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 was concerned about the quality of the optics before taking these out to the ranch to test them out. They performed well and the optics exceeded my expectations (especially considering the price). Getting the strap on was a little tricky to figure out even with the instructions; which I guess means it was me and not the instructions, but once I did that, it was easy to sit in the blind and watch wildlife. These will prove very valuable when doing a game count for the state biologist. We were looking at deer over 150 yards away and some of the younger deer are hard to tell how many points their racks have at that distance. With this Monocular, we were able to adjust the focus and easily see what we needed. I will keep these in my backpack whenever I am in the field and very confident they will prove to be a good addition to my gear. Having said all that, there are a couple of things to keep in mind when comparing to higher cost optics: 1) The field of view on these isn't as wide as I would normally expect with the optics I'm used to 2) The quality is good for the price; but, it isn't as good as more expensive optics. This is probably obvious to anybody who's used higher end products - but I figured I should point it out. I'm not deducting anything from the rating because the quality is appropriate for the price. I definitely recommend these if you're looking for a low-cost optic to keep with your hunting gear.