I was just curious if any of you folks have any monoculars? I am attracted by their portabiltiy and relativley low cost - but dont realy now where to start with them. I am not in a position to buy anything at the moment, but was just interested in some general opinions and ideas.
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about monoculars ? (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter danehower
- Start date
matt green
Norfolkman gone walkabout
Hiya Dave
Opticron make some quality products, monoculars included. The also make one or two models with ultra close focusing for macro and insect viewing (gallery scope 8x20) along with their regular line of field glasses.
More info on the website
www.opticron.co.uk
Matt
stuart C smith
swansong
here in the uk, [scopes n skies] are selling bresser safari sprite monoculars in 20x50 and 10x50 sizes for £54.99 inc postage, looking like green mini spotting scopes, nitro filled bodies plus bak 4 multicoated lenses, they look good, and i am tempted, but will wait until they send me one [some hope ] to evaluate .
Last edited:
Mickymouse
Ubuntu Linux user
I've got two, the Minox Macroscope and an El Cheapo Helios, the Minox I just can't get on with, can't hold it steady for a start and the focus is awkward to use. The cheapo Helios is let down by it's poor close focus otherwise it would be a handy little thing to keep in your pocket.
Mick
Mick
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Fernando np
Well-known member
I consider monoculars as a regular birding tool are only justified for people who can use only one eye. Even the most expensives scopes bring a bill to your sigh if you don't put limits to the time you spend looking through them.
SteveClifton
Well-known member
I would have thought that even for someone with poor/partial sight in one eye, binoculars would be better as they are easier to hold/better balanced etc.
Just how are you supposed to hold a monocular without looking like a nerd? No offence if anyone has one-I genuinely would like to know! but as you rarely or never see anyone with one in the field, I would imagine they are impractical and difficult to use for prolonged use.
Just how are you supposed to hold a monocular without looking like a nerd? No offence if anyone has one-I genuinely would like to know! but as you rarely or never see anyone with one in the field, I would imagine they are impractical and difficult to use for prolonged use.
ksbird/foxranch
Well-known member
We often use monoculars in special circumstances. With 2 of my staffs (including a Leki with a "snow foot") it is possible and handy to have a monocular (spotting scope) screwed onto the 1/4 20 screw thread. I'm pretty sure the Opticron 20x50 "monocular" I have qualifies as a spotting scope. But the Fujinon 7x50 I actually prefer to use on a staff may indeed be a monocular. In the snow clomping around (but needing quick access to magnified views), the staff mounted scope/monocular is great and immediate and won't fog with eyeglasses. The problem becomes eyeball vapor/liquid condensation on the eyepiece especially on very cold days if you move close to the rubber eyeguard on the monocular eyepiece that is on a staff.
The alternative on super cold days is a monocular kept inside a glove. While I think I have mittens that would hold my hand plus a tiny 6x18 Nikon Mikron bin (not waterproof), but I couldn't be sure which way it would be oriented when it came out of the glove. The 8x23 waterproof Bushnell monocular is easier to use. Once the focus and diopter are set for my right eye (I keep my staff in the left hand almost always), I can pull the monocular out of the glove and put it up to my eye in a few seconds by flipping the mitten backwards off my hand. I also have military mittens with a buttoned flip-open flap in the middle. This military mitten allows some of my fingers to stay in the mitten while holding the monocular through the hole in the mitten the flap exposes. The heat of my hand keeps the monocular warm and so there is no eye vapor condensation unless I keep the monocular outside. The button mitten is generally colder because it isn't sealed as well as the oversize full mitten, but I can hold the monocular until it gets cold more easily with the button-flap glove. It is the onlyy way to get really good views of resting white birds sitting in the snow.
I also have a monocular similar to the Helios shown above, and it was made in Russia. The quality is excellent and the view may be better than the Bushnell but the focus moves when it is pulled out of the glove and so it is a pain to use this way. I keep it as a spare in case the Bushnell gets lost or broken and I need another one quickly. It fits easily into a pocket.
I also have a super tiny 6x18 waterproof monocular made by Ranging. There is no air space inside this unit except behind the focusing lens/eyepiece. It has glued porro prisms and the objective lens is glued to the prism as well. It stays focused once it is set and it is about the size of a walnut. I have a neck lanyard I can use to wear it around my neck when I swim. I put Rain-X on the lenses and if I am floating on the water approaching birds by the shore, I can just put it up to my eye in seconds to identify birds floating on the water or by the shore. It is so small it is actually difficult to hold unless I just curl a finger around it and hold the bottom in the crook of my thumb/finger web (sort of like making an "okay" signal with the forefinger and thumb). I use this monocular for many non-bird-viewing purposes like checking street signs 3-4 blocks away while stopped at stoplights. I can still see the light changing to green from red with the other eye.
I have anumber of monoculars I can clip to my eyeglasses and flip down quickly when I want to see a view much further ahead when I am hiking in summer. These monoculars are 2x, 3x and 5x and while the 2x and 3x are Gallilean coated monoculars, the 5x is a roof prism normally used for Dental work, but I changed the focus distance with a spacer so now it goes from 5 feet to infinity. This allows me to inspect flowers/bugs etc. at my feet or anywhere down the path. The monoculars are clipped firmly to my eyeglasses which have elastic retainers around my head to hold them, and then there is a little hinged fixture that allows the monocular to flip in front of my eyeglass lens. They leave a mmessy bunch of gum and lubricant on my eyeglasses so I always use eyeglasses made of glass with them (never plastic).
I have a set of jewelers loupe headbands with the close-up lenses removed and binoculars mounted in them. They work fine if I'm siting and reading on my deck and want to remove my eyeglasses and flip my hinged binoculars down for a quick view (like when horses are fussing in a new pasture I've moved them to). But the view is minimal. The flip monoculars are actually very sharp including the Gallilean types. The views are big and wide open and the viewing lenses are easily big enough that you don't think you are looking through a tiny "pipe".
I now have a couple of "quickie" monoculars I made by removing the center hinged section from some small Tasco roofers (9x25) after setting the focus to near infinity. If I need to, the focus can be adjusted in a rudimentary fashion because the focus pin sticks out of each monocular barrel. They cost me $5 for the broken bins (the center was triple hinged and one hinge was broken) and now I have 2 very serviceable waterproof monoculars.
Zeiss made a very high quality monocular that was intended to be used with their Contaflex camera as a conversion 400mm telephoto lens. It is an 8x30 monocular and it is very sharp. Since the camera had a 1/4 20 screw mount, they didn't put one on the 8x30 monocular. It wasn't waterproof and both the 20x50 Opticron and the 7x50 Fujinon I use are superwaterproof/immersible. ANY broken individual eyepiece focus binocular will convert to being a monocular (as long as one of the sides has a functioning eyepiece focuser).
I've tried to use a Zeiss 6x20 monocular but it doesn't give me views much better than my waterproof Bushnell 8x23. Small binoculars are better and handier in most situations, but monoculars can be very useful at times,especially when swimming/inner-tube-rafting wearing a monocular or in extreme cold and snow when the monocular either can fit in a big mitten or mount on a staff.
The alternative on super cold days is a monocular kept inside a glove. While I think I have mittens that would hold my hand plus a tiny 6x18 Nikon Mikron bin (not waterproof), but I couldn't be sure which way it would be oriented when it came out of the glove. The 8x23 waterproof Bushnell monocular is easier to use. Once the focus and diopter are set for my right eye (I keep my staff in the left hand almost always), I can pull the monocular out of the glove and put it up to my eye in a few seconds by flipping the mitten backwards off my hand. I also have military mittens with a buttoned flip-open flap in the middle. This military mitten allows some of my fingers to stay in the mitten while holding the monocular through the hole in the mitten the flap exposes. The heat of my hand keeps the monocular warm and so there is no eye vapor condensation unless I keep the monocular outside. The button mitten is generally colder because it isn't sealed as well as the oversize full mitten, but I can hold the monocular until it gets cold more easily with the button-flap glove. It is the onlyy way to get really good views of resting white birds sitting in the snow.
I also have a monocular similar to the Helios shown above, and it was made in Russia. The quality is excellent and the view may be better than the Bushnell but the focus moves when it is pulled out of the glove and so it is a pain to use this way. I keep it as a spare in case the Bushnell gets lost or broken and I need another one quickly. It fits easily into a pocket.
I also have a super tiny 6x18 waterproof monocular made by Ranging. There is no air space inside this unit except behind the focusing lens/eyepiece. It has glued porro prisms and the objective lens is glued to the prism as well. It stays focused once it is set and it is about the size of a walnut. I have a neck lanyard I can use to wear it around my neck when I swim. I put Rain-X on the lenses and if I am floating on the water approaching birds by the shore, I can just put it up to my eye in seconds to identify birds floating on the water or by the shore. It is so small it is actually difficult to hold unless I just curl a finger around it and hold the bottom in the crook of my thumb/finger web (sort of like making an "okay" signal with the forefinger and thumb). I use this monocular for many non-bird-viewing purposes like checking street signs 3-4 blocks away while stopped at stoplights. I can still see the light changing to green from red with the other eye.
I have anumber of monoculars I can clip to my eyeglasses and flip down quickly when I want to see a view much further ahead when I am hiking in summer. These monoculars are 2x, 3x and 5x and while the 2x and 3x are Gallilean coated monoculars, the 5x is a roof prism normally used for Dental work, but I changed the focus distance with a spacer so now it goes from 5 feet to infinity. This allows me to inspect flowers/bugs etc. at my feet or anywhere down the path. The monoculars are clipped firmly to my eyeglasses which have elastic retainers around my head to hold them, and then there is a little hinged fixture that allows the monocular to flip in front of my eyeglass lens. They leave a mmessy bunch of gum and lubricant on my eyeglasses so I always use eyeglasses made of glass with them (never plastic).
I have a set of jewelers loupe headbands with the close-up lenses removed and binoculars mounted in them. They work fine if I'm siting and reading on my deck and want to remove my eyeglasses and flip my hinged binoculars down for a quick view (like when horses are fussing in a new pasture I've moved them to). But the view is minimal. The flip monoculars are actually very sharp including the Gallilean types. The views are big and wide open and the viewing lenses are easily big enough that you don't think you are looking through a tiny "pipe".
I now have a couple of "quickie" monoculars I made by removing the center hinged section from some small Tasco roofers (9x25) after setting the focus to near infinity. If I need to, the focus can be adjusted in a rudimentary fashion because the focus pin sticks out of each monocular barrel. They cost me $5 for the broken bins (the center was triple hinged and one hinge was broken) and now I have 2 very serviceable waterproof monoculars.
Zeiss made a very high quality monocular that was intended to be used with their Contaflex camera as a conversion 400mm telephoto lens. It is an 8x30 monocular and it is very sharp. Since the camera had a 1/4 20 screw mount, they didn't put one on the 8x30 monocular. It wasn't waterproof and both the 20x50 Opticron and the 7x50 Fujinon I use are superwaterproof/immersible. ANY broken individual eyepiece focus binocular will convert to being a monocular (as long as one of the sides has a functioning eyepiece focuser).
I've tried to use a Zeiss 6x20 monocular but it doesn't give me views much better than my waterproof Bushnell 8x23. Small binoculars are better and handier in most situations, but monoculars can be very useful at times,especially when swimming/inner-tube-rafting wearing a monocular or in extreme cold and snow when the monocular either can fit in a big mitten or mount on a staff.
ksbird/foxranch,
I have had a Zeiss Classic 6x20, which I think is the model you mention. I sold it, which I regret today. The sharpness was superior to all the binoculars I have today and have ever had, of course because it's in the same class of the full size Zeisses.
Eye relief was more than adequate for use with eyeglasses with the rubber eyecups downfolded. The real disadvantage of this instrument was the narrow 41 deg AFOV.
But it was really compact and portable! I mourn that Zeiss discontinued this model!
However; about a handholdable monocular my opinion is that they shall be low/moderate powered. The stability of a monocular is worse than when using a binocular.
I don't know what you mean when you compare to the Bushnell 8x23. Indeed; if you hold it enough stable even a "budget" instrument with 8x may beat a high-end instrument with 6x. One thing I really liked with the 6x20 was that it provided a fairly clear image even at dusk and dawn because of the moderate power and therefore relatively large exit pupil.
Regards, Patric
I have had a Zeiss Classic 6x20, which I think is the model you mention. I sold it, which I regret today. The sharpness was superior to all the binoculars I have today and have ever had, of course because it's in the same class of the full size Zeisses.
Eye relief was more than adequate for use with eyeglasses with the rubber eyecups downfolded. The real disadvantage of this instrument was the narrow 41 deg AFOV.
But it was really compact and portable! I mourn that Zeiss discontinued this model!
However; about a handholdable monocular my opinion is that they shall be low/moderate powered. The stability of a monocular is worse than when using a binocular.
I don't know what you mean when you compare to the Bushnell 8x23. Indeed; if you hold it enough stable even a "budget" instrument with 8x may beat a high-end instrument with 6x. One thing I really liked with the 6x20 was that it provided a fairly clear image even at dusk and dawn because of the moderate power and therefore relatively large exit pupil.
Regards, Patric
