Athlon Midas G2 UHD 8×42 Binoculars: Our Review

At A Glance

PROS:

• Very bright, crisp image with good contrast 
• Good edge-to-edge sharpness
• Excellent feel to the focus wheel
• Good field of view and close focus
• Comfortable eyecups

CONS:

• Not all users liked the highly textured grip panels on the barrels

STATS:

• Price: $375 MSRP at press time. Prices often fluctuate, so check with retailers
• Close focus: 6.6 feet (200 cm)
• Field of view: 8.1° (425 feet at 1,000 yards). More about field of view 
• Weight: 25.9 oz (735 g)—that’s about 0.2 oz (6 g) lighter than the average for 8×42 binoculars in our review
• Eye relief: 17.2 mm

Viewing Experience: These binoculars have been praised by other reviewers, so we were eager to try them out, and they didn’t disappoint. The Midas delivered a very bright image with great contrast and remained sharp all the way from edge to edge. We took them out to look for waxwings on a cold winter morning with a glaring white sky. As a flock flew off at a distance, the Midas brought out the yellow bellies and white undertails that confirmed them as Cedar. Later, with about 120 waxwings perched in a row of trees, these binoculars quickly revealed the rich red-brown undertails of about 30 Bohemian Waxwings mixed in with the Cedars. As the birds fed on crabapples, the white spangles in the wings of the Bohemians were almost dazzling compared with the gray-brown of the Cedars’ wings. Overall it was a joy to linger over these elegant birds, admiring the complex interplay of gray, brown, yellow, and red through the Midas’s bright and sharp image. The field of view is at the top end among 8×42 binocular models; at 8.1° it should help you find birds easily, track them as they fly, and see more of large flocks in a single view.

Feel and Build: These are well-balanced binoculars with a solid but not heavy feel in the hand. We really liked the feel of the focus wheel, which rolls easily and maintains an even resistance throughout, allowing quick and precise focusing. The eyecups are fairly short, with rounded edges that make them comfortable against the eyes. They click securely into three preset positions, though they don’t seem to go out quite as far as some other binoculars—check this before buying if you like deep eyecups. The binocular body is black with an orange accent on the focus wheel and the brand name in orange on the barrel. The covering is matte black with grip panels created by molded ridges arranged in a zigzag pattern (reviewers were mixed on the aesthetics of this design). The objective lens covers attach to the barrels with rings that can be loose. The neck strap is a narrow but comfortable padded strap that seemed a bit too short to one reviewer.

This article is one in a series of mini-reviews. To see how these binoculars compare to others we’ve tested, see our full review of affordable 8×42 binoculars.