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

Good and cheap monocular? (1 Viewer)

I have a few monoculars and they are very handy to just slip into a pocket 'just in case'.

Got an Opticron 8x20 Galleryscope which is a bit soft focuswise but otherwise excellent - great for watching insects al the way up to birds or aircraft on the horizon!

Also got an old Soviet 8x30 monocular (basically half of one of those BNU zeiss-based binoculars) which is very sharp, decent field of view though poor eye relief (I wear glasses), yellowish tinge to the optics which is common with old Soviet stuff, and a bit bulky and heavy compared to many monoculars. Not too many about either so can be hard to track one down.

I also have an old Zeiss Jena 8x21 1Q 'Turmon' monocular, no serial no. so can't date it but has the bluish coatings so probably dates from the 60s or 70s. Amazingly sharp, great optics and very small, also when folded to the 'use' position quite ergonomic and easier to hold steady than traditional monoculars. Eye relief also a bit short and my example has rather stiff focus, but I wouldn't sell it for anything! I also, more out of curiosity brought one of those Chinese copies for all of £6 off Ebay (they're often branded 'Nikula') and was very pleasantly surprised by it! Almost as sharp as the Zeiss, neutral colours but again short eye relief. Also noticed it was marked '10x21' but comparing it to the Turmon it is acually I think 8x mag. Not sure if I was just lucky but very pleased with it and it lives in my coat pocket - the Turmon is a little too rare to be bouncing about in my pocket with my all day!

I'd recommend trying one of the Chinese copies out - not much money to lose if you don't like, one downside is most of them are shipped from China so would take a week or two to arrive, have a search on Ebay and see what you think!

One other thing - all monoculars I've tried are a bit tricky to find it's target when finding something flying in the sky - are they all like this or is it just me?
 
If you mean like the one I have, here's one of them the Nikula branded version - or here for the buy it now for £6.98.

Not sure what search term to use, the example above is titled rather flashily 'Super Mini 10 x 21 Zoom Monocular Telescope Binocular' and the one like I have they called a 'magic' monocular telescope (simply because the image is upside down before you rotate it!)
 
Funny design! :) But for that price it can´t go wrong, il just order one and see if I like it.

Kevin, is this the same one as you meant?


If you mean like the one I have, here's one of them the Nikula branded version - or here for the buy it now for £6.98.

Not sure what search term to use, the example above is titled rather flashily 'Super Mini 10 x 21 Zoom Monocular Telescope Binocular' and the one like I have they called a 'magic' monocular telescope (simply because the image is upside down before you rotate it!)
 
Let us know how you get on with it if you do get one! :)

Edit: Here's a couple of pictures of my Turmon and the Chinese copy I've got, note it stating '10x21' when it's actually 8x21. Glad it's actually 8x not 10x or the view would be very dark!
 

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Yes, the Turmon and those Chinese versions are very similar, see my pictures in my previous post which show my Turmon and it's Chinese modern equivalent next to each other :)
 
Yeah, I meant if the optics was as similar as the appearance ;) So they are not 10x magnification? That would be a good thing, 10x is too much for a mono.


Yes, the Turmon and those Chinese versions are very similar, see my pictures in my previous post which show my Turmon and it's Chinese modern equivalent next to each other :)
 
Sorry, yes optically they do seem to be quite close to the Turmon. When looking through both monoculars, one on each eye the magnification looks identical. Not sure if I was just lucky with my example but it is very good and very sharp optically and am very pleased with it.

Have you ordered one yet?
 
Ok, sounds good! I have not been able to order it yet, work has consumed so much time, but tonight il take the plunge and invest in one of these! Probably my cheapest gadget for ages.

Sorry, yes optically they do seem to be quite close to the Turmon. When looking through both monoculars, one on each eye the magnification looks identical. Not sure if I was just lucky with my example but it is very good and very sharp optically and am very pleased with it.

Have you ordered one yet?
 
I have tried two from Eagle Optics that were not very good. Returned them. Dim and poor optics and not much ER. They were these two and I can't recommend them:

http://www.eagleoptics.com/monoculars/vortex/vortex-solo-8x25-monocular-2

http://www.eagleoptics.com/monoculars/eagle-optics/eagle-optics-insight-7x18-monocular-metallic

But the best one I have ever seen for the money is this one from Orion Telescopes. It is the Orion Eagle Eye 8x32. It has a 7.8 degree FOV and amazingly sharp optics right to the edge. It is a little BIGGER so it is kind of big in a normal pocket but it puts all those little monoculars to shame when it comes to optics:

http://www.telescope.com/control/pr...hSession=65ef9f0c-a590-4ef9-a3c8-4c91b3ad4fc5

Try it you will like it!

I found Kenko 8x32 monocular from 1999 that were very similar looking to the Orio eagleye 8x32. Ergonomically its perfect, its just that paying so much for something called Kenko and without phasecoating... Anyone tried against anything else that the newest Leica 8x20 mono?
Best
Carsten
 
Oh, I thought that only applied to roof prism binoculars. Which monocular have phase correction coatings? I would like something like a 6x30.
 
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Only the Zeiss that I know of. But further up Dennis had kudos for the Orion 8x32 and I second that. Got one for a friend of mine who has a retinal degeneration in one eye and it's pretty good. If ya have big mitts, it handles a lot better than the little 20's and has a 4mm ep vs 2.5.
 
I just tried a 7x30 Bynolyt/Kite Mono, without phacecoating or ED glass, and it was only a subtle difference(no false color seen on a tree with a bit overcast sky in the background) between that and a 8x42 ED with phacecoating. Not as extreme clarity as in the 8x42, but certainly a fine image.
Many good monoculars I find here in Europe seems not to be available in USA though.

Bulky but cheap:

http://www.rusmilitary.com/html/mono_tc.htm
 
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