Vortex Solo Monocular 8x36

I purchased this item in February 2021. I carry this when I hike or travel on my motorcycle. I use it mainly to observe wildlife. I like that it is light weight and that I can see clearly thru it. It has survived in temperatures between a little below zero to above 120 degrees. I keep it in the carrying case unless I take it out to use it. Three weeks ago I could not get it to focus. I got onto Amazon to order another and discovered it has a lifetime warranty. So went to Vortex website and contacted them about what happened. I received an email the next day with instructions and a label to send it in for repair or replacement. A new monocular arrived yesterday. I have purchased four Vortex rifle scopes, one Vortex binocular, and this monocular over the last five years. I am very pleased with the quality of their product. I had no idea there was a lifetime warranty with their products. Vortex is a great company and they produce a great product for my needs. I will definitely purchase more from this company.

The field of view is large and can focus extremely well. The twist focus wheel is easy to use but a bit hard to rotate. Its focus function looks very nice and very clear and has a very large focus view area. It can fit in even XL hands and is very tough and the case is very tough and won't break if you drop it from about 5 feet to 6 feet. The lenses are very tough and won't fog up in a humid environment. Great buy for a bug-out bag situation to see threats coming ahead. Very wise purchase tool for tactical and regular uses as well. Like bird watching, hunting, etc.

This is my first and only vortex product and I get the hype. There is very little color fringing and the 8x36 configuration is BRIGHT. The eyecups are great and this thing is built very well. Add in the no fault warranty and these are a winner. I got these when they were on sale for ≈70 bucks and they are a steal for that price. I would say they are a great buy at their regular price too. These are very portable, very clear, and the focusing is precise. I will say that the focus wheel is a tad stiff but overall it is negligible. Buy these if you just want a great monocular. I have tried the cheaper ones and they are passable to good, but these blow those out of the water.

I wanted a monocular to carry around in the field since I don't always want to lug my expensive binocs around. The Vortex Solo is a nice solution, with a solid belt clip and decent optics for under $100. It fits nicely in my hand while I'm viewing, with a comfortable ribbed rubberized coating. Here's the skinny: Optics: not especially vibrant/sharp, but good for the price point; the 36mm means you'll get better low-light viewing than 20mm compacts FOV: good Weight: good - obviously, 1/2 the weight of a comparable pair of binocs Eye relief: adequate Focus: eye ring knob requires 2 hand operation; good knobs on ring to aid in focusing; ring is a bit tight, but I expect will loosen up in time Lens covers: NONE - I was disappointed that Vortex doesn't provide it with a couple of silicone lens caps to protect the scope when it's clipped to your belt Case: good - unlike other Vortex monocular cases, this one comes with fully enclosed nylon case (no openings on the sides) to protect it from dust/dirt Strap: comes with a long strap that can be worn around your neck Overall, I'm happy with this monocular: it's compact, with decent optics, and the solid belt clip means I can always have it handy without worrying about it falling off. Clipping it to my belt or pack, I know I'll be able to ID birds and other wildlife whenever I go out.

Stop shopping/comparing, this is the one you want. I like that it is compact and crystal clear. Quick to focus. I can go from the leaves on the neighbors tree to the logo on the tail of a commercial airplane with much less than a quarter turn of the dial. Did I mention crystal clear. The other two in the photo Barska 10x40 Smizze 12x50 Function just fine at half the cost or less than the vortex 8x36. BUT…..The compactness and clarity of the vortex are totally worth extra money. Because the view is so clear, the slight lack of magnification isn’t that noticeable…I’d rather see what I’m looking at. Bigger isn’t always better. Looking two blocks away the two cheaper monoculars offer haloing, and a bit more of a shaky view with just a touch of haziness. I’m not an expert glasser but I know you get what you pay for, quality is gonna cost a little more and this little thing is worth every penny! With age my eyes don’t cooperate with one another like they used too so focusing with binoculars is difficult sometimes and down right frustrating. The vortex solo is compact, lightweight, durable, crystal clear with a great field of view (especially compared to my others). The one thing that I’m disappointed about is the absence of lense caps, it’s just odd to me there are none. Ya wanna see things closer, anything will do. Wanna see it quickly and clearly, spend the money for quality. Best bang for my buck!!

I have had this thing for years now. It’s been hiking and hunting from the swamps of Florida to the mountains of Tennessee and everywhere in between. The only issue I’ve ever had with it was when my young child got ahold of it and pulled the rubber cap off the eye relief adjuster. But it wasn’t worth warranting it out for me so I just stuck it back on and it’s stayed put. The clip on the side is super convenient and I managed to get the case to mount on my kidney straps so it’s right there in the stand or on the move. It works awesome and it’s very light and easier to deal with than a pair of binoculars. It’s held up great and is an awesome choice for anyone. Only bit of advice I can offer is that holding a lot of magnification steady in one hand isn’t easy for everyone. 6x - 12x power is the range I’d always suggest for a monocular. Personally 8x is wear I keep to now if I’m using it on the move.

I'm an optics snob and really want good optics, and this little monocular gets oh so close to getting it right. The problem is that the optics inside this thing are not served up well by the housing holding them. The eye relief is advertised at 18mm, but as you can see in my attached photo, the eye cup, even when fully retracted for maximum eye relief, still protrudes 5mm above the lens. This means the actual eye relief - for those who wear eyeglasses - it much closer to 13mm, which is very marginal and ensures that the eye cup will make contact with your eyeglasses, possibly smudging them, and that's irritating. The only time when eye relief is actually close to 18mm is when focusing on something close - the eyepiece moves with focus and the eye relief is therefore increased when observing objects that are closer. Silly - but I care about eye relief while looking at distant objects, so this item really misses the mark on this detail. Close focus is limited to about 15 feet, not bad. Optically, the lenses provide a nice sharp, bright view with very low amounts of chromatic shift. Distortion is low - I don't perceive any. The magnification matches my high-end 8x binoculars very closely. Ergonomically, I don't like some things. Focus is good. It's a bit stiff, but I personally like that. I have a strong hand, so I can with one hand hold this and adjust focus using my index finger, and that's great. But people with smaller hands won't find this possible, I think. The belt clip is really too large - too wide, and attaches with screws. But when the screws and clip are removed, there is an ugly hard plastic protrusion (with sharp corners/edges) sticking out from the side, and that's frustrating - it snags on any pocket. If the belt clip is installed, it's so large that it interferes with the side grips. It needs to be removable without having a huge protrusion sticking out. The eye cup has a piece of rubber that was bonded to it with super-glue, and the manufacturer did a lousy job with that process - it quickly came loose. So, I'll need to get out the super glue to fix that. But ultimately, I hate the eye cup since I wear eyeglasses, and the eye cup doesn't sit down flush with the lens. The eye cup needs to be removable, but it seems to be snapped on and I don't see how to remove it without breaking something. Ultimately I really like the optics, and it's such a tragedy that good optics are sitting inside a package that doesn't showcase them sufficiently well. If the manufacturer were to fix the issues with the eye cup and belt clip, this would be a top notch monocular.

Great optic, I bought it just to carry when I don’t want to lug around a full set of binoculars. Light weight, nice case, easy to use . Highly recommend

Very good monocular for general use. Perfect size to carry around and the view through it in all conditions is very good. It also feels very good in the hand and is well protected from the elements. I can highly recommend this product.

Utiliser très régulièrement pour des compétitions de tir à l’arc en salle et en extérieur. Parfait!

Ho acquistato tempo fa un Solo 10x25 per disporre di un monocolo leggero robusto e di buona qualità ottica da utilizzare per escursioni per osservare oggetti lontani in giornate luminose portandomi dietro poco peso. Praticando ora il tiro con l'arco di campagna, che spesso si svolge in ambiente boschivo, ho desiderato disporre di un monocolo con un campo visivo più ampio e con una maggiore luminosità e visto le buone qualità riscontrate sul compatto 10x25 ho deciso di acquistare il "fratello maggiore" 8x36 il cui maggior peso non costituisce un problema per le relativamente brevi escursioni del tiro con l'arco. Il monocolo mi è arrivato con custodia di nuovo modello illustrato nel nuovo manuale scaricabile dal sito di vortexoptics ma curiosamente il manualetto allegato illustra il vecchio modello che mi sembra per certi usi più pratico; trovo la vecchia custodia meglio utilizzabile per tenere il monocolo in cintura con un po' di protezione, la nuova è più adatta per tenerla al collo col laccetto. Questo monocolo è non sempre facilmente reperibile in Europa. Il 10x25 dovetti cercarlo per un po' su ebay e riuscii a farmelo spedire dall'Inghilterra. Con questo 8x36 ho avuto un po' più di fortuna trovandolo su Amazon. Il monocolo è pensato per un uso "da campo" ovvero anche non troppo attento. La superficie gommata è confortevole e consente un ottimo grip eliminando possibili rischi di caduta a causa di scivolamento dalle mani; per piccoli urti fornisce anche una buona protezione all'ottica. La clip metallica consente di agganciare il monocolo a cinture o bretelle per averlo più pronto all'uso; tuttavia non sono forniti tappi per proteggere oculare e obiettivo che rimangono un po' esposti e la custodia fornita ha un forma per cui quando la si utilizza rende inutilizzabile la clip. Forzando un po' si può anche mettere al contrario per poter usare la clip ma si vede che non è stata pensata per quello. La clip metallica disturba un poco l'impugnatura; ho dovuto fare diverse prove per trovare una presa una non scomoda. Volendo comunque si può smontare, bata svitare due viti con una brugola (non fornita) La messa a fuoco funziona bene, molto più fluida di quella piuttosto dura del 10x25. Alcuni troverebbero preferibile un'escursione più lunga per una regolazione più fine ma secondo me così va bene. In proposito tenete conto che altri prodotti hanno una rotazione del comando più ampia perché consentono messe a fuoco più ravvicinate e quindi una maggiore rotazione è per essi indispensabile per non comprimere troppo l'azione del comando alle distanze di messa a fuoco medie/grandi. Paragonandolo al 10x25 mi sembra che la lente di maggiori dimensioni dia non solo una maggior luminosità ma anche un pizzico di nitidezza in più, permettendo di distinguere praticamente gli stessi dettagli del 10x25 pur disponendo di un minor ingrandimento. La nitidezza insomma è buona/molto buona; forse si può avere qualcosa di leggermente migliore ma per averlo con questa luminosità credo occorra spendere circa 4 volte tanto per prodotti con la correzione di fase sui prismi (opticron dba oasis S-coat 8x42) e rinunciare alla abbondante protezione gommata di questo Vortex. Fuori dalla zona centrale a volte sono visibili delle aberrazioni cromatiche. Nel complesso un'ottica di buona qualità ad un prezzo ragionevole. L'estetica "militare" è perfetta per escursioni o caccia, può essere un po' meno intonata in contesti "urbani" come teatri o concerti

The 8x36 is fantastic. Great field of view, beautiful clear picture, nice to hold. More magnification means more “wobble” when you hold it and you end up seeing less detail than 8x

Totale Begeisterung über die hohe Qualität. Nicht nur im Nahbereich bis 70-80m, sondern auch bei Entfernungen mehrerer hundert Meter immer noch ruhig zu halten und das Wesentliche zu erkennen. Zeitgleich das Yukon Scout 30x50 WW Spektiv von Bresser mit dem Vortex verglichen: das Yukon vergrößert etwas mehr, ist aber schwer zu halten und lohnt im Vergleich zum Vortex garnicht. Bei weniger Licht versagt das Yukon Scout, hingegen das Vortex mit "nur" 8x36 erfüllt seine Aufgabe. Es ist leicht mit der soliden Schutztasche mitzuführen, Gewicht und Größe stören garnicht. Dieses Monokular würde ich jederzeit wiederkaufen und ich werde es auch im Freundeskreis weiterempfehlen. Die Qualität läßt sich durchaus mit dem ZEISS Terra ED 42 vergleichen, ich meine die Optik, die Schärfe.