Gosky Skyhawk 10x50 Monocular Scope - High Definition Fog- Proof Shockproof Monocular Telescope -Bak4 Prism FMC Monoscope for Bird Watching Hunting Camping Travelling Wildlife Secenery

I wanted to get hold of this monocular primarily for the occasional look at wildlife that happens into the yard. I'm not seriously into bird watching or anything. I just wanted something to improve my view from my perch in the kitchen. So, my needs are modest, and this Gosky monocular fits the bill. Mostly I like the convenience of it. It's very easy to grab and operate with one hand. It fits snugly in one palm, and it can also be focused very easily with the same hand. The larger lens cap is attached to the device and can just hang down while you're using the monocular. That's convenient. The lens on the eye cap is not attached, so you have to worry about holding onto it while you use the device.You can also use this monocular with glasses if you want. You can twist the eye cap away and look through it with your naked eye or leave it twisted down to use with glasses. Initially I was attracted by the idea that I wouldn't have to take my glasses off to use this, but I've found that I much prefer using it without glasses. The image just isn't as good for me with my glasses on. I find it easier to operate and see things through the monocular without them.We have an old pair of 12x binoculars that we bought years ago for the same sort of purpose, just casual viewing of things in the yard. But I find that we hardly ever use it. Sure, it's more powerful than this 10x monocular, but it's just not as handy. There are four lens caps to remove (none of them attached), and focusing it takes me forever. I much prefer the convenience of this device.In short, while I am by no means a power user, I find that this serves my purposes very well.

There are literally dozens of inexpensive, Chinese-made, 10x50 and 10x42 monoculars on the market at various prices, and most seem to be of the same design- possibly from the same factory. These are typical. The optics are so-so, with fairly low contrast and sharpness. Not surprising, as it’s difficult to if not impossible to deliver sharp, contrast, optics in the price range.10x is a difficult magnification to hand hold, especially in such a small package, and these definitely need to be mounted on a tripod to take advantage of the magnification. Even mounted on a tripod, I found the image lacked clarity;I couldn’t make out fine details, even at 50 feet. That may be characteristic of this scope, or I may just have a particularly bad sample, as there’s a lot of variation in cheap optics. Add to that the narrow field, and I don’t think these would be terribly useful for birdwatching or any nature viewing. (The field of view is specified as “365 feet at 1000 yards” which is misleading, as field of view is generally specified at 100 yards. That would give these a field of view of 36 feet.)A far better choice for nature viewing or bird watching would be spending a little bit more for a pair of higher quality compact 7x or 8x binoculars with a wider field of view, like the Carson RD 8x26 binos or the Nikon Trailblazer 10x25. Where you really start to see decent binocular optics is in the $125-200 range, and serious birders will find themselves spending several times that. It’s tempting to buy something like this on price alone, but there it’s the sort of scope you’ll quickly become disillusioned with, and end up replacing with a better optic.

It's all about the optics. For this low price, one should not expect great quality and that is the case with this 10x50 Monocular from 'Gosky'. Not even a decent starter scope, as the glass used isn't great and detail truly is lacking. I would forego this and spend a bit more for increased clarity and usefulness.

I'm not any kind of expert, nor really even all that familiar with this kind of thing. It's just a "can I see closely, clearly, when I want to" thing for me.This is all going to depend on your own eyes a lot, but for me, this has worked very well. The optics were clear and at x50, nicely magnified. We live in the mountains and enjoy watching the animals.Admittedly, that's harder to do with a monocular than binocular, but this can be mounted on a tripod which can be pretty dern useful when trying to keep still and let a critter think they're alone.The padded hand strap that comes with it is functional. The nylon strap itself is unnecessarily long, but you can adjust as you like. I routed mine through the eye piece cover so I wouldn't have to keep track of it. (The cover on the other end is connected to a silicone band around the barrel, so it stays connected.)It's pretty light, compared to binoculars, and smaller, of course, so easier to carry/pack. It will need a good steady hand if you aren't using a tripod.It comes in a snug nylon case, velcro flap seal. Belt loop on the back.I'll update if anything untoward pops up, but right now I'm quite happy with it and think it's a decent option to consider for those with casual needs.Don't forget to use the Smile.Amazon.com address - It's an Amazon program where many things you buy every day will generate a small donation to the charity of your choice. Read about it here: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/chpf/about/ref=smi_se_rspo_laas_aas