Donegan OSC OptiSIGHT Binocular Magnifying Visor, Blue

The all plastic construction and reduced material makes it lighter, easier to wear in hot weather, offers minimal obstruction to your regular and peripheral vision and overall lower cost compared to Donegan's flagship OptiVisor  Donegan OptiVisor Headband Magnifier 2 1/2X Magnification . Its simply made, which means little can go wrong, easy to clean, easy to adjust visor or headband tensions and the lenses are very easy to interchange and mount.I have no trouble wearing this item on my head for hours on end, unlike the OptiVisor which is worn like a crown and thumbscrewed for comfortable tightness on your skull, you can wear the OptiSight in different positions you find secure and comfortable as it slips on like eyeglasses. I wear it propped like sunglasses atop your head, and pull the lens way down to allow me to see straight ahead easily. Other times where I shift between magnified vision and my unassisted eyes, I wear it like eyeglasses, with the headband resting nearer to the back of my ears. The headband strap is optional for smaller heads or if you like the headband tight, I don't use it.A reason for choosing Donegan over similar looking competition is their reputation for good optics. While glass for optics is preferred, plastic can be as good and weighs less, if _made_ properly. Lenses have to be free of subtle aberrations to prevent eye fatigue or worse, headaches, and it may not be noticeable until you work for hours with cheaper lenses that look OK by initial inspection. If you buy a cheapo magnifier, you'll have to find how good the lenses or the headband construction is by buying it and working with it for hours. For buying an item sight unseen, the Donegan is a better bet because of consistent quality in both lenses and visors across all their models.Lighter acrylic lenses mean a lighter visor, and like eyeglasses, can be worn for longer durations. Donegan uses the beefier Optivisor for its glass lenses with loupe attachment options, or acrylic lenses in the OptiVisor LX, both at higher cost.Optisight ships with 3 lenses, allowing users to optimize magnification for various types of work. Optivisor and LX ship with one choice of lens. As magnification increases, the distance between the lens and the working object decreases, as expected. However, properly made visors must have the same distance between the lens and your eyes; some cheaper models don't and it makes their interchangable lenses blurry and useless.For those who care, Donegan states all its visors are designed and made in USA.One drawback is a stowage pouch for the extra lenses. Without one, its easy to lose them.

I'm not sure why Amazon has this in the toy category, but it is also in tools and other categories as well. In any event, kids would appreciate this as a toy or a hobby aid. No matter what you use OptiSight for, it is worth the money. I've owned several devices like this over the years and the older I get, the more I need them. Of course, devices like this aren't generally used every day, so they tend to get lost, packed away, whatever. I don't recall ever breaking one, though. Anyway, this newest iteration is great. It comes with three magnifying lenses: # 3 that magnifies 1.75x at 14 inch viewing distance # 4 magnifies 2x at 10 inch viewing distance # 5 magnifies 2.5x at 8 inch viewing distance The lenses are plastic and not of the highest quality, but are more than adequate for normal uses. I wouldn't recommend using them for microelectronic assembly six hours a day, but for a couple of hours at a time, they work just fine. Construction is very simple and robust. It is a band of formed plastic that will fit seemingly any adult head and those of older children. There is a simple tensioning mechanism that holds that lenses where you want them - and it works really well. You won't have to worry about the lenses slipping from the position you put them in. There is a poly strap included in the package - and you better be on the lookout for it, because it is hard to spot in the package - that you use to tighten the band around your head. Field of view for the lenses is more than adequate for close work. Overall, the OptiSight Magnifying Visor does the job it is intended to do. At the price, it is an excellent value and a very handy tool to have around when you need it.Jerry

This visor is much better than the previous ones I have had. The others only went to 3.5X max (with two lenses in place), this offers 4x and 5x in addition to 3X. The image is sharp all the way out to the edges and there is NO chromatic aberration! Every other plastic lens visor I've used has had significant chromatic aberration (color fringing on high contrast edges). Both these make it so much easier to use and much less eye strain for me.The whole assembly is much lighter than the others I've used, as others have mentioned I forget I have it on. The plastic strap on the back works very well. It takes some experimenting to find the right setting, then it just works, the previous one I had would slowly get looser and start falling off. This very simple design just works.Once I figured out how to do it the lens changing is fast and easy. But I have settled in the 4X lens as the one I use most of the time. Good enough magnification for most tasks and reasonable working distance.The open frame design turns out to be a big plus over the closed design of the others. I can glance past the edge and see the surrounding area to pick up tools etc.All in all a wonderful purchase, I'm very glad I tried this one.

I love this magnifier! I would have given it 5 stars but the lens are so easy to scratch. I wish the lens had a coating or something to prevent that. Otherwise these are very comfortable to wear with my glasses and are not heavy at all.

Donegan's magnifying visor is the VERY BEST brand. I purchased these on March 2012 and have used them on everything from my embroidery crafts to my miniature creations, and they have lasted and held up perfectly. I am only looking for a new pair because a 16mos old baby got ahold of it and broke them in two pieces. I would recommend Donegan products to anyone looking for magnifying products.