jaymoynihan
Corvus brachyrhynchos watcher
I recently obtained the 8x20 Monovid. I will at a later time do a review of sorts. If anyone has any questions about the instrument, feel free to ask.
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8x20 Monovid (3 Viewers)
- Thread starter jaymoynihan
- Start date
brocknroller
porromaniac
How can you hold steady an 8x monocular that only weighs 4 oz.?
Do you use two hands?
Brock
jaymoynihan
Corvus brachyrhynchos watcher
Some initial feedback.
Question: How can you hold steady an 8x monocular that only weighs 4 oz.? Do you use two hands?
I do use both hands when using the monovid. 1 to hold the monovid, and 1 to focus it.
Now, hand vibration will vary from person to person, and ambient conditions. The best way to hold it for me, is to palm it. Meaning, I place my hand around it, as if I am grasping the handle of a hammer. My hand (medium size) is behind the focus ring, which is located about 16mm behind the front edge of the instrument, sans the close-up attachment. The eye lens is therefore centered in a circle comprised of my thumb and the finger next to it.
I can hold it in that manner as steady as a small binocular to mid size binocular.
That said, i do not think i could hold it steady for as long as i could do a two-hand hold of a bino, if the holding arm i am using to hold it, is not "braced", i.e. against a tree, knee if sitting, car door, etc. But so far, that has not been the case. Just sayin'
Question: Getting "on" the bird?
No. I am not as fast getting on the moving target with the monovid, as with a compact or small binocular. The grip i describe above is part of the reason. A finger hold is for me as fast as a bino, but then I sacrifice the stability of the view.
Initial impressions.
As far as build quality, well, its a Leica product. Enough said.
I am initially going to give my impressions after a little "test" this a.m.
Sun up, early a.m. outside, 1 deg. F. The 3 of the 5 crows in my local family group sitting on branches in a tree, about 100 feet away. Blue sky behind them. I am in my car, window rolled down. Car stopped.
Comparing to my current car bino, Papilio 8.5x21. Obviously the two are in two different leagues as far as optical quality. But, for me, it is the appropriate comparison instrument.
I use field optics for more than birds. Both the monovid (with the close up lense attachment) and the Papilio have a strong close focus feature.
so,
1. Optically, like i inferred above, the monovid is the clear winner. No contest. It is a very hi res, contrast, flat view. For a 20mm aperture, it is hard for me to imagine better. Also, i could not notice CA.
BUT, if you really are sensitive to a view sometimes described as tunnel-like- or looking through a tube, and that is an uber alles issue for you, you may want to be sure to try in person before ordering. Given the size constraints on the intended design, that may be unavoidable.
2. Comfort of the view. For me, the Papillio had a much more comfortable view. That makes since being the all other things being equal, using two eyes for a person with two functioning eyes, will almost always be more comfortable.
Of course the virtue of the Monovid is its size. As i type this, it is in the breast pocket of my shirt, with the neck lanyard (optional, extra purchase :C ) around my neck. Probably more on that later....
Question: How can you hold steady an 8x monocular that only weighs 4 oz.? Do you use two hands?
I do use both hands when using the monovid. 1 to hold the monovid, and 1 to focus it.
Now, hand vibration will vary from person to person, and ambient conditions. The best way to hold it for me, is to palm it. Meaning, I place my hand around it, as if I am grasping the handle of a hammer. My hand (medium size) is behind the focus ring, which is located about 16mm behind the front edge of the instrument, sans the close-up attachment. The eye lens is therefore centered in a circle comprised of my thumb and the finger next to it.
I can hold it in that manner as steady as a small binocular to mid size binocular.
That said, i do not think i could hold it steady for as long as i could do a two-hand hold of a bino, if the holding arm i am using to hold it, is not "braced", i.e. against a tree, knee if sitting, car door, etc. But so far, that has not been the case. Just sayin'
Question: Getting "on" the bird?
No. I am not as fast getting on the moving target with the monovid, as with a compact or small binocular. The grip i describe above is part of the reason. A finger hold is for me as fast as a bino, but then I sacrifice the stability of the view.
Initial impressions.
As far as build quality, well, its a Leica product. Enough said.
I am initially going to give my impressions after a little "test" this a.m.
Sun up, early a.m. outside, 1 deg. F. The 3 of the 5 crows in my local family group sitting on branches in a tree, about 100 feet away. Blue sky behind them. I am in my car, window rolled down. Car stopped.
Comparing to my current car bino, Papilio 8.5x21. Obviously the two are in two different leagues as far as optical quality. But, for me, it is the appropriate comparison instrument.
I use field optics for more than birds. Both the monovid (with the close up lense attachment) and the Papilio have a strong close focus feature.
so,
1. Optically, like i inferred above, the monovid is the clear
winner. No contest. It is a very hi res, contrast, flat view. For a 20mm aperture, it is hard for me to imagine better. Also, i could not notice CA.BUT, if you really are sensitive to a view sometimes described as tunnel-like- or looking through a tube, and that is an uber alles issue for you, you may want to be sure to try in person before ordering. Given the size constraints on the intended design, that may be unavoidable.
2. Comfort of the view. For me, the Papillio had a much more comfortable view. That makes since being the all other things being equal, using two eyes for a person with two functioning eyes, will almost always be more comfortable.
Of course the virtue of the Monovid is its size. As i type this, it is in the breast pocket of my shirt, with the neck lanyard (optional, extra purchase :C ) around my neck. Probably more on that later....
Last edited:
jaymoynihan
Corvus brachyrhynchos watcher
A tad more...
Depth of field is very generous.
Close focus. The unenhanced close focus is for me a bit under 6 feet.
With the close focus screw on lense (goes in front of the objective), it is about 11"-12".
The optical quality of the close-up view is very good. I would say that it like that of my Meiji 10x loupe, but with the benefit of standoff distance.
Vs the Papilio, the optical quality of the close up view is definitely in favor of the monovid. The Papilio's view is" Easier" but significantly dimmer on close up (it was dimmer on regular distances also).
Am i keeping it? Definitely.
I has already become a vade mecum, along with my pocket knife and a hand loupe. If i am out with binos but not the Papilio also, it will fill in for the Papilio. If I am anywhere, so, to speak, it will be along.
Recommended to (with the caution in my last post):
A professional naturalist
An amatuer naturalist
An entomologist or botanist
Someone who always wants the smallest, versatile, high quality optic handy
and...
Oh yes the case.
A high quality leather case. Close up lense screws into the inner lid of the case. As you lift the lid, the instrument rises from the case. Very cool, with to me, one exception; with the neck langyard attached, very little of that langyard assembly fits inside the case.
And of course, is it worth $499 USD?
Obviously, to me, yes. To you, who knows?
Depth of field is very generous.
Close focus. The unenhanced close focus is for me a bit under 6 feet.
With the close focus screw on lense (goes in front of the objective), it is about 11"-12".
The optical quality of the close-up view is very good. I would say that it like that of my Meiji 10x loupe, but with the benefit of standoff distance.
Vs the Papilio, the optical quality of the close up view is definitely in favor of the monovid. The Papilio's view is" Easier" but significantly dimmer on close up (it was dimmer on regular distances also).
Am i keeping it? Definitely.
I has already become a vade mecum, along with my pocket knife and a hand loupe. If i am out with binos but not the Papilio also, it will fill in for the Papilio. If I am anywhere, so, to speak, it will be along.
Recommended to (with the caution in my last post):
A professional naturalist
An amatuer naturalist
An entomologist or botanist
Someone who always wants the smallest, versatile, high quality optic handy
and...
Oh yes the case.
A high quality leather case. Close up lense screws into the inner lid of the case. As you lift the lid, the instrument rises from the case. Very cool, with to me, one exception; with the neck langyard attached, very little of that langyard assembly fits inside the case.
And of course, is it worth $499 USD?
Obviously, to me, yes. To you, who knows?
brocknroller
porromaniac
Recommended to (with the caution in my last post):
A professional naturalist
An amatuer [sic] naturalist
An entomologist or botanist
Someone who always wants the smallest, versatile, high quality optic handy
and...
A covert agent....
I think Nikita uses a Monovid. Last episode, when she put a monocular up to her eye, I thought I saw a red dot.
Seems to me that this is the best use for it - spying. I can't imagine using one for birding, based on what you said. Maybe also for concerts or sporting events.
FOV is über alles vs. quality for me. I'd go down in quality for a larger FOV, such as the ZRS 8x42 monocular. Should be brighter, easier to handle for large hands, and it has 7,5* FOV. As long as it doesn't have too much pincushion or "crummy" edges.
Of course, I can't see myself using any monocular on a regular basis, and the ZRS is certainly not as compact as the monovid, but 10 oz. should help dampen the bad vibes better than 4. It's also less than half the price for more than twice the aperture.
As Kenny Jones from Cloudy Nights is fond of saying: Two eyes are better than one.
I would add, if you got 'em, use 'em.
Thanks for your comments, they were helpful.
Brock
A professional naturalist
An amatuer [sic] naturalist
An entomologist or botanist
Someone who always wants the smallest, versatile, high quality optic handy
and...
A covert agent....
I think Nikita uses a Monovid. Last episode, when she put a monocular up to her eye, I thought I saw a red dot.
Seems to me that this is the best use for it - spying. I can't imagine using one for birding, based on what you said. Maybe also for concerts or sporting events.
FOV is über alles vs. quality for me. I'd go down in quality for a larger FOV, such as the ZRS 8x42 monocular. Should be brighter, easier to handle for large hands, and it has 7,5* FOV. As long as it doesn't have too much pincushion or "crummy" edges.
Of course, I can't see myself using any monocular on a regular basis, and the ZRS is certainly not as compact as the monovid, but 10 oz. should help dampen the bad vibes better than 4. It's also less than half the price for more than twice the aperture.
As Kenny Jones from Cloudy Nights is fond of saying: Two eyes are better than one.
I would add, if you got 'em, use 'em.
Thanks for your comments, they were helpful.
Brock
jaymoynihan
Corvus brachyrhynchos watcher
:-O Yes. I think those spy good stores carry them actually.
I would never recommend it to a birder, perhaps to the birder who has everything.
But being an infovore and a behavior watcher, it is really useful.I have been surprised how useful a HQ always-on-you optic is. Yesterday, I was in an EM incident training thing, and siting with my team. The incident table that contained the model of the train wreak in the town was about 12 feet away. I wanted to see the symbols on the side of a tipped over tanker car, bingo!, did not have to get up :t:
Hi, At Christmas, I got the Leica Monovid for my partner to take to work with him so he could watch birds from his desk without being too obvious and could grab when he had a few minutes to bird on the way to lunch or when sitting in the endless traffic jams on the way home.
The police here have been cracking down on people not paying attention to the road - even when the traffic hasn't moved for minutes - and they hand out massive fines when they see anything in your hands. Since there is some excellent birding between my partner's office and home, the Monovid should help in scanning the cellphone towers for raptors - without being too seen because it disappears in your hand. Kind of like "spy birding"!
I got to try out the Monovid before I wrapped it up for Christmas and I really liked how easy it was to focus. I've had cheap 'monos' before but they weren't very useful. In fact, in some cases I got a better picture of the bird by snapping a picture with my cellphone.
I usually bird with Leica Ultravid 12 x 50s and I found that the new Monovid had the same bright field of view as the big bins. It costs a lot and certainly wouldn't be my choice in place of bins, but when you want to bird and don't want a large set of bins bouncing around your neck, the Leica Monovid really fills the bill. I agree with your take on the Monovid. It really is a high quality optical device and not just an expensive toy and I was really surprised how few adaptations I had to make to use it well.
The police here have been cracking down on people not paying attention to the road - even when the traffic hasn't moved for minutes - and they hand out massive fines when they see anything in your hands. Since there is some excellent birding between my partner's office and home, the Monovid should help in scanning the cellphone towers for raptors - without being too seen because it disappears in your hand. Kind of like "spy birding"!
I got to try out the Monovid before I wrapped it up for Christmas and I really liked how easy it was to focus. I've had cheap 'monos' before but they weren't very useful. In fact, in some cases I got a better picture of the bird by snapping a picture with my cellphone.
I usually bird with Leica Ultravid 12 x 50s and I found that the new Monovid had the same bright field of view as the big bins. It costs a lot and certainly wouldn't be my choice in place of bins, but when you want to bird and don't want a large set of bins bouncing around your neck, the Leica Monovid really fills the bill. I agree with your take on the Monovid. It really is a high quality optical device and not just an expensive toy and I was really surprised how few adaptations I had to make to use it well.
I wouldn't be without mine.
Being a bit of a golfer (keen but not very good) I always carry it in my pocket when on the course. It's amazing what's out there that you would miss with the naked eye and carrying a pair of bins (even if compact) isn't really on option.
Tony
Being a bit of a golfer (keen but not very good) I always carry it in my pocket when on the course. It's amazing what's out there that you would miss with the naked eye and carrying a pair of bins (even if compact) isn't really on option.
Tony
jaymoynihan
Corvus brachyrhynchos watcher
Riverbank and i321587 hit the point exactly. It is utility. For me, the purchase was spendy. But the utility is exceptional.
CloseFocus
Well-known member
I had trouble holding the Monovid steady when I was test driving it at a bird fair, and had a hard time justifying the purchase before a pair of 8x20 Ultravids, but when I win the lottery a Monovid will be one of my first purchases nonetheless. I ended up buying a Zen Ray 8x42 monocular to fill the need for a quick grab and look instrument to keep in the glove box of my car. It has excellent optics with just a hint of CA. For something that cost one fifth as much as the Leica (I paid $114.00 for mine), it's a more than adequate replacement for what I use it for. Oddly, there is not that much difference in the size of the cases between the two. But as something to tote in a pocket to have just in case, the Leicas win hands down.
jaymoynihan
Corvus brachyrhynchos watcher
I have heard good stuff about that model, and for birding that extra aperture is a real plus. There is an old rubic floating around somewhere on the Cloudy Nights astronomy forums that there is a 1.x (cannot remember X :C ) bump in resolution/brightness you get from a bino view compared to a mono view, all other things being equal.
CloseFocus
Well-known member
That's probably true - more photoreceptors equals more light. Even so, I did a quick comparison of the Monovid to my old 8x20 Trinovids, and the image of the Monovid is noticeably brighter.
jaymoynihan
Corvus brachyrhynchos watcher
Interesting. I have been surprised by how bright the monovid is in low light situations. Perhaps something to do with the coatings. :t:
jaymoynihan
Corvus brachyrhynchos watcher
Being the original poster of the mini-review I thought I would do a follow-up after a few months went by.
I am very satisfied with the device. I have used it overwhelmingly in its distance viewing mode. Have used it in many situations that i would not before had an optic along. In addition to birds and other creatures, many mundane uses. For example, reading the labels for indicator lights on a ceiling hung LCD projector.
I am very satisfied with the device. I have used it overwhelmingly in its distance viewing mode. Have used it in many situations that i would not before had an optic along. In addition to birds and other creatures, many mundane uses. For example, reading the labels for indicator lights on a ceiling hung LCD projector.
Hey Jay,
I too, recently purchased a Monovid and enjoy it for all the same reasons you do. I also, rather impulsively, purchased a pair of Zeiss Victory 8x20's at the same time. I now feel as if I have a redundancy in compact optics and will probably sell the Leica. I am, after all, a large mammal and any pocket I can fit the Monovid in will also house the folded 8x20 equally as well. As great as the view through the Monovid is, it'll never equal the Zeiss....(physics being what they are)...... I think I'll put the monies from the sale toward a spotter....damn impulsivity.....
Mike
I too, recently purchased a Monovid and enjoy it for all the same reasons you do. I also, rather impulsively, purchased a pair of Zeiss Victory 8x20's at the same time. I now feel as if I have a redundancy in compact optics and will probably sell the Leica. I am, after all, a large mammal and any pocket I can fit the Monovid in will also house the folded 8x20 equally as well. As great as the view through the Monovid is, it'll never equal the Zeiss....(physics being what they are)...... I think I'll put the monies from the sale toward a spotter....damn impulsivity.....
Mike
perseid28
Well-known member
I convinced myself last week that a pair of Nikon Premier 8x20s was the answer for optics that I could keep on my person at all times. Well, they arrived today and I was triply disappointed in them:
1) The case is much larger than I'd expected and there's no way the binoculars and case would fit in a shirt pocket. I guess I could keep it on a belt, but it's bulky enough to be extremely noticeable, and probably more than a little annoying to wear all day.
2) There are no objective caps included, so putting the binoculars in a pocket without the case is not going to happen. I don't like the idea of directly exposing the rest of the binocular parts to the lint from my pockets anyway.
3) The binoculars arrived slightly out of alignment--but more than enough to be noticeable (the left barrel was pointing slightly higher than the right). I'm not sure if this was due to the rather mediocre packing job of the camera shop-which-shall-not-be-named, or if it was sloppy alignment at the factory, but either way it's not something I expected from such an expensive little instrument and changes my expectation about these high-end compacts being essentially bulletproof.
As a side note, the optics really were great (sans the alignment issue). In broad daylight they roughly equaled my 8x32 SEs for full-field resolution, which is quite a compliment. And they have an ease of observing that makes me believe that if I had to use them all day, I would not wish for anything else.
But since the compacts failed [in my mind] in the aspect of go-anywhere optics, I expect to return them on Monday, and have already ordered the Leica monovid. I figured since half the people on this forum seem to love monoculars for periodic birding, and half do not, it's worth a try for me. I really hope to find that I can hold the monocular steady enough to be able to make use of its high quality optics, and that I can make most of the IDs that I could with binoculars. Only time will tell...
1) The case is much larger than I'd expected and there's no way the binoculars and case would fit in a shirt pocket. I guess I could keep it on a belt, but it's bulky enough to be extremely noticeable, and probably more than a little annoying to wear all day.
2) There are no objective caps included, so putting the binoculars in a pocket without the case is not going to happen. I don't like the idea of directly exposing the rest of the binocular parts to the lint from my pockets anyway.
3) The binoculars arrived slightly out of alignment--but more than enough to be noticeable (the left barrel was pointing slightly higher than the right). I'm not sure if this was due to the rather mediocre packing job of the camera shop-which-shall-not-be-named, or if it was sloppy alignment at the factory, but either way it's not something I expected from such an expensive little instrument and changes my expectation about these high-end compacts being essentially bulletproof.
As a side note, the optics really were great (sans the alignment issue). In broad daylight they roughly equaled my 8x32 SEs for full-field resolution, which is quite a compliment. And they have an ease of observing that makes me believe that if I had to use them all day, I would not wish for anything else.
But since the compacts failed [in my mind] in the aspect of go-anywhere optics, I expect to return them on Monday, and have already ordered the Leica monovid. I figured since half the people on this forum seem to love monoculars for periodic birding, and half do not, it's worth a try for me. I really hope to find that I can hold the monocular steady enough to be able to make use of its high quality optics, and that I can make most of the IDs that I could with binoculars. Only time will tell...
jaymoynihan
Corvus brachyrhynchos watcher
do not know if i mentioned this in my review, but i find the trick to be that you "palm it", with the eye end sticking out between the thumb anf forefinger. Best then, this to further steady that hand/arm with the other hand.
For most people, it is not correct to assume a monocular is a one-handed instrument.
perseid28
Well-known member
do not know if i mentioned this in my review, but i find the trick to be that you "palm it", with the eye end sticking out between the thumb anf forefinger. Best then, this to further steady that hand/arm with the other hand.
For most people, it is not correct to assume a monocular is a one-handed instrument.
Yes, and that's one of the main reasons I decided to give it a try myself. Obviously superb optics are useless if you can't hold them steady, and there's more than a few people who argue that compact binoculars are the smallest useful instruments for birding. But as I said in the previous post, I really want something smaller and more robust than those Nikon Premier compacts, and hopefully can get this Leica to work!
Did it take you awhile to get used to viewing through the monocular, or is it pretty natural to use?
