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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Stephen Prower" data-source="post: 3414796" data-attributes="member: 115634">GalwayguyGood luck with the recommendations of the 8x25 Vortex! I see on the web that the weight is a very handy 155g.Even living near London, I relied for my successful purchase of the 8x32 Helios principally upon a recommendation. In full the process comprised:* Knowing what I wanted from a monocular from the curiosity purchase of the 8x30 Chinese porro at £15* Often qualified recommendations of small, lightweight, or cheap monoculars by posters on Bird Forum* A highly favourable comparative recommendation of the 8x32 Helios on Bird Forum by a long time user of monoculars* A familiarity with good 8x32 binocular optics (the Opticron 8x32 SR.GA)* Try before you buy at Microglobe.I impulsively, I admit, passed up on attempting a hands-on comparison with other monoculars of similar specification. I did so because the price was right, and on Try before you buy, the Helios came fully up to the expectations that I had from reading the recommendation on Bird Forum.I have come to appreciate the Helios more as I have realised in practice how necessary good optics, in particular high light transmission, are to the utility of a monocular, certainly for me.I have a suspicion that good optics may indeed be, generally, a more black & white requirement for the satisfactory performance of a monocular than for a binocular, but that's as much as I dare venture to say in a post on a Forum of experienced users and optical experts!Stephen</blockquote>

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