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Message: <blockquote data-quote="sammyboy" data-source="post: 1735023" data-attributes="member: 40715">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?</blockquote>

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