Monocular for spotting

[GreenMushroom]

My wife has eye issues that make using binos difficult. I bought her a shitty vortex monocular for her to try out and its....well shitty but she likes the concept so I'm looking to upgrade. Glass on the vortex is mediocre but biggest complaint is shitty eyebox/eye cups and the focus ring being awkward to turn with the monocular up to your eye.

I've been doing some research but was hoping for someone with hands on experience. The leica seems to be the standard with opticron and Zeiss being in the running. I like the idea of the focus knob being farther forward on the leica. It also has some kind of lens attachment that turns it into a hand held microscope which she could use to look at mushrooms or whatever.

Leica Monovid 8x20 Monocular 40390

Leica Monovid 8x20 Monocular 40390 | Only at EuroOptic.com!

www.eurooptic.com

 

[sinister]

Have you thought of something along the lines of the old British Scout Regiment (sniper) telescope? Not the most modern, but it worked in WWII. Just saw another (an antique) for $60 on Amazon. Kinda pirate-y.

 

[GreenMushroom]

I don't think she'd go for that. She's a 1st world girl and also on the small side so weight and size are an issue. We're also into digiscoping and are hoping to use whatever we get for that as well.

 

[Team RCBS & Bushnell]

We've got some 10x42 monoculars that I've grown to really like. I have the one with the MIL reticle in it, but we also make a black one with no reticle. They can both be pretty tough to find in stock lately but I did find the tan one with reticle.

The glass on them is the same level as Legend M or Forge binos. Sometimes I leave my spotter at home and just bring this if I'm trying to pack light.

 

[GreenMushroom]

We've got some 10x42 monoculars that I've grown to really like. I have the one with the MIL reticle in it, but we also make a black one with no reticle. They can both be pretty tough to find in stock lately but I did find the tan one with reticle.

The glass on them is the same level as Legend M or Forge binos. Sometimes I leave my spotter at home and just bring this if I'm trying to pack light.

Where's it made? The opticron is Japanese made and in that price range. I do like the side focus adjust though. She's not going to want a reticle. Form factor is important too. When I show her these she's probably going to want they leica just because it looks nice.

 

[Team RCBS & Bushnell]

Where's it made? The opticron is Japanese made and in that price range. I do like the side focus adjust though. She's not going to want a reticle. Form factor is important too. When I show her these she's probably going to want they leica just because it looks nice.

These are China. I actually managed to get some inventory for our site that'll be live tomorrow should you decide to go that direction.

 

[shoobe01]

I — and many others — have a phoria so cannot use binoculars well. So I mostly have monoculars. Have burned through a few not good ones, but have a couple still. The one Vortex I have (https://www.amazon.com/Vortex-Optics-Solo-8x36-Monocular/dp/B004WFYG0Y) is actually pretty darned good. And has a mildot so can be used to range and adjust for hits well.

But my favorite is the LRF. The Leica units are very small even with the extra laser bits, the LRF is useful all the time, and it can be mounted if needed but you'll need an adapter. This one is nice https://www.mkmachining.com/product/rangefinder-tripod-mount/

But mostly: stunning optics. Love everything about it.

 

[GreenMushroom]

I — and many others — have a phoria so cannot use binoculars well. So I mostly have monoculars. Have burned through a few not good ones, but have a couple still. The one Vortex I have (https://www.amazon.com/Vortex-Optics-Solo-8x36-Monocular/dp/B004WFYG0Y) is actually pretty darned good. And has a mildot so can be used to range and adjust for hits well.

But my favorite is the LRF. The Leica units are very small even with the extra laser bits, the LRF is useful all the time, and it can be mounted if needed but you'll need an adapter. This one is nice https://www.mkmachining.com/product/rangefinder-tripod-mount/

But mostly: stunning optics. Love everything about it.

I have i think a 2700.com and I agree its a tiny package with very nice glass. The eye cup sucks though and I've learned to curl my finger around the eyepiece to and rest against my eyebrow to get the eye relief. Unfortunately I don't practice it enough for it to be automatic. I also find focusing it to be not the easiest. That being said the glass was good enough to convince me to not get lrf binos and instead get separate devices since both would be useful for scanning in their own right.

I was spoiled by my Swaro slc. They have great eye cups that when twisted all the way out if I bring them up to barely touch my brow the eye relief is perfect. So basically I want the optics from a leica lrf with Swaro eye cups and a more useful focus knob. That leica i posted earlier seems to fit the bill even if its a bit more than I wanted to pay.

 

[b6graham]

why not just a nice spotting scope?

 

[Bri0242]

I have owned the Leica monocular above, and the glass is very good. It's on par with they various CRF 2000 LRFs. It's great for traveling, and I regret selling it. You can occasionally find demo deals on these.

 

[bunsen27]

I've had the Bushnell Legend 10x42 Ultra HD monocular since Summer 2015 and it has been great! I started with the Vortex monoculars and the glass quality was just subpar. I've used the Bushnell for varmint hunting (PDogs & ground hogs) for several years before upgrading to Swaro bino's. Not exactly apples to apples there but for the ~$200 price tag the Bushnell is an excellent optic.

 

[GreenMushroom]

why not just a nice spotting scope?

We have a kowa 553. This is more of a bino substitute for her. She uses my slc but closes one eye to do so. I figured I could save $ and weight by getting her a monocular vrs binos. I also think a monocular will lend itself well to digiscoping. I've tried on my binos and its kind of awkward.

 

[shoobe01]

I have i think a 2700.com and I agree its a tiny package with very nice glass. The eye cup sucks though and I've learned to curl my finger around the eyepiece to and rest against my eyebrow to get the eye relief. Unfortunately I don't practice it enough for it to be automatic. I also find focusing it to be not the easiest...

Ah, good point and sorry I forgot. It has lots of eye relief so works well with my glasses or pro-glasses, but the slick euro styling means there's not really a roll back eyecup so indeed when not used with glasses it has to be held a bit away, which is weird.

But works for me!

I also don't have a focus at all on my 1600-series... do I?

I have never seen through Swarovski... but now want to. Wish they made a simple monocular.

 

[GreenMushroom]

The Swarovski glass is very good but not any better than the leica just different. I spent a lot of time looking through both before I bought. For me the Swaro had that effect of being there vrs looking at a super high resolution image looking through the leica. Oddly enough my only other glass that gives me that effect is my accupoint 1-6 though the glass isn't as good as the binos above. Point is in that class I think it comes down individual taste, eye sight etc and you'll get different opinions from people on which is better.

 

[Rob01]

Have you looked at the Vortex Recon RT? I use one for matches to spot and it has a reticle in it too.