Binoculars or Monocular

[bigtiller]

A binocular will be better for extended viewing times, even a good monocular will cause some eyestrain over a longer period. I've got some cheap Bushnell 8x42 binos for 3-D shooting, they wouldn't be my choice for spotting glasses for hunting. They're ok for what they do, which is identifying an aiming point before you shoot. For picking an animal out of a mixed background, you need quality optics and they just don't cut it for me.

Nikon makes a decent bino as seen above. They'd be where I'd start looking. Most of us have a tough time justifying $1K or more for binos, I know I can't do it. Swarovski, Steiner, Zeiss, etc are wickedly good optics, but do I need them? No. Do I want them? Oh yeah, baby...

Sean

I wondered about that. I sometimes put on an eye patch when using the spotting scope for extended periods. Without it, a headache comes too easy.

 

[NorTracNY]

As many have stated, for higher power optics, you will need a tripod or some type of stand to hold it steady. I would suggest you look at two aspect of the optics that you're considering.

Make sure you are comfortable with the eye relief. The pupil of the optics needs to match the location of the pupil in your eye. For people who want to wear glasses (or need to) with their scope this is a more important aspect.

The second thing is the actual power and aperture of the scope. There are A LOT of cheap optical system out there. The cost is not always the way to judge this. They may say it's a 10X system with a 40mm Diameter from optic, but look through the front end of the optic. You should see a circle of light that actually fills the front lens. If it doesn't, it's likely junk optics and you won't resolve anything close to what you should.

 

[mikehaugen]

As many have stated, for higher power optics, you will need a tripod or some type of stand to hold it steady. I would suggest you look at two aspect of the optics that you're considering.

Make sure you are comfortable with the eye relief. The pupil of the optics needs to match the location of the pupil in your eye. For people who want to wear glasses (or need to) with their scope this is a more important aspect.

The second thing is the actual power and aperture of the scope. There are A LOT of cheap optical system out there. The cost is not always the way to judge this. They may say it's a 10X system with a 40mm Diameter from optic, but look through the front end of the optic. You should see a circle of light that actually fills the front lens. If it doesn't, it's likely junk optics and you won't resolve anything close to what you should.

doesn't this depend upon how far away you are from the front lens?

 

[CurlyDave]

When I lived in the SF Bay area, I used to keep a monocular in my car. The use may sound funny to some of you, but we would have many mile long traffic jams, and I would use it to read road signs up ahead, so I could start working my way over to the correct lane. Almost any cheap optic would work, and I had a $20 one with a reticle calibrated for determining the distance to a golf green. You can get a similar one at almost any sporting goods store.

This would be suitable for animal identification, but not for longer term observation.

 

[arrow]

You'll be much better served with a binocular. Better in lower light and your brain/eyesight dynamics will thank you.

 

[bigtiller]

I finally made it to the big city today looking for optics. I looked at 3 monocular and decided I wanted something better. I decided on a pair of Nikon Monarch 7. They are 10x42. Not exactly compact but they are smaller than my old pair of Bushnell.

The sun is getting low now so I going to check them out.

 

[dusty3030]

I finally made it to the big city today looking for optics. I looked at 3 monocular and decided I wanted something better. I decided on a pair of Nikon Monarch 7. They are 10x42. Not exactly compact but they are smaller than my old pair of Bushnell.

The sun is getting low now so I going to check them out.

<img src="http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=307135"/>

Nice!!!!!

 

[RobertN]

Huh? Equal optics, it would make no difference in light gathering monocular vs binocular.

You'll be much better served with a binocular. Better in lower light and your brain/eyesight dynamics will thank you.

 

[arrow]

Huh? Equal optics, it would make no difference in light gathering monocular vs binocular.

Actually it can and here is why. Most of the time a monocular is trying to be compact. It can have great glass but if in its attempt to be space saving, it is compacting placement of this glass and thus can very well restrict its exit pupil. This can especially happen at certain price points. If your eyes are capable of 4 mm opening in low light and you have an instrument of an exit pupil of only 2 mm, then you will be better served with the 4mm entity. The other side of the coin is that perhaps your eyes of not equal prowess in their ability of light passage. Most of us are going to use our dominant eye and that eye may not open as much as the other. Sure through trial and error you'd find that out but a binocular eliminates that aspect all together.

 

[Western]

I finally made it to the big city today looking for optics. I looked at 3 monocular and decided I wanted something better. I decided on a pair of Nikon Monarch 7. They are 10x42. Not exactly compact but they are smaller than my old pair of Bushnell.

The sun is getting low now so I going to check them out.

View attachment 307135

Those should last you a long time. I like Nikon products overall, I have several of the scopes, good all-around for the price.