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Monocular (1 Viewer)

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deltacornbread

Active member
Wife has a rural mail route and wants a monocular. Have several pair of binoculars, but she is convinced she wants a monocular. Anyone have any experience with them? She likes my 8x42 Theron binoculars, so I am looking 8 or 10x. Like to stay 150$ or less.
 
deltacornbread,
Yes I do have experience with monoculars, Zeiss and Leica have some excellent ones, but there are many used ones around for a very pleasant price. However, personally I prefer a lightweight binocular instead of a monocular, since in my hands a monocular does not have a easy handling performance. The best thing your wife can do, is to visit a good binocular/monocular shop and try some monoculars and small binoculars for a couple of hours also on moving objects.
Gijs
 
I have more monocs than I care to admit.
Some are made by cutting old independent-focus binoculars that are cleaned.
Monocs are even shakier under high power in a hand, so avoid higher powers
generally.


But...about new retail ones:

---At the low end:

---The Bear Grylls (Bushnell) 9x32 is amazing for its price ($30-40)
...it has a stiff focuser, though.

---The Brunton Echoes (7x18, $20) are good, but the focuser has
hysteresis so you can't get the sharpest image. (tried in shop)

---I've used a Minox MD 6x16 before. Excellent portability, easy use,
short near focus, and very good field width. A lot of fun. focus a little jumpy.
I got the Audubon 6x616s, but they are unfortunately not made anymore.

---Carson 7x32 X-View : $47, but not to be underestimated. It's a little big
for a monocular, but very bright and sharp, has a tripod mount, and
extremely close macro-focus (butterflies, hummingbird at the window, ants,
that piece of ancient pottery at the museum in a glass case....super for museums)
And it works well at dusk or in shade.

---Vortex Solo 8x25: ($9) A little jumpy but excellent size and sharpness.

---Vixen 6x16: ($99). This is a lot like the Minox but a little less cool and
much more exact focusing.

You can get a lot in a monocular for your limit.
You might be tempted to go for an "Alpha" for a little more
(Zeiss makes the ultimate spy-monoc at 5x10) but dropping aperature
to keep price down is a losing game. If you ever go super-premium
the price will have to be multiples of your limit. Monocs are for a quick
look and easy stashing, so your price limit will get you plenty.
 
I have the ZenRay ZRS 8x42 Monocular. It is very nicely built, slightly heavy like half of a Zenray ZRS binoculars with all the glass inside. I stopped after that one from one of the guys here who passed it on.
http://www.zen-ray.com/shop/monoculars/monohd8x42.html

Recently a zoom monoculars has been talked about. Makes me want to get one.
http://www.telescope.com..Orion-10-25x42-Zoom- Monocular

I would also consider Eagle Optics house brand,
http://www.eagleoptics.com/monoculars/atlas-optics/atlas-optics-eagle-eye-10x50-monocular



I wish I had a eye mount like a "Borg" eye prothesis to hold it steady. It is easy to wave the monocular around and not keep it on the target. I want to take looks when I am driving, but that is a >Dumb Idea<.

Rob.
 
I have used and tested many monoculars and hand held telescopes since 1958. Those with a small diameter objective lens generally give a low contrast image on all but the brightest days.With monoculars there is always more shudder, a less stable image, than when using a small pair of binoculars.

The best two that I have are....

The Minox MD 6x16, it is well engineered and is very light. It is best used on a sunny day.

The Helios AMD+8x32 Super High Resolution This monocular is not light but gives an outstandingly good quality, bright, image. It is waterproof and solidly built and has a helical focussing system that when pre-set makes it available on target almost instantly. It is without doubt the best monocular that I have used and has an image that matches up to that of a £500 pair of Zeiss binoculars that I own.
 
What do you all (more experienced than I am with monoculars) think about the Docter 8x21? It gets good reviews, generally, considering its price which I think is around $135 USD (around 100 Pounds?). That is within her price range, even though it requires some manipulation to "unfold" for use. It is very portable and small (easy to carry in a pocket).
 
Great reviews , to be sure. I didn't check the price before...pretty good!
Nice compact spy-goodie.

A warning with respect to the Original poster, however:
the small exit pupil and short eye relief would make it a pain to use
for a rural mail route. I have a friend who got the 6x18 Carson (it's like $12)
for reading trail signs hiking. He swears by it despite the barrel distortion.
He's an ultra-light packing guy, though. There are a few 6x30 monoculars
that might be even quicker to bring to bear on the target from the delivery truck
(30/6 = 5mm exit pupil, and 6-power/end-focus gives you large field depth)
 
Last edited:
Nicely said, O. N. !

I wish for a option to quick peeks while driving--- What was that price of gas? Is that the shop I am looking for? What was that machine in that person's yard? Did I see an animal? But my wishes are an idiot's choice. Please don't do it in your car.

Rob.
 
Aha,,,bingo. Super performance is wasted in that case.
Exit pupil and lower power is paramount.

I see

Carson MiniMight 6x18 ...good..keyfob..buy 2 or 3 $18

Celestron Outland 6x30 ----better, brighter + more exit pupil, bigger $30

Barska 7x32 Batallion ---- bigger brighter, tougher (~$50)

Barska "Deep Sea" 7x42 -- really bright, compass bearing ($69)... if she has to
resort to orienteering offroad in a Hummer.


Those are the "high exit pupil" models. You still need a quick stop, of course.
Very disorienting to look at speed. Um, "I have this friend" who says so.


I have some excellent 6x30s I made by slicing independent focus binocs in two,
but they look a bit too "Road Warrior", for gifting,
or maybe a gift Mel Gibson would offer to Tina Turner. Nice for a quick
'shufti' of road signs or mall stores.

You will see more detail if you have the time.....8x21s can be great in that case.
I'm getting psyched about the "Docter" monocular , but not for driving..
 
Last edited:
. My Helios 8×21 folding monocular looks very similar to the Docter.
The marked field is 6.5°.
I've used it for about 20 years and I think it was made in Japan although nowadays they are probably made in China.
It is single blue coated.

The performance is good even at the edge and it focuses to 7 feet or possibly 6'6" or 2 m.
I sometimes have had it in my pocket for weeks.
When I use it I sometimes don't even bother to fold it and look at the object upside down if I need to look at something very fast.
These types of monoculars had been around since the 1920s. By Zeiss, Wray, Soviet ones and umpteen others.
Undoubtedly the Docter version is of fine optical quality but for £15 my Japanese one is pretty good.
 
It is my understanding that the Docter 8x21 is the successor to the old Zeiss Jena Turmon 8x21 folding monocular. The optics are purportedly quite sharp and bright, for the price and the 8x magnification power.

Eye relief is reported by the manufacturer as 15mm, which is normally considered the minimum acceptable for eyeglass wearers like me. Close focus is listed as 5.2 ft. Exit Pupil: 2.6. FOV: 361 ft. And, like I said, this monocular is unusually small when folded and easy to carry in a pocket.
 
I have one, and although it's fun, I don't think the ER is quite 15mm and the FOV is narrow. It's novel but doesn't compare with the new generation of larger monoculars (Vortx, Celestron, etc.)

NorthernHarrier said:
It is my understanding that the Docter 8x21 is the successor to the old Zeiss Jena Turmon 8x21 folding monocular. The optics are purportedly quite sharp and bright, for the price and the 8x magnification power.

Eye relief is reported by the manufacturer as 15mm, which is normally considered the minimum acceptable for eyeglass wearers like me. Close focus is listed as 5.2 ft. Exit Pupil: 2.6. FOV: 361 ft. And, like I said, this monocular is unusually small when folded and easy to carry in a pocket.
Click to expand...
 
It's just a matter of how much space and time you've got to give.
8x21 is discrete if you have time to bring it to bear.
No question the bigger objective brings many good things, but it gets hard to
tuck in a pocket. I really like 6x30 and I even have a monster 7x50, but they use up
space. Good point with respect to the email route, though. The extra space could
be worth a lot for the exit pupil (at lower powers).
 
Went with the 9x32 Bear Grylls by Bushnell. Wife is very pleased with it. I was a bit surprised how good they are considering the price. Not bad. Not bad at all.
May buy myself a monocular. Probably find one with a lower magnification and possibly bigger objective.
 
Oh yeah.... the Bear Grylls is a giant bright view. I thought it might be a bit large
for your app. It's got long range, for sure.
If you do get lower power with the same objective size (like a 6x30) you will have
plenty of light.
 
OPTIC_NUT said:
Oh yeah.... the Bear Grylls is a giant bright view. I thought it might be a bit large
for your app. It's got long range, for sure.
If you do get lower power with the same objective size (like a 6x30) you will have
plenty of light.
Click to expand...

Wife's hands are steadier than mine. 6 or 7 be better for me. Keep a cheap pair of binoculars in my john boat. Think a monocular might fill the bill for this also.
Pick up a monocular. Next couple of years pick up a good pair of compact binoculars. And a 50 mm spotter. (Have a 82) should be set for life.
 
paul2013 said:
I have one, and although it's fun, I don't think the ER is quite 15mm and the FOV is narrow. It's novel but doesn't compare with the new generation of larger monoculars (Vortx, Celestron, etc.)
Click to expand...

It seems that paul2013 is correct. The website of the U.S. distributor of the Docter monocular now says that the eye relief is 9mm. This contradicts information on other websites, and possibly what I saw listed there earlier (?), but I believe them now because they have a direct relationship with the manufacturer and they seem to give out accurate info about the other products they sell.

The 9mm eye relief figure is a deal-breaker for me, unfortunately, although I'm sure the outstanding reviews of this product accurately attest to its fine qualities.
 
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