Orion 10x42 Waterproof Monocular - Compact and Portable for Magnified Views of Distant Wildlife, Birds, Scenery, Sporting Events, and Even the Moon

First impression: it's large. It's a long as my hand.Second impression: it fits my hands wonderfully. It's size becomes an advantage, in actual use, as it's NOT tiny, and thus feels comfortable and easy to hold. PLUS -The optics and overall performance are better than I'd hoped for. BIG field of vision, yet excellent magnification. The lenses are clear and sharp - quite sufficient for the intended uses.The magnification is obviously a tradeoff: the more you have the harder the monocular is to hold steady. Solution: Get used to bracing yourself against something, or use a small tripod. If you really need to see something far away (several miles), say to make a decision about your route across or through a geographic obstacle, you WANT the magnification. I find that squatting, with my elbows on my knees, provides an always-available tripod of quite sufficient adequacy. Problem solved!The screw-in strap is just fine, and I LOVE that it's possible to mount it like a camera on a tripod, as I have several small, light-weight tripods I use when traveling light, and this idea just works.It is quite possible to get good performance without taking my glasses off, however, the stunning field of view one gets without glasses makes taking them off definitely the way to go, if there's time.This is clearly the monocular I've dreamed of. I don't mind the weight or size, because its performance "pays the freight" and then some. I'm totally pleased with this purchase, and delighted now to have this in my tool kit.

I wear it on my belt so it is my constant companion, and it's a good thing like a couple days ago I was able to catch a great view of 4 large hawks flying and gliding near my back yard, it was a magnificent sight. Then more recently the little gem was so perfect in watching the hourly progress of a lunar eclipse. A large astronomical telescope would have been an overkill for such an occasion. But a pinch this monocular is well within it's grasp to give you nice views of the Pleiades, Hyades, the Orion Nebula, the Beehive Cluster, this list goes on and on for bright, low magnification objects. I also appreciate it's ability to focus as close as 20 inches, making it useful for so many things. Oh some day I will own a large telescope once again but in the mean time you can't go wrong with an optical companion that only cost a half of a C note and would surely outperform that silly "Zoomies" that you see on television. So in conclusion I congratulate Orion Telescope and Binoculars for such a fine, compact, portable, instrument.

I've had this monocular for several months now and and I am still totally satisfied. The 42 mm objective lens allows it to gather enough light for early morning or late evening nature watching. The exit pupil measures 4 mm, which also makes this a good scope for casual star gazing. (The pupil of the human eye opens to between 5 mm and 7 mm when fully dilated. Anything more than that in a telescope is a waste.) I can get my monocular to focus as close as 28 inches. This is almost ten inches closer than a set of close focus binoculars costing hundreds of dollars more. Add to all this the coated optics, the soft rubber body, the waterproofing, the carrying case, the handy neck strap, and the tripod mount connector and one has a compelling product.I own three telescopes--and have built one. I am confident that this is a quality optical instrument and an excellent bargain.

I purchased this monocular since I have owned several telescopes and binoculars from Orion and have overall been pleased with those prior scopes. However, this monocular is of very poor quality and certainly not something I expected based on the price range. I'm really comparing my experiences with mid-range products. I had, for example, a pair of Orion 10x50 binoculars that cost something around $130, so I expected this monocular to compare favorably.The first serious problem with this scope is that the optics were not uniformly in focus. When the image center was focuses, the periphery was not, and visa-verse. Optics in this price range have no room for this sort of poor performance.The second major issue is that the focusing mechanism is far too tight and difficult to turn. There are separate "fine" and "coarse" focusing rings on this scope, however even the "fine" ring is inappropriate for any sort of fine adjustment. The"coarse" ring is so tight that one simply cannot hold the scope steady while focusing. I had to essentially move the scope away from my face, twist the focus ring with considerable force, and then move it back into view. I contrast this with virtually every other telescope and binocular I've owned, even those costing far less, and wonder who did the quality assurance on this scope. It's frankly unacceptable to design and manufacture a $60+ telescope that performs akin to something found in a flea market.One final criticism is that the scope does not come with any lens caps.

These work great as a monocular! I thought it might be too big but it is actually a good handy size. It has a substantial feel but will still easily fit into a cargo pants pocket, pouch, or jacket pocket. At 10x42 it's like having half a binocular. The eye relief is very nice (adjustable!) too. Basically all the features of my binoculars in a more handy format. The view is bright and clear, not at all like what you get in a more conventionally sized monocular.

This is a great magnifier, however it has degraded in its use such that it is not as precise as it used to be. I found a workaround so that it would still work as designed. But it should not have to be that way. This should be a device that works as it is, more than three stars but that's all I can give it at this time. If the company decided that they would rather replace the one I have with a new one I would definitely give it more stars. I will update this review if that happens.