Vixen 5-15x17 Zoom Monocular

Comments about Vixen 5-15x17 Zoom Monocular:

Works great took it to the Vermont woods saw every thing real clear. look forward to using this
in November during Vermont Deer season.

Comments about Vixen 5-15x17 Zoom Monocular:

I have a 5x10 Zeiss monocular, a cheapy and toy-like 8x21 golf rangefinder, a compact 8x21 Minolta binoculars, and a 10x50 Bushnell Binoculars. I hardly use the 10x50 due to its bulky size. The compact 8x21 binoculars is great, but only to carry in a packback and too bulky for a pocket. The 8x21 nonocular golf rangerfinder is great, but the scale inside bother me if not used for golf. The 5x10 Zeiss is the best and most used, but the 5x power is somewhat limited.
That's why I bought the Vixen 5-15x17. The zoom range is perfect.
The Vixen 5-15x17 has three controls: A rotating zoom, which is close to the eye piece. A rotating focus ring at the middle, and a slide tube for near focus at the end.
The construction seems quite solid. Overkilled, actually, for casual use. The focus ring is smooth, and purposedly has less friction than the zoom ring. The slide focus mechanism seems a bit too light but it doesn't slide by itself, yet.
The glass quality is good. It seems to have a decent coating that minimizes flare and probably blocks a small amount of UV, which helps improving the contrast.
The eye relief seems OK up to about 8x. I wear glasses but didn't feel uncomfortable using up to 8x zoom.
I like the short distance focus. I'm not sure what the official number is, but I can focus on my writing from 12 inches away.
The 300 ft field of view at 1000 yards seems OK. Could be more, but it's hard to expect so from the 17mm lens.
Weight wise, I wish it could be a bit lighter since I mostly carry it around town, but the guy who uses it for sport/hiking may like the heavy construction.
I also saw a popular monocular zoom 10-30x21, but 10x is too much for casual use. Beside, without a tripod, even a pulse from the fingers can shake the image and makes it impossible to keep the image steady.
I think the Vixen 5-15x17 is practical. you're OK if you don't mind the weight (which may not be a big deal. I'm just picky). Otherwise, take the 5x10 Zeiss, but the Zeiss costs 3 times as much.
I take my 5x10 Zeiss most of the time, but if you don't want to spend that much money for the Zeiss, take the Vixen 5-15x17.