Monocular recommendations

axe2grind

I want to get monoculars for my 10yo son for general wildlife use. Close focussing a must for the likes of butterflies. Relatively good depth of field important so not to be adjusting all the time. Good resistance to water, so weather or accidental dip in puddle not an issue.

I reckon 6-8x magnification.
Budget say €100 but would stretch further if for good reason, happy to spend less!

ThunderCat

axe2grind wrote: »

I want to get monoculars for my 10yo son for general wildlife use. Close focussing a must for the likes of butterflies. Relatively good depth of field important so not to be adjusting all the time. Good resistance to water, so weather or accidental dip in puddle not an issue.

I reckon 6-8x magnification.
Budget say €100 but would stretch further if for good reason, happy to spend less!

I bought a lovely little 8x25 monocular off Amazon about 6 months or more ago. After doing a bit of research online I found that the vast amount of binoculars/monoculars are manufactured in China but are then branded elsewhere by the big companies. Anyway, the monocular I bought is the exact same as the Minox monocular also for sale on Amazon:


http://www.amazon.co.uk/MINOX-Macroscope-8x25-black-Monocular/dp/B000YPBDOS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1449145266&sr=8-1&keywords=minox+monocular


As you can see the Minox monocular is priced at 120 sterling and has very positive reviews even at that price point. The monocular I bought is branded as "Suncore" and the user manual and writing on the box are all in Chinese. So basically this is the exact same monocular as the Minox one above but it never left China to be rebranded by a big company, instead it was either sold by a local seller over there or was sold by the factory itself. Here is the link for it:


http://www.amazon.co.uk/SUNCORE-Travel-Telescope-High-Definition-Monocular/dp/B00ITIKD20/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1449145521&sr=8-4&keywords=suncore+monocular


I have yet to add my review but someone else has already gave it a positive review. And as you can see it is far far cheaper than the Minox one and I have no doubt in my mind they are the exact same as the image quality is excellent.
The reason I can testify that the image quality is excellent is because I also own a pair of Olympus PC1 8x25 binoculars that have fantastic reviews online and from looking through both the binoculars (just one eyepiece) and the Suncore monocular I can tell you that the image quality through the monocular is at least as good if not better than the binoculars. It really is very very decent. Here is a link to the binoculars:


http://www.amazon.co.uk/Olympus-8x25-Binoculars-Silver-Black/dp/B00006G33J/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1449145662&sr=8-1&keywords=olympus+pc1


Furthermore the monocular can close focus to a very short distance, is small and therefore easy for your son to hold, and has a thread underneath so that it can be attached to a tripod for a steadier view.


As I said, even at the price Minox is selling it for it is getting great reviews so buying the Suncore one at the price that it is is an absolute no brainer. Comes with a nice suede pouch to store it in aswell.


Only downside is that it took about 3 weeks or more to get to me.

ThunderCat

I also took a few photos using my mobile phone when I first got it of what the image was like and also what it looks like on the tripod. This may give you a better idea. It would be small enough to fit in a jacket pocket (minus the tripod!!)

axe2grind

Fantastic info ThunderCat, I appreciate your time and effort in replying.

I have picked up on something in reviews

I bought it and found the focus problem just as stated here. The slightest turn puts the whole thing out of focus, and there is very little depth of field. I kept it, but find myself using it very little -- in preference to other monoculars with better depth-of-field

...The focus ring needs less than one turn lock-to-lock, but at 2 inches diameter that takes a lot of finger movement. The killer is that just a barely detectable movement takes you from crisp to fuzzy, then just a litle more and you are so far off focus that there is nothing identifiable in the entire field of view, and it's like that for almost the whole focussing range. So at first look, turning the wheel a quarter turn each way won't tell you which way to go, and if you turn the focus too fast you zip past the correct setting without even noticing it....

Do you think there is an issue with poor depth of field such as described in what I quoted?

That aside, it certainly seems an excellent option and that my son would get fun with it both indoors and out and help in getting closer to nature.

ThunderCat

axe2grind wrote: »

Fantastic info ThunderCat, I appreciate your time and effort in replying.

I have picked up on something in reviews



Do you think there is an issue with poor depth of field such as described in what I quoted?

That aside, it certainly seems an excellent option and that my son would get fun with it both indoors and out and help in getting closer to nature.

Well when it comes to depth of field, I don't think it's apparent in a monocular anyway as you are only using one eye. By using both eyes, as with a pair of binoculars, it is only then that you are engaging your stereoscopic vision and a depth of field becomes apparent.


As for the focusing, I don't see an issue really. This monocular will focus on objects very close to you (less than 1 foot away) but it will also focus to infinity. So both points, and everything in between, has to be reached during a full turn of the focusing ring. Because almost all other monoculars/binoculars don't focus down to anything as close as under 1 foot, there is less of a gap between their close focus distance and infinity. Meaning that you have to turn their focus wheel/ring more before bringing your next object into focus. This is beneficial if you don't have the time or patience to take your time when focusing but in all honesty, its a non issue. The focus ring is nice and stiff which is a good thing as it will not slip out of focus if you don't want it to. And it's not too stiff that a child wont manage it. As long as you take your time turning the focus ring, whatever you want to see will come into focus. Hope this helps.

Desmo

Sorry to butt in but do you mean binoculars? You can get a pair of 8x30 or 8x40 binoculars for 100euro that will work well.
A monocular is usually harder to use and not worth the hassle. E.g. these in 8x40 from Conns Cameras for 140€
http://www.connscameras.ie/p/opticron-oregon-4-le-wp/p-5036422305251
or these from Birdwatch Ireland for 100€
http://shop.birdwatchireland.ie/birdwatchireland/product_info.php?cPath=21_22&products_id=951
The latter are sturdy, waterproof and good quality.
They are much easier to use than a monocular.

axe2grind

Desmo wrote: »

Sorry to butt in but do you mean binoculars?

No, my son is sighted in one eye.

dogmatix

That minox monocular is about 200 euros in Conns cameras off wicklow street, dublin. So even with amazon it would be a saving. Is suncore a subsidary of Minox? Because it looks identical to the minox scope. I'm sighted in both eyes but I have never been able to use binoculars properly - I find monoculars easier to use and they are much more compact too.

ThunderCat

dogmatix wrote: »

That minox monocular is about 200 euros in Conns cameras off wicklow street, dublin. So even with amazon it would be a saving. Is suncore a subsidary of Minox? Because it looks identical to the minox scope. I'm sighted in both eyes but I have never been able to use binoculars properly - I find monoculars easier to use and they are much more compact too.

I don't think its a subsidiary of Minox as they also do a different monocular that is identical to an Orion one, binoculars that are identical to a Bushnell and TS optics pair and then a different set of binoculars that look like the Nikon Monarchs but I'm not sure. My guess is that the factory where all these are made probably sell a few themselves.

recedite

I keep a recycled monocular in the glovebox of the car.
If you ever drop your binoculars and the two lenses go "out of sync" with each other, it may cost more than its worth to try and repair them. So cut them in half with a hack saw, and the part with the focus wheel makes a good monocular. At least you don't have to worry about knocking it around any more, because its already effectively "written off"