about every pair of binoculars in the $300-$600 range. I finally decided that the Athlon Midas G2 8x42 were the best balance of value and quality when I finally ordered from Optics Planet. I was a bit hesitant but after using them quite a bit for birding I have to say that I am very impressed. I’ve used nice glass before and these are really good: clarity and brightness are very good and the color rendition is accurate while still feeling vibrant and contrasty. It takes a little playing around to get them comfortable to use with eyeglasses but there’s just enough eye relief to work for me, although veiling reflections crop up a little bit which is cut down with the use of Bino Buddies (mounted below the eyecups). The best thing I can say about these binoculars is that they make me want to go out birding more, which is high praise! All in all, I am extremely happy with the value-to-quality proposition with these and I’d buy them again if I lost them.