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Monocular required......


swag72

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It would be hard to be disappointed by Leica. I use their 8x42 for astro and home birding and their 10x25 for pocket birding etc. I rather regret not going for the lower mag 8x20, in truth, becaue in growing older I find 10x to lose more to the dithers than I gain in resoution.

The monocular has a lot going for it. Have fun!

Olly

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I was looking for the very good, little monocular I recently bought off eBay. It was/is a 4 X 12mm little one I paid about $14.00 for it. And I thought I'd sound the alarm!!

Now places all over are selling these for, on average, $150.00! Be very, very careful out there! It looks to me that the crooks' are running the monocular sales now.

Below is a (poor) photo of it and, as I recall, it was about $14.00US including postage. From China. It is made by Carton Optical Industries, Ltd in Japan.

Do be careul!

Dave

 

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From China.     Dave.

Anybody buying from China via Amazon in the UK should be aware of the import duties.

A friend recently purchased what he thought was a bargain on Amazon UK.  A few weeks later the courier, TNT delivery hit him with a fair old bill for import duties. That was on top of the price he had already paid.    It seems that no mention was made in the Amazon advert of the extra charge.   So the bargain was not such a bargain after all.

Searching the internet, it seems that a lot of people have been caught out like this.

Buyer beware!

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6 hours ago, swag72 said:

Bought from a reputable EU dealer, I have no worries about my monocular :) looks like you can make a few $'s then Dave :)

Not quite my style - I'd be more inclined to tie a scammers' shoelaces together atop a flight of stairs! :p

But thank you for the idea.....

All the Best,

Dave

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  • 1 year later...
On 06/05/2017 at 13:16, swag72 said:

Just finalising this in case anyone is looking for something similar.

In the end I went for the Leica 8x20 Monovid as they are light and easy to carry around my neck. They are really clear and the views are excellent. I thought that the Monocular was a little odd to start with, but I cup my right hand around the eye cup, push it against my eye socket and that makes it really steady. I can also keep both eyes open and just see through the Monocular eye...... I'm really pleased with my purchase! It also comes with a close up screw in lens so great for looking at plants etc close up.

Just found this thread.  Sara, are you still happy with your monocular ?

I first became interested in a monocular back in the early 1970's when I joined to an archery club, and carried a binocular like many others to spot distant target hits.  Even though it wasn't large, my binocular was heavy and cumbersome to carry; then I noticed a visiting archer carrying a monocular which was cobbled by cutting a binocular in half that had individual eye focusing instead of the usual central focuser.  I thought what a great idea, and while looking for a similar old binocular to cannibalize I discovered an actual 7 x 50 monocular for sale at a local second hand store. At the time I thought I was the coolest archer in the club, lol. I still have the monocular which is a Manon, and have used it often over the years.

Recently, I had the opportunity to purchase a tiny ( 1" by 3 1/2" long ) thirty year old Zeiss 6 x 20B monocular. Its just the perfect size to carry and not even notice it being in your pocket. The magnification, brightness, and resolution seem well balanced to me for such a small optic. I'll definitely be carrying this in my future and sometimes daily travels, especially when venturing into antique shops to look at price tags on items high up on the walls. :D

I added a Pound coin in one of the photos for scale.

 

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PICT0003(Medium).JPG

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Glad you found it to be a worthwhile investment. :smile:

Sometimes it's the little things which can be the most useful. I found that the 6x20B can resolve the writing on a business card from a distance of about 5 metres down to slightly less than 2 metres, which will be great for inspecting things which would require getting a ladder.

Edit: Photo shows it larger than actual size.

PICT0004 (Medium).JPG

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If you look on ebay   they have 10 x 50 monoculars by Hawke, Visionary or Barr and Stroud. Helios did sell a similar model I think.

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I like my HELIOS "Voyager" 10X-25/42 zoom monocular. It's good for astro and also for getting up close and personal to butterflies and other six-legged friends. 

The "Voyager" focusing range is from 20 inches to infinity. It has a threaded boss for attaching to a tripod on the highest mags.

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  • 5 weeks later...

I have a couple of monoculars and the smaller one which is 10x25 has seen loads of use over time, both terrestrial and astronomy. It's so small it is no hassle to carry. I have a 10x50 also, but that is bigger so gets proportionately less use.

20180609_101236_HDR_crop_746x906.thumb.jpg.7f822460c82e419ef5c26ce35e2c0849.jpg

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On 03/04/2017 at 14:44, swag72 said:

I never take binoculars with me..... too cumbersome.

Sara:  I used to think exactly like you.  Then I saw a friend using a pair of these.  I was duly impressed and went and bought a pair of the 6.5x21s.  My other half then snaffled them for birding so I got her the 8.5s for her birthday.  They are wonderfully small and light and the soft case slots on my belt quite nicely.  I find the 6.5s are great for just viewing the scenery (or the night sky). 

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On 09/05/2018 at 10:34, L8-Nite said:

Glad you found it to be a worthwhile investment. :smile:

Sometimes it's the little things which can be the most useful. I found that the 6x20B can resolve the writing on a business card from a distance of about 5 metres down to slightly less than 2 metres, which will be great for inspecting things which would require getting a ladder.

Edit: Photo shows it larger than actual size.

PICT0004 (Medium).JPG

What's the image quality like? I see these on ebay every now and again, and as I'm possibly looking for a compact binocular I think this might do the job just as well for half the weight. 

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