Nifty New Monocular: Vixen H5-15×17

[admin]

Today I received a Vixen H5-15×17 monocular.

Vixen is a Japanese optical company with very few outlets in the US. I ran across references to this little beauty on the web but had a terrible time finding a dealer (Woodland Hills Telescopes) who carried them. I think it was worth the trouble though.

My EDC includes a Zeiss Conquest Miniquick 5×10 T* monocular. It has come in handy quite often between my natural curiosity and my gradually-aging eyesight. The problem is that the MiniQuick, while it is amazing for its size, often provides less magnification than I want. Zoom seems like the perfect solution, but zooming monoculars seem to be rare.

The Vixen may be my ideal compromise. It is about the same diameter as the smaller 25mm monoculars (1.3″), but shorter (3.8″) than the ones I have tried. It wiill zoom smoothly from 5x up to 15x. The 17mm objective gathers enough light to support the higher magnifications without becoming uncomfortably dark. The image is bright and very sharp. It can even focus down to 20cm for close-in magnification.

I was hoping for something just a little thinner, but otherwise I am very pleased with my new toy. I think it will find a home in a vest pocket soon.

–Bob Q

[Author]

Posts