Endurance ED 8x42 Monocular - Green

Pluses: tiny, bright for objective size, not too difficult to keep steady ( 10x would be too shakey, I much prefer balance of stability / magnification of 8x). ED glass really shows quality - no fringing due to chromatic aberration. Sealed and and gas filled so no condensation. Build quality superb. Comes with bag, case and lanyard ( which hasen't broken yet!) And cleaning cloth in nice packaging (great as a gift). Stand off for glasses / no glasses in two stages works perfectly so I can use with / without my sunglasses on. Focussing wheel just right degree of stiffness for me despite what others say... Negatives: its best in bright conditions ( I bought it for walking in sunny Spain where it works really well) due to small size I have other 8x50 binos and 12x stabilised canons for low light but they are humongous... Small field of view may make tracking birds difficult ( but at this size of device I cannot really complain). One cap is tethered other is not, unfortunately. All in all I absolutely love this device. Great for city walks and art galleries ( details, details) casual birdwatching, theatre?( haven't used for that). Small size and pocketability means it'll be the " one I have with me" ie the best. Way better price than other monos ( Nikon or absolutely mad Leica prices) and not that much less performant. I rarely review stuff but Hawke ( UK brand!).deserves a good review imho. I suspect Hawke have got the price / quality equation right in the sweet spot.

This is a great little gizmo, easy to use and fits either on your bely or in your pocket. Optically it gets top marks from me with clear, crisp viewing. I take it whenever I go out (I live in the countryside) and have enjoyed using this for just about everything, including a bit of moon gazing. I looked carefully at all of the other offerings and as I have used Hawke products before I knew they represented good quality and value for money.

I find binoculars too heavy and a bit of a faff to use and carry around. The monocular fits in a pocket and can be used one handed making it something I take on all my walks. I have a smallish pair of £250 binoculars that have superior optics to this monocular but its the monocular that I carry everywhere. I wish I had paid more for a monocular with better optics. The optics of this monocular are good but if you are a serious wildlife watcher then you may want to pay more for clearer and brighter optics. Recommended. Pros Lighter and smaller than binoculars. Can fit in a large jacket pocket. Can be used one handed so easier to use than binoculars Both lens caps connected to the binocular so you cant lose them easily. Waterproof and sturdy. Feels good and comfortable to hold in a stable position. Smooth focusing. So much easier to carry around that I take them on all my walks. Not something I do with my binoculars. Good optics but limited in darker (dusk) conditions. This is not a fault of this Monocular but a limitation of the size. Cons Neck cord is a bit short and cheap.

I bought this monocular for safari and absolutely love it! Superb optics, great quality and value, support a family-run world-leading British brand! Really great clear optics, good field of view, very smooth and easy to focus with one hand which is really important for quick changes of distance. Also for me, I wear glasses or prescription sunglasses so the really good eye relief was really important to me - they are perfect for quick spotting without needing to take glasses on and off, I have a perfect view, and the twist-up eye pieces work well for non-glasses wearers (if you let them have a go!). I found them brilliant for dawn and dusk game drives as well, good in low light too. The viewing compared very favourably with much more expensive nikon binocs. I much prefer a smaller lighter monocular to binocs, and am much more likely to carry it with me. I've had an 8x25 before, also useful and very small - but this 42 has so much better field of view and clarity! I've had a higher zoom monocular - 10-25x42, but it was basically useless, impossible to hold steady enough in the hand - and it, and other 8x25 binoculars, had such poor eye relief that I could not really use them at all, made me realise the eye relief is a vital thing for me to use it with my glasses - at least 15mm and preferably more (this one is perfect at 18mm) . This Hawke monocular is so good I might buy the 10x42 as well! But 8x is probably the best sweet spot for ease of spotting moving wildlife. For me, the supplied lanyard came apart on day 1, but I do not care at all - dropped the monoc on the ground and it is tough enough to be absolutely fine, and I wanted a different lanyard anyway. Made one with a ribbon! So I still give 5 stars, the monocular is outstanding value and quality and that is the important thing.

I wanted a Monocular for when i am out with my Camera gear for wildlife photography. I own a very good set of Binoculars but they can get in the way when i am walking around with my long lens etc. This Monocular fits the bill perfectly as it will slip into my jacket pocket and i have also placed a Peak design Anchor where the lanyard fits so i can now attach the monocular to my sling strap for easy access to the monocular. Image clarity is excellent and the focus ring rotates smoothly. I would thoroughly recommend the Monocular if you are looking for a small lightweight alternative to a set of binoculars

Thought I would add a review for anyone thinking of buying a Hawke 10x42 monocular, I recently purchased the 10x42 Endurance ED version at £105. My intention was to leave it permantly mounted on a tripod for birding and viewing the sea and cliffs from my lounge window. I wanted something small and compact that could be left setup in situ, my telescope is a bit to large for this purpose and is used regularly on my daily walks so this seemed the ideal solution. The monocular arrived promptly and although poorly packaged (sent out in a jiffy envelope) it survived the postal service. It appeared well made light and compact and looked good for purpose. Unfortunately I then discovered that although it has a standard tripod mounting thread, it would not physically fit on the head of any one of my three tripods (Manfotto, Slick, Velbon) due to the poor positioning of the monoculars lanyard mounting point. As tripod mounting this monocular was my sole purpose I returned it for a refund. You could I suppose always change your tripod headstock for a ball and socket head, but that's an expense you would need to factor in before purchasing. However as a hand held monocular it was bright sharp and light, with a great close focus ideal for butterfly viewing. My only other comment would be that I compared another birders 10x42 Hawke Nature-Trek monocular, the non ED version at £79, there appeared to be no discernible difference between them in image quality even at the edges in low light. (It might be a case of the Emperor's New clothes) so if I was to ever purchase one of these, I would save myself the extra £26 and go for the non ED version with good optical quality but still unfortunately the same poorly designed tripod mounting point.

Excellent bit of kit. Very rugged construction, compact (I think 8×42 is the sweet spot), high quality optics, easy to focus with one hand when wearing thick gloves. The only minor improvement would be to link the detachable eye cap with the lanyard fixing so it's still attached to the monocular like the lens cap.

Very good low light image definition.Solid construction. Small light, easy to operate with one hand.The adjustable eye piece is a little flimsy, also my product was missing wrist lanyard.That oversight cost Hawke the 4 star rating, and not 5 stars. .