BARSKA 7x42 Deep Sea Monocular with Compass

This is the second monocular like this that I have bought and they both appear to have come out of the same factory so I knew what to expect. My other one was branded Celestron who make the telescopes but with a mil gauge compass (6400 "degrees" instead of 360) which I hadn't expected when I purchased and wanted a standard compass bearing measurement so I opted for this one even though I knew it was likely of the same quality. The price of this has varied over the last few months - ranging from over £100 (£120 or so I seem to remember) down to the price I eventually paid at just over £65 and I have to say for the quality even this is really too expensive due to a couple of reasons that I will go in to in a minute. Really I have had better binoculars (admittedly without the compass) for less than half this price. I definitely wouldn't have paid the higher price they have been on for. So now on to the problems. Firstly - the lens, This is nothing special, even when you dial the focus in sharp but it is OK. The issue comes with the act of focussing the lens for viewing an object. Depending on distance, you can end up with an object in focus which results in the reticle and compass going completely blurry. Once you adjust the focus for the reticle and compass, the subject is blurry. The design of how the reticle and compass work in conjunction with the focus for distance is really not good. The second issue is the compass itself. It is readable enough and doesn't need tonnes of light although needs to be reasonable, but this can be compensated by injecting some artificial light through the aid of a torch if need be. The main issue is it sticks, it sticks quite badly and does so a lot - I certainly don't think you would want to rely on it as your main navigation aid. My view is this is for a guide only or for confirming what you think a bearing should be but not really recommended if your life depended on it! I would like to go on to add that I do not believe this to just be a faulty unit. Both these issues are identical to the equivalent functions on my Celestron version - they really do look like they come out of the same factory with a similar pouch and box just with different options on the reticle and body colour. I do like the idea of having the inbuilt compass and I have a really high quality pair of binoculars (Bynolyt SeaRanger II - that are absolutely brilliant - same brand I believe has been used by RNLI ) that have this function - but as I only really have one effective eye due to bad eyesight in the other, and the fact I wanted to have something small and convenient for use on a RHIB for scuba diving and spotting, I was willing to pick this up as a backup - even though I knew the likely faults before I purchased. I do wish there was a better quality version - but I begrudgingly stumped for this over-priced not great quality one because I haven't seen anything else around in a monocular that doesn't seem to be made to a higher quality design.

Compass very poor and though they claim this on their literature received with the product, it is never mentioned in the sales literature

This tool is sooo useful :) You can put a small red light on the white spot you see on top of the monocular and you're set for night navigation too! We did some night navigation in the "passe st-roch" on st-laurence river and this was our tool.

The physical design of the Barska waterproof Compass 7x42 is sound, Howver, the compass and therefore the instrument is completely useless. The compass sticks inconsistently. I have used a set of binoculars with this type of compass since the Vietnam era without a problem. Here I opted a monocular - bad decision. Unfortunately, It took too long for the return period to complete the thorough testing. The compass does not work under any angle condition. Do not buy this item. The manufacturing standards are sloppy compared to other more reliable items.

単眼鏡のピントを遠くの目標に合わせると、コンパスのメモリがピンボケ。 方向を保ってピントを戻してコンパスのメモリを確認するしかなく、中途半端な買い物になってしまいました。 実際に手に取って、使って見ることが必要ですね。残念。

For price, not bad. Compass accurate, and optics good to at least 75 percent of the field. They are not Zeiss or Swar's, but very good. I purchased these over others as 7 by 42 offers less shake than 8 by 42. Good build, feels good, compass works at reasonable angles of inclination, reticle clear, compass readings big and clear. Good for my hiking/navigating, hunting purposes. If you are going to beat up an optic while using them, etch, they seem up to the task.

The inside reticle fell off and I had to remove it. I'm sure there are better monoculars out there than this one.