Does /out/ bird watch, hunt or do other activities involving some sort of magnification device? I recently wound up with my late grandfather's old 7x50 InstaFocus Bushnell binoculars and I'm not really sure what to do with them. They seem to work amazingly well ( better than my own ) and I'm going to send them in to see if they need any work.
Another thing is, for a while now, I've really wanted to add a good spyglass to my kit. Pic Related is supposed to be a modernized version of the classic spyglass ( Stanley London's 25x30, they also make a 10-30x30 ) and they seem to make sextants, swords, knives, etc. that give off a replica vibe in spite of saying they are "fully functional."
If anybody knows where to get some great, modern spyglasses let me know. Otherwise I want to know what you do with your optics.
Forgive me; I failed to see >>708015 when I made this thread.
>>708610
It's ok
I just carry a pair of small fixed (8 power) Bushmaster binos; scouting out avenues and paths, and all that jazz. Looking for animals and noises I hear in the distance.
Definitely needed.
If I'm hunting, I'll use them to check out the game and what's beyond it if I have an open sighted firearm; if a scope, I'll use binos to look around the game animal to see if there's no one remotely nearby before I put the scope on it.
>>708599
Many years ago I was gifted a Tasco 516, it was utterly amazing. it had kickass optical clarity, a nice field of view and fair zoom ( comparable to a lot of binos I tried). after years of being dragged around the world part of the plastic body of the eyepiece focussing mechanism developed a fracture, which eventually split. it was a sad day when it finally broke, I'd been carrying it for a good 14 or so years, so the 516s were now out of production and like hen's teeth to source in the UK .
I tried a few others in attempt to replace it, stuff like the Brunton Echo,and Orion 10x25. I'll be honest they weren't even in the running. I kinda lost hope fora couple of years and gave up looking
Time passes...
As much as a fucking loathe Nutnfancy and his pretentious bullshit there are two absolute gems gear wise he's put me onto. one is the Victorinox Cadet.. the other is the Docter 21x8.
It wasn't cheap, I'll' be honest it was about £80. quality wise it's a beast, it surpasses the old 516 I had and blows every other monocular, and at least 75% of binos I've tried away.
Muh binos 15x 70mm
>>708830
Very nice. Ever see anything super interesting while looking through them? When testing out the bino I mentioned above ( my late grandfather's old 7x50 InstaFocus Bushnell ) I found I could see computer screens ( not read them, just see the monitors themselves ) of the office building a mile or two away.
>>708824
But why not go bino? Sorry if its a stupid question, ive never owned either
>>709504
weight (and packspace) really- the pic speaks for itself, the monocular weighs 80g, the binos are near 700g
I like having the option of optics, and if I was doing something that needed dedicated long distance viewing (birdwatching, moon watching ect) I'd probably go with binos as they are far easier on the eyes for prolonged use.
this is something I just keep in my pack to pop out for a better look at something, and not be sat for ages looking down a lens. It's a nice tradeoff, the clarity is near the same with the monocular and under 1/2 the price of my binos whilst being about 1/8th of the weight
>>709610
Mein Gott. Thanks. I guess I'll get that then. Thanks.
>>709610
That Docter looks interesting and I'm going to e-mail the company seeing if they have any legit sellers on Amazon. Thanks much for sharing, Anon.
>>710325
that one was from Amazon oddly enough
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0017GTVN8?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00
though I've noticed it's gone up by £28 in price since I bought it in 20124
not this guy >>708824 but those Docter things get some very good press
http://www.opticsreviewer.com/docter-monocular.html
>>709610
if monocs aren't half the price of binocs you got something messed up
>>710653
You may be onto something...
>http://www.sumosurvival.com/silva-pocket-scope-a-monocular-for-bushcraft-use/
It seems a lot of scopes of that same kind are around though; many of made for night vision.
>>711170
I just bought it for the same reasons the other guy listed, it is cheap, light, works and is robust. Wouldn't want to swap it for my binocs, but for a walk with the dog and a quick bit of birding it is excellent.
>>710653
Oh that's pretty cool.
Anything similar with a bit more magnification? At least x10 ?
I carry an oooold set of binos but I'd consider switching to a monocular for the weight and space savings (also for the pirate style)
>>710509
You're an idiot. R&D & manufacturing costs will mean that even though the material is only ''half'' the cost will never be ''half'' either.
>>710653
That's the same as a Brunton Echo. Brunton are owned by Silva and trade under that brand in certain territories (Brunton=US, Silva = EU)
It comes back to you get what you pay for. I was less than impressed with the Echo when compared to the old Tasco 516 it was meant to replace, and passed it on to my wife (it's more something for her to play with really) I did carry it for about a year because I had nothing else but always felt a twinge when I popped it out to use it as I knew it wasn't as good, and
>noticeable negatives
due to the lens coating, it has a noticeable 'dullness' when looked through, it makes thing REALLY bad in low light (think dusk/dawn), and you get a reflective echo from the BAK prism depending on how you hold it. it's all plastic construction (lens too), and nowhere near as robust- if I squeezed a little too hard ( I'm no beastmode power lifter) it would come apart in my hand- again plastic lenses so the clarity is worlds apart when it comes to focusing, and the quality of optics for observations
>th' good stuff
shop around and you should be able to find one for between £15 and £20, so you could potentially buy 5 of these for the cost of the Docter . I wouldn't spend more than £20 on it though. It's very light weight, probably little over 1/2 of the Docter. The eyepiece on the Brunton is much more comfortable to use for longer periods, you don't find yourself squinting etc they come in lots of colours, like mine ( high vis) is always welcome so if you do set it down it's easy to find again
>Overall
If you can afford it, I'd recommend (no shill) the Docter. It has an extra 1x mag, and 3mm on the aperture and Zeiss lenses which will give you a bigger, clearer and more zoomed field of view at distance. If you just want something casual to use the Echo isn't bad, but it isn't good either, of course there's nothing stopping you buying one like I did, see how you get along, and then upgrading when you have more cash
>>711359
you do get them with higher mag' but you find you're moving up in physical size/weight lot, sometimes to the point it would be as well carrying a smaller set of binos
