00:00Let's be real. A little tube you hold up to your phone camera sounds like a gimmick,
00:04and it comes with claims of 10x magnification and shooting amazing telescopic photos.
00:10But is any of this true? Or is it nothing but hype? In this Starscope review, I'll talk about
00:16where it hit the mark and where it missed it. And if you want to check out the product I'm
00:20talking about, click the link in the description. Okay, let's get straight into the pros of the
00:25Starscope monocular. Real optical zoom, not digital cropping. I figured the 10x claim would be an
00:33exaggeration. It isn't. A front lens collects light from whatever you point it at, the optics inside
00:39enlarge that image, and the eyepiece shows it to you 10x bigger. So the zoom comes from glass,
00:46not from software stretching a picture. That gives you a better starting point than your phone's
00:50digital zoom, which only enlarges what the camera already captured. Take zoomed in photos with your
00:56phone. You hold your phone's main camera over the eyepiece, then you move it until the round image
01:02sits in the middle of the screen. The monocular has already magnified the scene, so your phone is
01:08recording a picture that's 10x closer. Frame it and take the shot. That's how you get a photo of a
01:14bird on a far branch or a boat way out on the water without a big telephoto lens. Coated HD
01:20glass for a
01:21clearer view. The lenses in this monocular telescope are HD glass with a fully multi-coated finish.
01:28Every glass surface in an optic like this reflects a little light. The coating cuts those reflections
01:34down, so more light makes it through to your eye, and you get better contrast and a clearer picture
01:39of whatever you're looking at. Adjust to your eyesight even with glasses. The eyepiece has a
01:46diopter. That's an adjustment that changes the focus to match your eyesight. You turn it until the image
01:52looks sharp to you, so you're not stuck with a view that's set up for somebody else's eyes, and if
01:57you
01:58wear glasses, it can save you from taking them on and off every time you want a look. Okay, let's
02:03check out
02:04the negatives of the Starscope Monocular Telescope. Every small wobble gets magnified. At 10x the tiny
02:12movements in your hands get bigger too. The view jumps around, and in a phone photo that shows up
02:18as blur. You can steady it by bracing your elbows against your body, or by leaning on a tree or
02:24a
02:24railing. That works. But it means you're often hunting for something to lean on before you can get
02:30a sharp shot. Lining up your phone takes practice. Your phone's camera has to sit right over the
02:37eyepiece. If it's off even slightly, you get dark edges around the picture or a blurry shot. Getting
02:42it right takes a few tries at first, and even when you nail it, the photo is only as good
02:47as your phone.
02:48The monocular does the magnifying. Your phone's camera still decides the final quality, so results can
02:54look quite different from one phone to the next. Not great in dim light. Compact optics like this
03:01work best in daylight. At dawn, at dusk, or in thick forest shade, the image gets darker, and focusing on
03:07something far away gets harder. That's a letdown, so plan on using it only in good light. Overall,
03:14Starscope is a solid monocular telescope for anyone who wants to see far away things clearly. The 10x zoom
03:20is real optical magnification, so distant things really do look 10x closer. It lets your phone
03:26take zoomed-in shots without a big telephoto lens. It's compact and light, so it's easy to bring along
03:32on hikes and trips. And the eyepiece adjusts to your eyesight, so the view is sharp even if you wear
03:38glasses. Now, if you want to get this monocular at a discount, then click the link below this video
03:42in the description, or just go to the following URL. Thanks for checking out this Starscope review.
