TASCO Essentials 10x25 Compact Roof Prism Monocular

I used this product just a few times before leaving it in my home. I recently tried to use it while traveling but the eyepiece lens is loose which makes it entirely inoperable. I do not know what is supposed to hold the lens in place, but it is not working. I have never dropped it or handle it roughly. Mostly it has been stored at home or carried within a pocket of my briefcase in its carrying case. I will never buy Tasco product again. Cheap and not well made. Shameful.

The Tasco Essentials 10x monocular is good for general observation. It works well for observation of aircraft around airfields, my main usage. It also works well just to spot what's around you. Out in the general world it works well for low flying aircraft.The optics are clear, and scratch free, the focus mechanism works well. Single handed operation works well for me, but may not for others - just depends on how much dexterity you can muster up. If you're used to using binoculars, you might find you need a slightly steadier hand on a monocular - but that's up to you.Optically - it's what you expect and is perfectly adequate. Elements are in fact glass, but as usual around this price range exhibit chromatic aberration, but it's well controlled for the price point.I do suggest usage in good lighting conditions. In the dark - it won't be as good as you want. But, any larger lens elements for better low light operation would increase weight and decrease portability.The rubberized coating reduces the chances of dropping it - along with the wrist strap. I also expect it to survive falls onto ground cover, or carpet. Concrete - no idea - good luck.Additional features:*Peel back rubber eyecup for glasses users. Beware, do not _pull_ on the rubber eyecup - it will come off, but a spot of epoxy will fix that. (Knocked one star for shoddy adhesives work)*Lightweight*Holster*Wrist strap (included, but optional, has clip), and wrist strap attachment on monocular - essential so you don't drop it.

You can only view far, not close, with this. Anything under 20 feet or so is blurry. It has good magnification and a correspondingly small field of view, but the clarity/quality seems good. If you only need to view far, this is a good buy. Comes with a nylon belt pouch and a cleaning cloth.For comparison, I also have the Vanguard DM-6250, a 6x25 monocular that adjusts for close or far viewing and is 3.6 times the cost. The eyepiece rotates out a full 1 3/4 inches. You have to rotate it out 3/8 inch to the infinity setting to clearly see at a distance. Rotating out 1 9/16 inches brings you to the close viewing setting of .35m (~13.8 inches). Clarity/quality seems the same as the Tasco (I cannot perceive a difference). The belt pouch that comes with the Vanguard won't close unless the monocular is fully collapsed, my only real peeve. My main use would be for distance so I would rather be able to store it at that setting.

This is such a great bargain in price and it works extremely well. I wanted something that would enable me to see the birds and other wildlife in the woods and hills surrounding my home and this works wonderfully. At 10X power I can even see individual leaves on trees that are at least 1/4 mile away and see wild turkeys that are close to half a mile away, at least to the point that I can tell they are turkeys. It is compact enough in size that I can keep it in my pocket to use anytime I want to see all the little critters in my backyard (which borders on a large wooded area with meadow beyond). Also the rubber doesn't smell too bad, and it is really easy to adjust the lens to see closer up or farther away. I could even see the ants crawling on the tree in my front yard, not that I wanted to see them but image was crystal clear. I highly recommend this if you want a monocular lens.

I was trying to decide if I should buy a binocular(a bit bulky) or monocular(smaller) to put into my walking pouch.So, I saw this and gave the monocular a try.Nice for the price.Nice build quality.Decent focus ability.Small case they supply is a plus.If you are looking for a decent inexpensive monocular, this one is recommended.Monocular vs Binocular:Just to be clear: the following is not a negative of this particular product.For me, never having had a monocular, I find that the monocular provides too limited a field of view. I expected it, to some degree, but it is more limited than I thought it would be. It is nice for the size, and it is nice to have something so small that you can stash in a pocket, but if I had to do it all over again I would have bought a small binocular.

This thing was so inexpensive that I had to buy it. And I wasn't disappointed at all. It is sturdy, clear and portable, well-constructed and comfortable to hold. I even dropped it in water and, after drying it out, it still functioned just fine! It comes with a nice little carrying case - nothing super special, but adequate - and a strap as well. I'm not into the technical aspects of these things; I just think it works great! Images are clear and focus is easy. I love to take this thing on hikes and it's even small enough to keep it in a jacket pocket without it feeling cumbersome. If you're looking for an inexpensive and great product for bird watching or spying on whatever your heart desires, you can't go wrong with the Tasco monocular!

I've been shooting archery from longer distances lately, up to about 70-80 yards, and at that distance it's difficult to fine tune my sights between shots. A lot of the guys who shoot from that range have very expensive, tripod-mounted, spotting scopes. I can't afford that and my eyes are relatively young so I thought I could get away with a much cheaper alternative. This does the job, but just barely. It's really not that much of a zoom and the field of view is very small and uncomfortable to use.I'm a professional mariner and I know good optics when I use them. This isn't it. It is good enough to be a cheap, small, device I can leave in my bow case and use once a week or so.

Lovely present.

Compré este monocular con la intención de darle un uso esporádico, para llevarlo en la mochila cuando voy al monte, en lugar de cargar con unos prismáticos, que pesan y abultan más. Por el precio que tiene, no esperaba que fuese una maravilla, pero suponía que ofrecería una calidad de imagen similar a los binoculares Tasco 10x25 que poseo desde hace años (bastante justitos pero que me hacen el apaño).Sin embargo, este producto resulta ser ópticamente mucho peor. Presenta una nitidez ridícula (que no mejora independientemente de lo que hagas con la rueda de enfoque), una total ausencia de contraste (la imagen se ve con una especie de velo lechoso) y además el campo de visión es reducidísimo y no es posible ajustar el ocular, por lo tanto resulta muy complicado enfocar a un punto concreto y mantenerlo centrado incluso usando las dos manos.Por poner un ejemplo, con el monocular no soy capaz de leer matrículas de coches a unos 150m, que sin embargo veo bien con los prismáticos. No sé si esto se debe al deficiente control de calidad de Tasco o simplemente es que el producto es malo en general.Lo único bueno que tiene, por destacar algo, es su reducido peso; pero claro, esto es indicativo de su calidad interna. Por fuera, los acabados son correctos para su precio, aunque no sé si resistirían muy bien el paso del tiempo.Lo he devuelto y he comprado un Celestron Outland 6x30, con el que estoy muy satisfecho. A pesar de tener menos aumentos, con él se ve mucho mejor. Es más nítido y luminoso, por lo que se pueden apreciar detalles incluso a mayor distancia que con el 10x25, y al tener un campo de visión más amplio la imagen es más estable y fatiga menos la vista.Antes de pedirlo, estuve debatiéndome entre el Tasco y el Celestron UpClose G2, que puede que sea algo mejor, pero aún así no deja de ser otro 10x25, con lo que eso conlleva. Si lo que se desea es una calidad aceptable, recomiendo escoger ópticas de menor ampliación y mayor luminosidad, como 6x30, 8x32, 8x42. No obstante, si es para regalárselo a un niño y que juegue con él, cualquiera de los dos antes mencionados cumple perfectamente, pero no pagaría más de 10€ por ellos...

Decepcionante. Bueno por fuera, malo por dentro. Suave al tacto, acabados correctos, llamativo a la vista, de marca reconocida, parece casi profesional... pero es una chapuza. Pésima nitidez, baja calidad óptica, con defectos visuales como halos luminosos y velo lechoso. Comparable con la un marca libre chino. Creo que en más de 10 está sobrevalorado. Tengo uno de otra marca de alta gama, y otro de gama media pero con óptica decente. El Tasco queda en último lugar al lado de la baratija de 3 euros chino que iba a tirar a la basura.

When held up to the eye it's a clear good image (though not for anything particularly close... It's 10x magnification). However, there's no eye relief at all, so it's basically useless if you wear glasses unless you take them off.

I live in Montreal and I use this to spot bus schedules and bus numbers from afar. I used it every day so far I've had it for a week. The picture is clearer than expected. Good for the price.