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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

in need of a current production and good quality Monocular as blind in one eye (1 Viewer)

T

treebark

New member
I read through the monocular thread from a couple days ago but it was geared towards a very pocketable monocular or talk of monoculars of years past.

My need is a little different in that I want a high quality monocular and while it doesn't have to be pocketable I don't want a huge spotting scope either. ;)

I do a lot of low light looking (dusk/dawn), want at least some range (hopefully at least 8x), and wear glasses (so need an eye relief of at least 15mm?).

I have OK binoculars (Leup wind river) and tried friends binoculars, but end up holding them vertically as it is usually a pain (for me) to try to hold them in the correct orientation. It looks foolish I am sure, and not sure why I can't hold them normally, but that is what I do so my body is telling me to go the monocular way.

I tried researching and came across the Minox 8x25 macroscope and Brunton 7x40 macroscope, but am sure there have to be other choices out there (and reviews of the Minox were not favorable).

Suggestions for a short list? As far as price goes, if there is a great pair for $150 great, all the better if that is where the sweet spot is before diminishing returns kick in, but if there is an outstanding best ever pair for $400 then so be it.
 
Hi Bob, Wow, good memory! Actually I bought it off Ebay as half only[$15 shipped ].:) I have been keeping it in my vehicle. This has been about 4 yrs. or so and it still works great. i did look at Ebay last night after Tree posted this. I would buy a used Fujinon 7x50 at a good price and cut it in half, you would have two for the price of one. I originally bought this for a farmer friend that I bought coal off of and he was blind in one eye , but liked it so well I kept it in the vehicle.

BTW Welcome to BirdForum Tree Bark
Regards,Steve
 
I really like the idea of half a Fujinon. A few would be good candidates I think in addition to the 7x50s.
The 6x30s have beaucoup DOF and minimize focusing, and the 8x30s seem a great all-rounder for daytime use.

It's hard to imagine doing any better than Fujinon for sheer optical performance, and ruggedness.
 
Hi,
In defense of the Minox 8x25, it is a decent performer with exceptional close focus capability, a couple of feet, somewhat like the Pentax Papilio.
It is not an all weather design or particularly compact however, so it often loses out to conventional small binoculars.
 
Thanks for all the options! Am now thinking about two...a larger "half" as people have been describing and a smaller dedicated / designed monocular.

Kevin, have you ever compared the Minox to the Nikons or andrew_s's and other dedicated ones above? The Minox seems easier to locate/more consumerish...not sure that is a good thing or a bad thing.
 
Kevin Purcell said:
The Minox 8x25 is a conventional roof prisms and doesn't toe-in the objectives when focusing.

The Papillo design moves the objective lenses in two dimension as you focus: one of course change the focus and the other motion (at right angles) changes the IPD.

This means the whole FOV is usable even at the closest focus (not something that works on other bins (even reverse porros).
Click to expand...

Kevin,

I´m not sure which Minox do you mean. The Minox 8x25 Makroskop is a monocular with porroprisms.

etudiant,

the Makroskop is suitable for allweather use because it´s waterproof and purged with argon.

treebark,

don´t know the Brunton but if you like, here is a review of the Makroskop in German which can be translated by google language tools: http://www.voegel-magazin.de/Beitraege/Beitraege_Detail.php?id=353

Steve
 
Oh my. A classic example of a post to the wrong thread .... apologies.

I was thinking this was a Papillo thread. My bad.

Please ignore my comments.
 
Another option in the "make two from one" approach is the Minox 6.5x32 IF roof. You can get it from CameralandNY for about $180. It could then be dismantled at the hinge and separated into two monocular units. It has gotten rave reviews in some primarily hunting forums. You won't see IF discussed too much in birding forums like this one.
 
No idea if they are available in the US but Opticron do a range of monoculars.
The UK web site is www.opticron.co.uk

I suspect that these are the ones mentioned on Sherwoods.

No idea how good Opticron are at answering emails but you could ask if they distribute in the US and who through.
 
The shipping charge for one of the Opticron monoculars (either DBA Oasis S-coat which is essentially half a very good quality binocular or the Waterproof) would be about $45 so quite an add-on if you're only planning on spending the $150.

For the DBA Oasis, the retail price is £216 excluding sales tax (around $325) so it might make more sense to pay that shipping.

Check the following links for info:

http://www.opticron.co.uk/Pages/buying.htm
http://www.opticron.co.uk/Pages/dba_mono.htm
http://www.opticron.co.uk/Pages/bga_mono.htm
http://www.opticron.co.uk/Pages/wp_mono.htm

There's a review of the DBA Oasis S-coat binocular here:

http://www.opticron.co.uk/Pages/dba_review.htm

and optically the monocular is identical.

Enjoy!
 
Hinnark,
Thank you for the info on the Minox 8x25. I did not know it was waterproof.
The monocular site you highlighted is very informative.

Birdforum where you learn something every day!
 
I've just got myself one of those Luger MD 8x30 monoculars, it looks good but don't get it till tomorrow. Will let you know how I get on with it.

They cost about £40 off Ebay and other online shops, nice wide 10.5 degree FOV too!
 
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