CarsonCloseUp 6x18mm Close-Focus Monocular (CF-618)

The Carson CloseUp: Handy, good quality monocular. I use it all the time. Very small, lightweight, cheap. Comes with a strap to carry it around your neck, and a little black pouch with belt loop. So very easy to carry along. Good for seniors like myself, or for kids who like to explore. You do need two hands to twist the two telescoping parts to focus-in on things. Carson did not place a scale with markings to make it easy to pre-set the monocular to an approximate distance, before fine-tuning the focus. This is a drawback that would have been easy to prevent by adding some little lines with viewing distances. Read on for my work-arounds.This monocular has a very wide viewing range, with two main areas of use (and focus work-arounds):1) FAR: for distance viewing (mostly outdoors). See a bus number or street name from far away, or deer and birds on a nature walk. -- Prepare the monocular by screwing the two parts together, so it is at its shortest (only 2.5 inches long). The monocular is now focused for far away. This is the opposite of what you would expect (counter-intuitive). You would normally expect the monocular to be at its longest for viewing far away, like a telescope. But no. This is what took me the longest to get used to. So: short for far away. From this position it takes only 2 or 3 twists (quarter-turns) to focus in to as close as 8 feet. So easy to use, not much effort.2) CLOSE: for close-up viewing (mostly indoors). Clearly read the finest print, see the smallest detail. Nature lovers can observe the details of flowers or strange little insects. You can see sharply from as close up as 11 inches. That is what makes this monocular so special, and why it is obviously called the Carson CloseUp. -- Prepare to use it for close-up by twisting the two parts apart, unscrewing them, so the monocular is at its longest (about 4.5 inches long). It is now focused at its closest, or less than 1 foot away (again, counter-intuitive). Then twist to adjust the focus to further away. It takes about 8 twists (quarter-turns) to get it to focus 3 feet away. So that is more work. Closer in, it has a very narrow depth of field. That means you do have to very exactly focus it to see sharp. So that takes a bit of work twisting it, adjusting the focus.A tip if you regularly use the CloseUp at medium distances. Like reading product labels and prices on the bottom shelf, without having to bend over or go down on your knees. Take a fine-tipped permanent marker, and draw some little lines, so you can pre-set the focus before viewing and fine-tuning the focus. That will save you a lot of work in finding the right focus in the mid area. Carson should have done this, engraving little lines. So little effort to save the user so much work. I hope these work-arounds will help make this product even more useful and easy to use, if you decide to get it.

I like this monocular so much, I'm starting to carry it with me all the time.The close focus is especially handy. I'm able to check the small print on items on grocery store bottom shelves without getting down on my knees. Similarly, I can see items in store windows when they are closed. I've also found it useful for reading occasional small print on my computer screen without getting up to find a 'zoom-in' key.Plus, except in very dim light, it seems to do all things my regular 7X binoculars do for birdwatching, reading street signs, undersized PowerPoint presentations, etc. As expected, the closer the object, the more you have to crank the focus to get the image sharp. Distant objects focus quickly, however. The thick grease in the focus slows it down in cold weather.It has a decent enough eye relief for wearing glasses. And the field of view seems equal to my 7.5 degree 7X20 Pentax field binoculars and to my 8.6 degree7X35 Nikon's -- both which seem to overrate their stated fields of view.Simple construction. If a lens did break loose from a fall, it looks like something you could probably glue back together without much trouble. It was well packed with a soft belt case, cleaning cloth and lanyard.Since I wear it on my belt or keep it in my pocket, I replaced the neck lanyard with a much shorter loop off of small LED flashlight. It's light enough that using the lanyard is not annoying, but you may want to drop it in a shirt pocket to keep it from swinging around.Weight and size make it seem like a natural for backpacking or airplane travel. At this price think about buying two up front to save on the shipping, or to use as a gift.

I was surprised by how wonderful this gizmo is! I purchased this 7x18mm monocular as well as the following two 10x25mm monoculars for comparison:Orion 08447 10x25 E-Series Monocular (Black)Celestron UpClose G2 10x25 Monocular, Black (71213)I liked the reported weight of the 7x18mm monocular, but wasn't sure whether I wanted the greater magnification of a 10x25mm monocular. Here is a picture comparing the sizes and my assessment of the three. I have not compared them on a dull day with less light available.1. Carson 7x18mm: 2.75" long, 46 grams incl. strap. Includes case, neck strap, and cleaning cloth.Surprisingly easy to focus. Nice bright images. I found it very easy to follow a hawk flying overhead and could identify it as a red-tailed hawk through the monocular. I also really liked the close-focus feature for looking at stuff on the ground.2. Celestron 10x25mm: 4.45" long, 106 grams incl strap. Includes case, wrist strap, and cleaning cloth. I preferred this monocular to the Orion. I found it easier to focus. However, the field of view seems less than the Carson, perhaps because of the greater magnification. When I tried following the hawk, it felt shaky. Although the magnification of the bird was greater, I think I would have had a harder time identifying it in motion.3. Orion 10x25mm: 4.25" long, 88 grams incl. strap. Includes case, wrist strap, and cleaning cloth. Orion had the best documentation, explaining how to understand the differences in optics. However, I found the focusing mechanism to be stiffer than the other two monoculars.I am keeping the Carson monocular to use for a 525 mile hike next year. I like the size and weight, but more importantly, I felt it was actually the easiest one to use, with a smooth action and sufficient magnification for my purpose. I will use it in the field and also within buildings to look at ceiling details. The four stars reflects that I haven't used it at length yet. Once I have, I'll update my review if needed.