I'm in Miriam's camp on the 8 vs 10, but it really boils down to 
personal preference and comfort.  One thing to consider is whether you 
have really steady hands or not, and how heavy the binos are. With 
lightweight binos and not so steady hands, the image with 10s can bounce 
around way too much.

Jane


On 5/14/2013 7:00 AM, Miriam Lawrence wrote:
> I actually just had my Monarchs repaired by Nikon and am expecting
> them in the mail today. I was very pleased with the ease,
> affordability (they're way past warranty) and speed of the repair
> process.
>
> I understand what Ken and Bryan (in his blog post) are saying about
> 8s vs 10s, and there are definitely tradeoffs, but I respectfully
> disagree that 8s offer as good a viewing experience as 10s, if you're
> using midrange-priced binos. I used to bird with decent midrange 8s,
> then switched to Monarch 10s and would never go back.
>
> It is absolutely true that it's harder to get on a bird with 10s due
> to the narrower field of view - that is definitely the big trade off
> - so for a novice birder, I would always suggest 8s. But having
> gotten reasonably adept at locating birds, I LOVE the size and
> clarity of the image that 10s offer. To me, on this point, there is
> no contest: 10s win.
>
> Perhaps I would feel differently  if I were using top-of-line binos
> (someday!), but that's my humble opinion where midrange binos are
> concerned.
>
> --Miriam Lawrence
>