Carson MiniMight 6x18mm Pocket Monocular with Carabiner Clip (MM-618)

I use this just about every time I leave the house on a walk, so about four or five times a week. The build quality seems just great. I haven't used the biner so I can't speak to that. The included case and cloth is nice, and I can use the case to hold my Victorinox SwissChamp (pretty good fit with room left for a small map or fire starter), if I dangle the MiniMight on the outside of my pack or in an outside pocket.Uses:Bird watching: The MiniMight is good enough to make identification and take observations at a variety of distances. I've observed a stellar's jay at 40 feet, an acorn woodpecker at 50 feet, a red-shouldered hawk at 60 feet, and a flock of wild turkeys at 300 yards.People watching: Nothing creepy, of course. But I'll give an example of the way it's useful. You are wondering if you should take a shortcut through a neighborhood that has a bad reputation. It's a few blocks away, but you think you see a couple of guys with hoods over their heads looking pretty shifty. You look through the monocular and realize it's two really cold teenage girls waiting for their mom to take them on a shopping trip.Airplane watching: From 1,000 to 20,000 feet you can determine any number of things about aircraft. Civil or military, color, number of windows, etc. This surprised me but the magnification is really that good.Hiking: Sometimes I wander around on trails without reading the map. The woods around here are pretty open, not a ton of undergrowth. I've used the MiniMight to read trail signs that were about 100 yards away up steep inclines. The benefit there is pretty obvious. Another time I was trying to identify a structure that looked like a shed, only to discover as I focused in that it was a public restroom. Couldn't have come at a better time, since I had wandered pretty far that day.Amusement: Identifying structures is really fun. I was looking at a huge water tower about 300 yards out when I saw the flock of wild turkeys below it. I've tracked animals that didn't know I was tracking them, showed my kids how to be detectives, figured out that our local hillside letter is not made of painted rocks as I had assumed, identified small curious objects in areas I couldn't get to, and answered a number of other questions that were at the back of my mind.Cons:1. Eyeglasses. Even if you fold the rubber shade back, the view is not as great with eyeglasses on. Some people are used to it; others just take their glasses off (I slide mine up my forehead).2. Vibration. You'll need a bit of patience and sometimes some slow breathing as things won't always hold steady in your view. I don't find it annoying, but some might.3. Sharpness. Some details will just never pop into perfect focus, as much as you fine-tune the focus ring. I'm OK with that and understand it as an engineering compromise. If you need quality sharpness you should not be looking at this price point, sorry.Overall: I have a couple of pairs of binoculars but I leave them at home every time. The portability here cannot be beat. You won't regret this purchase especially not if you give it a few weeks of active carry.

This is one of 18 monoculars I bought recently to make a comparison video. The Carson is the smallest of the group in terms of magnification, and has the smallest objective lens (18mm). But it's pretty sturdy, with a rubberized body and a nicely recessed ocular lens. The focusing ring is a little stiff, but images are crisp and surprisingly bright in normal use. The only change I'd make to this is replace the cheap chain and carabiner with a wrist strap.

Works great. Very compact and also clear. Much better than a similar Tasco monocular that I previously used.

I live in the country where there are lots of birds. I have a very good set of binoculars for birding, but they don’t focus closer than about 20 yards. Great for distant birds, but I couldn’t see the birds that landed close in my back yard, so I couldn’t identify them. With this tiny monocular I can easily observe the small birds I couldn’t focus on with the binoculars. The focus ring is smooth and brings in a sharp image. Surprisingly good optics. Not a very wide field of view, but that’s not a problem, since I only want to look at one bird at a time. Field is wide enough that spotting the small birds is not a problem. I like the very small size. I can have my binoculars for longer range, but when I need to see something much closer, this little monocular stows easily in a pocket and is quickly accessible. Not great for longer distances (but not bad, all things considered). Not for prolonged use, since you have to keep one eye closed. It works great for what I need.

For the $ it’s fine. Focus and clarity are not so good.

El monocular es genial, pequeño y muy práctico para llevar colgado del cinturón.Por cierto, tuve necesidad de comunicarme con Carson y por email fui enviado fotos y videos con lo cual, me solucionaron los inconvenientes...Estoy contento...

I will agree with other reviewer that the optics are kinda soft on this, but otherwise this would be exactly as expected. This thing is TINY and otherwise would be a decent productHowever these are shipped in a retail bubble packaging that is prone to exposing the monocular to damage. My unit apparently was sitting against something for a long time and now the eye relief cover has a permanent crease in it. You can even see there's a scuff on the package where the monocular was being squished.

Overall: pretty good. For 13 bucks: great! When shopping for optics there are two facts: high quality lenses are expensive, and size matters. Manufacturing top quality lenses requires precision and expensive materials. There is simply no way around this. For the most part “you get what you pay for” definitely applies to optics of all kinds. Is a $1000 binocular or monocular twice as good as a $500 model? Maybe not, but if you want good quality you should be prepared to spend $100 or more. Also, when it comes to any optic used to see long distances, bigger is better (in terms of image clarity and brightness). This product is small and cheap, but, for what you get it is an incredibly good value. In bright daylight, the image is very clear for its size. It’s tiny and fits in any pocket. It comes with a cute little carrying pouch. And it’s ONLY $13! My only complaint is that the rubber eye cup doesn’t roll back for eyeglass wearers. I can use it with my glasses on but the image is twice as large if I put it right up to my eye. If you are in need of serious optics for bird watching or hunting you will be disappointed. If you want something to carry, unobtrusively, in your pocket that will let you see things you can’t see with the naked eye... this is it! Oh yeah, did I mention... $13?! Well worth it in my opinion.