LUNT SOLAR SYSTEMS - Blue 6x30 Magnification Sunoculars, Compact & Portable White Light Solar Binoculars, Safe Solar Viewing, Observing Sunspots, Eclipses, and Planetary Transits (Mini)

Just got them today (fast with Amazon Prime) and tried them out. POSITIVE: price (can't be beat!), quality of image (sharp, can one can easily spot common sunspots... this is from Lunt Solar Systems, who manufacture top quality solar telescopes for serious amateur astronomers who are willing to part with $600 to $$$$), portable (you can toss these into the smallest glove compartment), handy (easy to focus, each side is focused individually). DOWNSIDE: I initially had a hard time finding the Sun as this is 6X power (and that is a mighty narrow field of view)... but find it I did... but my wife never did... so some people might be frustrated. This is due to the fact that unless you are very near the Sun when you are viewing through the binocular you will see nothing but blackness (which is the way it is and must be unless you are aligned with the Sun.) The other downside" is that they are very light and small (and that they are 6x power) so that holding them steady may be an issue with someone who has "shaking" issues of some sort. I found that I needed to lean against a post or lay on the ground with a pillow behind my neck to help steady my aging hands. For me as a participant in the CATE Experiment for this year's total solar eclipse, these will come in handy to help me know when totality is beginning and ending. When totality comes they will be worthless but after totality they will be used often! Love'em!

Either the field of view is so narrow that it's almost impossible to "aim" them, or the pair I got just doesn't work. Tried several times, but I was never able to find the sun. There aren't any lens caps or packing material in the way. I can't figure it out. To be fair, I had a lot of trouble with the 8x40 binoculars (with sun-blocking film over the lenses of course), and they have a wider field of view. I was even able to aim the 55-200mm Nikon zoom lens, after zooming out then back in again. But this is just way too hard. They are also very cheaply made, more like a toy than a "real" optical instrument. Sorry, have to return as defective.

We used these in 2024. It was really cool. Kids had a little trouble finding the sun because of the magnification, but that is to be expected and is the case with any binoculars. We will be using them again this year (2026) for the eclipse in Iceland.

Ordered the Lunt kids solar glasses ($35 for 4), Lunt mini sunoculars for $30, and Eclipsmart 10x25 binoculars for $35 at BestBuy, as was out of stock here. For kids, my 9 year old, best way to go on 21st is the glasses (which fit me fine too); as easy to find the sun. For the $5 diff, think for adults, the Eclipsmart 10x is way better. The Lunt mini is easy to use with a little practice locating the sun, but switching to the 10x eclipsmart vs 6x magnication - the sun was about size of a hole punch (6x was closer to size of pencil eraser) and I saw a few sunspots today (practicing) I did not see with 6x Lunt. Make sure you follow directions with both on how to focus, as lunt has two correction dials on each eye piece and eclipsmart has a center focus dial and a correction dial on right eyepiece.

These gave me a good view of the 2017 eclipse. I ordered these two weeks before the event and the advertised delivery date was a few days before the eclipse. The tracking status was "preparing for shipment" for over a week and I was starting to worry, but they actually did ship it one day before the projected deliver date and it arrived right on time. Now I have a way to look at the sun whenever I want! There's no focus wheel, but the instructions say focus is by "individual eyepiece". You can turn each eyepiece to adjust focus if necessary. I didn't need it, but I did check it out. You can only focus when viewing the sun because you can't see anything else through the sun filters.The filters are internal, so not exposed to scratching or other damage. The 6X magnification gives you a much larger image than the inexpensive simple glasses. I wasn't able to see any sunspots, but there were only a few tiny ones during this eclipse. I think you could probably see large sunspots when present.

These binoculars made all the difference in viewing the total solar eclipse April 8. The eclipse was visible through special glasses, but the image of the moon and sun was small. The binoculars enlarged both so that I could see the clear pattern of the moon covering the sun and details on the moon that made the view more interesting. A stunning event made more impactful by the binoculars image.

Bottom line: Work, but are pretty cheesy, and perhaps risky. So, the good, they really seem to be sufficiently dark, with no pinholes or such. Field of view is wide enough that with a bit of practice finding the sun is relatively easy. The bad..... First mine are defective. The disk that holds the left eyepiece's lens in place is cracked. The lens is still in their firmly, and the filter is on the objectives so not too bad EXCEPT that one of the three little screws that hold in place came free, and bounced off my lower lid while I was focusing. If the sun had been higher I'd have gotten it into my eye itself, and that would have been.... let us say.... unpleasant. I see in another review that someone received a pair that weren't aligned, so QC seems to be lacking. As others have noted these are cheaply made. Omitting coatings on a pair of solar binoculars seems a reasonable corner to cut. But no lens caps? I mean, how much would a set of lens caps have cost? I'd hoped to use these again some day. Another eclipse in two years. Maybe some big sunspots once the sun wakes up again......

Did not work for us. My husband & I both tried aiming these at the sun & could not see anything but black. Not sure if we don't know how to use (per other reviews) or if these are defective. Also the eye pieces are extremely small & uncomfortable as hard plastic. We returned them.