I was thinking about buying a new set of binoculars in the 8-10x range and ran across a video about monoculars and it got me to thinking there could be some pros and cons to going down that road. Does anyone use a monocular and care to comment?
Monocular
- Thread starter Corvid_hunter
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I have a Vortex monocular but I really just use my laser rangefinder(a monocular) for scanning and getting a distance, a better purchase in my opinion if you don't already have one.
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Monocular do not compare to binoculars. My rifle scope is monocular. Yesterday, I used both. The binos are damn near better, plus they give a much better and larger field of view...I used the Monocular because it fits in my pocket and my fishing bag; the only reason to use it is convenience. Another thing I will mention is that 8x to me is way better than ten power. As for binos, I use 8x32 when hiking....I have to admit here, I am a "glass" addict.
Monoculer, no,10X Bino no,8X,why because of the faster focus and better stability they give me....A good pair of binoculars is a lifetime investment. Truthfully, the best now will be the best 20 years from now. I now use 8x24 Binoculars in my fishing bag.
Bird watchers are the best for learning about optics . Best for the price, they are Japanese. Then we go European. I do have some old, great Leopold Gold binoculars that are great, but they are heavy.
Halalulu, I have seen the light, the nuances of life, and the utter sharpness of color definition. Stability is a never-ending challenge for me, though.
Monoculer, no,10X Bino no,8X,why because of the faster focus and better stability they give me....A good pair of binoculars is a lifetime investment. Truthfully, the best now will be the best 20 years from now. I now use 8x24 Binoculars in my fishing bag.
Bird watchers are the best for learning about optics . Best for the price, they are Japanese. Then we go European. I do have some old, great Leopold Gold binoculars that are great, but they are heavy.
Halalulu, I have seen the light, the nuances of life, and the utter sharpness of color definition. Stability is a never-ending challenge for me, though.
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Hi Corvid_hunter.
For a monocular I use my 6x24 Bushnell Prime 1800 rangefinder (you don't have to turn it on to look through it and use it as a monocular). It's small (fits in most jacket pockets) and very light weight and once I've focused on a far object I don't tend to need to re-focus for closer objects. I can grab it with either hand and hold it with either hand and look through it with either eye. If I'm shooting, then I've already got it on me.
For a binocular I have 8x42 Vortex roof-prism type (more compact than porro type, but doesn't bring in as much light as porro type). Mine are the cheapest of the Vortex 8x42 roof prism type (not the HD glass). They are comfortable to look through for extended periods of time and feel good in the hands. I like the rubber flip-down objective lens covers and single pull-off rubber eyepiece cover that stays connected to the neck strap so they don't get lost and are conveniently there to easily put back on. The focus wheel and diopter adjustment are comfortable to use also. This is my go-to binocular, but I only use a binocular when the monocular of my range finder isn't enough.
This part is important. My OTHER binocular is a Nikon 10x50 porro type (has to be porro type because of the large diameter objective lenses) that I bought after I bought the 8x42 Vortex. I bought the 10x50 because I thought it would be nice to have more magnification. For me personally, I could not hold the 10x50 still enough to get a close look at whatever I was looking at, even though it was in perfect focus. So, for me, the 10x50 was no good without some kind of support other than just me holding it. The bottom line is that I like the 8x42 a lot and I don't even bother to reach for my 10x50 anymore. Also the Nikon has crappy ergonomics (lens caps suck, focusing wheel sucks, diopter adjustment sucks, uncomfortable as hell to even hold on to).
I figure if you buy a monocular, you'll want to not go over 8x for the same reason I like my 8x42 better than my 10x50.
So I don't have much experience with monoculars (other than trying to look through rifle scopes that are not mounted to my rifle). Cheers.
stovepipe
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I have Nikon binoculars and a Vortex monocular. The binoculars are better by far. The only thing monoculars outshine binoculars is weight and mass. My monocular weighs a quarter of my binocular and is a quarter the size. Makes carrying the monoculars much easier for hiking, back packing or camping.
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I agree with what was said above about how binoculars are so much clearer with a much larger field of view but they are much heavier than a good laser rangefinder. I have a pair of Zeiss Conquest HD 8x32 that have a crystal clear and wide view but the rangefinder also factors in slope, so I don't usually bring my binos because of that. And like said above, Bird Forums are the best place to learn about binoculars and glass 
.
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For years my friend and I rode dirt bikes where we sometimes needed an optic to look for problem places up ahead (before we got ourselves into troubled water/sand/mud/rocks/etc.). He always had a monocular with him. It was actually just a small cheap(ish) fixed-power rifle scope. It had an aluminum tube, not plastic, and it had OK glass. We didn't need a range finder and we sure didn't want to carry a heavy-assed binocular, so the cheap scope was perfect and could be carried anywhere in our bags or larger pockets. It might have been a scope that got busted by mounting it on a spring-piston rifle, but it still worked for our purposes.
Sometimes the thing you're looking for is in your junk drawer. Cheers.
stovepipe
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If you have "bird watchers" stores around you I would say start there, those people fanatics for optics.
I have a 8x36 Vortex mono almost two decades from time I was competing archery FT (out to 80y) I needed to see where my arrows landed.
From comfort perspective I prefer monoculars, but all depend how much tools and accessories you dragging around your belt (or neck) with you.
I have a 8x36 Vortex mono almost two decades from time I was competing archery FT (out to 80y) I needed to see where my arrows landed.
From comfort perspective I prefer monoculars, but all depend how much tools and accessories you dragging around your belt (or neck) with you.
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Thanks for all the replys gentlemen. I'm leaning towards 8x32 or 8x42 binoculars. 10x would be nice, but I'll have to check out the stability before I make any decisions.
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This thread got me to pull out my Vortex 8x42 Crossfire and Nikon 10x50 Action EX binos for some airplane landing/takeoff action (I live near the Boise airport). Quick acquisition of target and ability to follow and keep target in focus is the challenge. A bino has to pass my 2-second test to be worthy of me owning it. The bino is hanging from my neck with lens caps off and the diopter already adjusted. The focus knob is in a random position. When I see a plane, I have 2-seconds to get it in the field of view and focused without issues and I have to be able to follow the fast-moving target and keep it in focus. I don't count one success as good enough -- I have to be able to do this repeatedly for dozens of targets.
The clear winner was my Votex 8x42 Crossfire binos. The Nikon 10x50 Action EX binos were an absolute and complete failure. I gave the Nikons away yesterday.
stovepipe
The clear winner was my Votex 8x42 Crossfire binos. The Nikon 10x50 Action EX binos were an absolute and complete failure. I gave the Nikons away yesterday.
stovepipe
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I been doing that ,plus birds in flight for over 40 years,I am good at it.I used to go to air shows,plus watch the Blue Angels fly at Fleet Week and also the Travis AF Base air shows and watch the Thunderbirds, I love that stuff. Field of view is so important.The roar of engines and Bag pipes makes my hair stand straight up.
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Yes, field of view is important for this use case. I wear glasses, so I need a lot of eye relief and a large exit pupil. The fairly inexpensive Vortex 8x42 Crossfire binos make it easy for me to acquire a target and keep it in focus. 10x binos will fail my 2-second test every time. I think compact binos (like 8x32) would probably fail for me also because of the smaller exit pupil (not sure though, since I haven't tried them).I been doing that ,plus birds in flight for over 40 years,I am good at it.I used to go to air shows,plus watch the Blue Angels fly at Fleet Week and also the Travis AF Base air shows and watch the Thunderbirds, I love that stuff. Field of view is so important.The roar of engines and Bag pipes makes my hair
It's fun for me to try to identify birds and planes that will only be visible for a very short time (before my view is blocked by a tree, which could just be a few seconds). This is my typical use case. Fighter jets, little Cessna 172s, helicopters, and fire-fighter planes will fly next to my house often (banking hard circling around me like I'm a pivot point and only a few hundred feet up). It's a hoot.
stovepipe
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I just now saw that B&H Photo has the Vortex Diamondback HD 8x42 binoculars for $193.99. I've been happy with my lowly Crossfire binos for 7 years, but I ordered the Diamondbacks anyway as a small upgrade. I don't know if I'll see any difference between the Crossfires and the Diamondbacks since I rarely use binoculars in low-light conditions. I'll find out when they get here later this week.
stovepipe
stovepipe
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