Tell me about optics.

[Bearbonesnorm]

I'm in the market for a monocular but know less than nothing about such things, so wondered what I should be looking for? Budget of up to £150ish and I assume it'll mostly get used for peering at birds and such. It'd also be nice if it were small enough that it could be fairly easily carried about.

Is something like this any good - seems to get reasonable reviews, can attach a phone for pictures / video and mentions that it'll work with glasses. However, I've absolutely no idea whether it's any good or not. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07 ... =pd_gw_unk

Any thoughts / assistance most welcome. Ta.

[FLV]

Neighbours up to something suspicious?

[Bearlegged]

[sean_iow]

Katherine Moore had a cool looking one on her Instagram the other day, might be worth messaging her.

[ScotRoutes]

3 or 4 should be sufficient.

A nice malt. A cheaper whisky. Some nice dark rum. And a gin for the ladies.

[voodoo_simon]

Question if I may…

Apart from the obvious weight difference, why a mono over a binocular?

[Bearbonesnorm]

Apart from the obvious weight difference, why a mono over a binocular?

She finds them easier to use.

[Ian]

One of these was waiting for me when I got back from the BB300; https://uk.hawkeoptics.com/endurance-ed ... cular.html
Wanted something small enough for Bikepacking and walking about for work.
Seemed good value for money and gives a clear image from its modest size. My budget was less than half yours but if you go to the birders store, there’s more choice from Hawke and Opticron (I have one of their telescopes)

[voodoo_simon]

Apart from the obvious weight difference, why a mono over a binocular?

She finds them easier to use.

Fair one. You’ve got me thinking now (and I quite like the phone adaptor for them too!)

[fatbikephil]

Been using one of these for a year or more - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Orion-10-25x42 ... =TELESCOPE
It's pretty good at 10x but cranking it up to 25 times is a waste of time as its too unstable held by hand. A tripod would help but this kind of defeats the object of the exercise. The depth of focus is also a bit average but that's why you spend hundreds of pounds on such things.

[benp1]

I find monoculars harder to use than binoculars so generally avoid them.

12x is too powerful for a handheld device, it'll be wobbling all over the place. 10x is about the max but generally I use 6x-8x as I find a steadier image much more use. I would also limit myself to known optics manufacturers, good glass is expensive

Something like the Opticron BGA Monocular would be a good suggestion

EDIT - avoid anything with a zoom unless you're paying big money or it's a telescope that'll be tripod mounted