Explorer High Powered 12X50 Monocular. Bright and Clear. Single Hand Focus. Waterproof. Fog Proof. For Bird Watching, or Watching Wildlife. Daytime Use. Formerly Polaris Optics

Great for hunting: I purchased the Explorer for use during the elk and deer hunt in Utah this year - we hunt in rugged, high altitudes and I wanted to shed some weight. The explorer worked great; the 50mm primary gathers enough light that you can scan far ridges and distant meadows well before and after legal shooting light. The 12x power is plenty of power for ID-ing the general size of bucks and bulls at ~1000yds, but not for scoring at that distance. The focus has a lot of variance, giving you great control of focusing at different distances - I think the amount of play in the dial is a bonus, but others feel that it takes too many turns to get dialed in, so take your preferences into account.FYSA these are not Swarovskis, and at this price we shouldn't expect them to be able to compete with such clarity. So yes, while you can focus these very well and get a nice view, they aren't as crisp and jaw dropping as other optics I've used. However, their portability and functionality made them the go-to glass with all the hunters in my group. We...ah...don't own any Swarovski glass, but they did replace my Wind Rivers, and for the weight/functionality, I will not be going back.Hints:1) We found holding them focus ring down and dialing the focus ring with your thumb to be the most comfortable way to hold these.2) Why the rear eyepiece cover doesn't come with a lanyard like the front one does I don't know, but I just took some 5/50 and tied it to the front lanyard where it secures around the tube. Both covers then fall down in a straight line away from your hands when viewing, and are easy to find and reattach without taking your eyes off your subject.3) While the case is fairly rugged, the belt strap is not - after only a few days on my belt I could see the stitching coming loose. So before heading to the mountains I'd recommend some superglue and some double stitching. If you have more time/talent, remove the belt loop entirely and attach a new, wider one out of better materials. These do fit fine in most jacket pockets, but I preferred using the case so that I didn't have to keep moving it around when I shed or donned layers.4) The small tripod that comes with this is nice, but it's really only useful when you can set it on the hood of your truck or something else that's kinda high and flat. For those times you're in your blind or stand, I'd recommend buying something taller and more adjustable. The mount takes standard photography heads, so I'm thinking of something like the Fotomate CT15-8C tripod for my next trip.5) For long duration scanning, cover your non-dominate eye with something to keep it from getting strained. I would just pull my beanie down, or switch eyes. These are pretty standard tactics for use with other, similar optics like a spotting scopes.

Well made scope. Easy to focus.Big field of view. Crystal clear bright optics.

Simple to operate/focusGood optics for the costHappy w/ purchase

I love everything about this monocular...except the optics. Of course, I didn't expect high end optics for under $100, but the 12x power accentuates this weakness when trying to focus on the details of, say, a bird. Focus is just not crisp. That being said, this scope has some excellent features: it has a solid feel, fitting nicely in the palm of your hand, with a good rubberized coating. In addition:Focus knob: the top knob makes this very easy to focus with one hand; turns smoothlyFOV: good (doesn't feel like I'm looking down a straw, as with some other scopes, particularly zoom models)Eye relief / eye cup: adequate relief for sunglasses; cups are solid and click into position when extendedWeight/size: relatively light & compact - I really like how it fits on the monopod: not bulky, and the one-hand focus is a bonusTripod mount: screw in; Note: with this high a power, to avoid shake, you'll need to need to use the accompanying mini-tripod; I use a monopodObjective lens: adequate size for low-light viewingLens covers: comes with both a flip-down obj. lens cover and an eyepiece coverOverall, I'm deciding whether or not to keep this. As I've said, I love most of the features of this scope, but the optics are probably a deal breaker, especially at that magnification. On the other hand, I think this is a decent, easy-to-use, low-cost option for beginners. If this were available with better optics, I would definitely pay the extra price. With better optics, it would be a handy option when you don't want to mount a full spotting scope, and your 8x binocs aren't cutting it for magnification.EDIT: I decided to keep this monocular as a handy option for quick backyard viewing. The focus issue is not as bad as other similarly priced monoculars I've used. For serious wildlife viewing, I'll use my more expensive optics, but as a cheaper option to leave by the back door or in the car, this fits the bill.

Needed a smaller spotting scope, the large scope I have is to powerful and bulky for my short trips, and birding events. This is perfect when walking through the forest or confined areas, vs my large scope that is useless in these areas. This can also mount on top of my camera, and small enough and light enough not to cause a problem with weight distribution. When you are at the max with this scope it is best when you are rest against something, or place on a tripod or monopod, to reduce shaking. Like most scopes the image you are viewing is automatically brightened to make viewing easy on the eyes. Was driving through a local wild life refuge, was able to view wildlife on the road ahead, without scaring it away, in my case I can get my camera/telephoto lens prepared for action... Comes with soft case, lens cloth, small tripod (table top type), the front lens cover is attached to the scope, the rear is not permenantly attached, however, does have a eye where you can create your own attachment method, so you don't loose the cover. As all of my devices have their own arca-swiss quick release plates, I also purchased a Black Metal PU-50 Universal Quick release plate from Neewer, via amazon, of course this means my tripods and monopods all have arca-swiss plates, this makes swopping between cameras, lens and scopes very quick and easy, which is essential in the world of wild life photography and viewing.