---
product_id: 1144561
title: "Carson CloseUp 6x18mm Close-Focus Monocular (CF-618)"
brand: "carson"
price: "R696"
currency: ZAR
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 8
category: "Carson"
url: https://www.desertcart.co.za/products/1144561-carson-closeup-6x18mm-close-focus-monocular-cf-618
store_origin: ZA
region: South Africa
---

# 10-inch close focus range 6x magnification power 2.8 oz ultra-lightweight Carson CloseUp 6x18mm Close-Focus Monocular (CF-618)

**Brand:** carson
**Price:** R696
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Summary

> 🔭 See the world up close and far away—because details matter.

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** Carson CloseUp 6x18mm Close-Focus Monocular (CF-618) by carson
- **How much does it cost?** R696 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.co.za](https://www.desertcart.co.za/products/1144561-carson-closeup-6x18mm-close-focus-monocular-cf-618)

## Best For

- carson enthusiasts

## Why This Product

- Trusted carson brand quality
- Free international shipping included
- Worldwide delivery with tracking
- 15-day hassle-free returns

## Key Features

- • **Wide Field of View:** Scan 427 feet at 1,000 yards—never miss a moment in nature or cityscape.
- • **Precision Engineering:** Smooth, one-hand focusing with a compact design built for professionals on the move.
- • **Versatile Vision Tool:** Perfect for birdwatching, travel, low-vision reading, and surveillance—your all-in-one optical companion.
- • **Dual-Range Focus Mastery:** Seamlessly switch from distant vistas to intimate details with a close focus as near as 10 inches.
- • **Featherlight Portability:** At just 2.8 ounces, carry crystal-clear vision wherever your next adventure calls.

## Overview

The Carson CloseUp 6x18mm Monocular delivers sharp 6x magnification with an exceptional close focus of just 10 inches, all packed into an ultra-light 2.8-ounce frame. Its 18mm objective lens offers a broad 427-foot field of view at 1,000 yards, making it ideal for professionals and enthusiasts who demand versatility—from detailed close-up inspections to expansive long-distance viewing. Compact, durable, and backed by Carson’s quality guarantee, this monocular is a must-have for millennial managers balancing work, travel, and outdoor passions.

## Description

Dual Purpose Close Focus MonocularThe CloseUp monocular from Carson offers all the benefits of standard 6x power monocular plus an extreme close focus of only 10 inches. You'll be able to view details of faraway objects as well as objects directly in front of you. Turn the focusing barrel all the way in for long distance viewing. To examine closer objects, hold the monocular roughly 10 inches from your subject and turn the focusing barrel all the way out until your subject comes into focus.Compact and Lightweight DesignWeighing less than 3 ounces, the CloseUp monocular is extremely compact and lightweight allowing you to take it with you almost anywhere. Great Monocular for Multiple Hobbies and Low Vision TasksThe CloseUp Monocular is perfect for a multitude of hobbies and tasks including low vision reading, sight-seeing, travel, camping, hiking, sporting events, concerts, surveillance, nature viewing, bird watching, hunting and so much more.Backed by Carson. /strong> At Carson, we strive to make sure our customers are 100% satisfied with the quality of our optics. Carson will repair or replace your monocular if it is found to have manufacturing defects in materials or workmanship.

Review: Carson 7x18 review, by experienced optics enthusiast - I wear eye glasses and can see the full field of view with them on, though some people have more deeply recessed eyes. I can focus it with one hand. My middle through pinky fingers hold the front barrel while my thumb and pointer turn the eye barrel. Just under 3 full turns covers the range from infinity to 10". Half a turn takes it from infinity to 6 feet. The Carson 7x18 focuses well past infinity too. It is 2.5 inches at shortest and 3.5 inches at longest. 7x confirmed by merging images with my 7x35 binoculars. The field of view is 400 ft, not 472 ft as advertised. The apparent field of view looks 50 degrees, not the 60 of my binoculars. I don't mind since the eye relief is so good. The focus is smooth with good tolerances and the right amount of friction. No wiggle. The inside is black, and the lenses are coated. Looks like quality. The larger barrel diameter is 1 1/8 inches. Very high depth of field far away, and very shallow depth of field up close. 1/2 turn takes you from infinity to 7 feet. I can easily hold this very steady with one hand, but I can also hold 16x binoculars steady. I'm well practiced. With my glasses I have a combined 20/20 vision. With my weaker eye I was just able to read a street sign two blocks away, while standing. I'm tempted to send one to my father as a gift. --------------------------------- Update: I opened the window so I could get a truer side by side test with my binoculars. Looking through a window with a few faint water spots, they look equally sharp as my Tasco Essentials 7x35. With the window opened, I could see that there is slightly more ever so faint haze in the Carson 7x18 than in my Tascos, which had slightly less clarity than naked eye. This is easily overlooked. Imaging looking through a clean window, vs opening the window to look outside. The clean window shows a good view most would not complain about nor notice anything wrong with when looking through, but the opened window is much better. The fully coated optics are nice, but not perfect. The roof prisms scatter a bit more light than porro prisms. You have to pay more or get something less streamlined to avoid that. Also, the center of view was sharper in the Tascos, as was the edge of view. The Tascos had a much wider field of view too. My Tascos are not as sharp as my Nikons. You get what you pay for. But if you are not super picky, the Carson will give you a magnified view that shows much more than what your eyes can see. It is small and portable and inexpensive. I've looked through some uncoated all plastic lens monoculars before, and the Carson is much clearer than them.
Review: Handy monocular, close-up to far. With focus suggestions. - The Carson CloseUp: Handy, good quality monocular. I use it all the time. Very small, lightweight, cheap. Comes with a strap to carry it around your neck, and a little black pouch with belt loop. So very easy to carry along. Good for seniors like myself, or for kids who like to explore. You do need two hands to twist the two telescoping parts to focus-in on things. Carson did not place a scale with markings to make it easy to pre-set the monocular to an approximate distance, before fine-tuning the focus. This is a drawback that would have been easy to prevent by adding some little lines with viewing distances. Read on for my work-arounds. This monocular has a very wide viewing range, with two main areas of use (and focus work-arounds): 1) FAR: for distance viewing (mostly outdoors). See a bus number or street name from far away, or deer and birds on a nature walk. -- Prepare the monocular by screwing the two parts together, so it is at its shortest (only 2.5 inches long). The monocular is now focused for far away. This is the opposite of what you would expect (counter-intuitive). You would normally expect the monocular to be at its longest for viewing far away, like a telescope. But no. This is what took me the longest to get used to. So: short for far away. From this position it takes only 2 or 3 twists (quarter-turns) to focus in to as close as 8 feet. So easy to use, not much effort. 2) CLOSE: for close-up viewing (mostly indoors). Clearly read the finest print, see the smallest detail. Nature lovers can observe the details of flowers or strange little insects. You can see sharply from as close up as 11 inches. That is what makes this monocular so special, and why it is obviously called the Carson CloseUp. -- Prepare to use it for close-up by twisting the two parts apart, unscrewing them, so the monocular is at its longest (about 4.5 inches long). It is now focused at its closest, or less than 1 foot away (again, counter-intuitive). Then twist to adjust the focus to further away. It takes about 8 twists (quarter-turns) to get it to focus 3 feet away. So that is more work. Closer in, it has a very narrow depth of field. That means you do have to very exactly focus it to see sharp. So that takes a bit of work twisting it, adjusting the focus. A tip if you regularly use the CloseUp at medium distances. Like reading product labels and prices on the bottom shelf, without having to bend over or go down on your knees. Take a fine-tipped permanent marker, and draw some little lines, so you can pre-set the focus before viewing and fine-tuning the focus. That will save you a lot of work in finding the right focus in the mid area. Carson should have done this, engraving little lines. So little effort to save the user so much work. I hope these work-arounds will help make this product even more useful and easy to use, if you decide to get it.

## Features

- Close focus monocular that can be used for long distance or close focus viewing | Close Focus feature works up to 10 inches away from your subject
- Magnification: 6x Power | Objective Lens Diameter: 18mm | Field of View: 427 feet at 1,000 yards
- Extremely Compact and Lightweight Design | Weight: 2.8 ounces
- Great monocular for low vision reading, sight seeing, travel, surveillance, nature viewing, bird watching, hunting and so much more

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| ASIN | B0010KZJXC |
| Best Sellers Rank | #322 in Camera & Photo Products ( See Top 100 in Camera & Photo Products ) #67 in Monoculars |
| Customer Reviews | 4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars (849) |
| Date First Available | February 6, 2009 |
| Department | unisex-adult |
| Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
| Item Weight | 1.6 ounces |
| Item model number | CF-618 |
| Language | Swedish |
| Manufacturer | Carson Optical |
| Product Dimensions | 3 x 1.1 x 1.3 inches |

## Product Details

- **Brand:** Carson
- **Eye Piece Lens Description:** Fully Coated
- **Finderscope:** Reflex
- **Focus Type:** Manual Focus
- **Item Weight:** 0.1 Pounds
- **Model Name:** CloseUp™
- **Objective Lens Diameter:** 18 Millimeters
- **Power Source:** Manual
- **Product Dimensions:** 3.5"D x 1.3"W x 1.3"H
- **Telescope Mount Description:** Tripod Mount

## Images

![Carson CloseUp 6x18mm Close-Focus Monocular (CF-618) - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71FD8BZGL+L.jpg)
![Carson CloseUp 6x18mm Close-Focus Monocular (CF-618) - Image 2](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71Li+WF6ceL.jpg)
![Carson CloseUp 6x18mm Close-Focus Monocular (CF-618) - Image 3](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71S2s01A+eL.jpg)
![Carson CloseUp 6x18mm Close-Focus Monocular (CF-618) - Image 4](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81D2gcG2hbL.jpg)
![Carson CloseUp 6x18mm Close-Focus Monocular (CF-618) - Image 5](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81DW71AiePL.jpg)

## Questions & Answers

**Q: what are the dimensions?**
A: 3" x 1.3" x 1.5"

**Q: Will this allow me to see the on screen text that is displayed on my TV from my cablebox  such as the eletronic program guide? I have low vision.**
A: It might.  Sometimes I have trouble reading the satellite program guide from Dish Network without getting up from the armchair and the scope helps with that.  But it depends too upon your TV set resolution.  Cheaper and older analogue sets can be difficult to read fine text with -- even close up.

**Q: Does it come with a case?  How do you protect the lense?**
A: What I got had a draw string case.

**Q: What’s the exact weight ?  In one description it says 2.8 oz, but another description says 1.62 oz. And does it have a rubber coating or is it metal ?**
A: Hello, thanks for bringing this to our attention. We will make sure to update the information in all the descriptions for this product. 
The correct weight of the CF-618 CloseUp is 1.62 oz. The structure is made of ABS plastic with rubber paint coating in some sections.

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Carson 7x18 review, by experienced optics enthusiast
*by M***9 on July 14, 2015*

I wear eye glasses and can see the full field of view with them on, though some people have more deeply recessed eyes. I can focus it with one hand. My middle through pinky fingers hold the front barrel while my thumb and pointer turn the eye barrel. Just under 3 full turns covers the range from infinity to 10". Half a turn takes it from infinity to 6 feet. The Carson 7x18 focuses well past infinity too. It is 2.5 inches at shortest and 3.5 inches at longest. 7x confirmed by merging images with my 7x35 binoculars. The field of view is 400 ft, not 472 ft as advertised. The apparent field of view looks 50 degrees, not the 60 of my binoculars. I don't mind since the eye relief is so good. The focus is smooth with good tolerances and the right amount of friction. No wiggle. The inside is black, and the lenses are coated. Looks like quality. The larger barrel diameter is 1 1/8 inches. Very high depth of field far away, and very shallow depth of field up close. 1/2 turn takes you from infinity to 7 feet. I can easily hold this very steady with one hand, but I can also hold 16x binoculars steady. I'm well practiced. With my glasses I have a combined 20/20 vision. With my weaker eye I was just able to read a street sign two blocks away, while standing. I'm tempted to send one to my father as a gift. --------------------------------- Update: I opened the window so I could get a truer side by side test with my binoculars. Looking through a window with a few faint water spots, they look equally sharp as my Tasco Essentials 7x35. With the window opened, I could see that there is slightly more ever so faint haze in the Carson 7x18 than in my Tascos, which had slightly less clarity than naked eye. This is easily overlooked. Imaging looking through a clean window, vs opening the window to look outside. The clean window shows a good view most would not complain about nor notice anything wrong with when looking through, but the opened window is much better. The fully coated optics are nice, but not perfect. The roof prisms scatter a bit more light than porro prisms. You have to pay more or get something less streamlined to avoid that. Also, the center of view was sharper in the Tascos, as was the edge of view. The Tascos had a much wider field of view too. My Tascos are not as sharp as my Nikons. You get what you pay for. But if you are not super picky, the Carson will give you a magnified view that shows much more than what your eyes can see. It is small and portable and inexpensive. I've looked through some uncoated all plastic lens monoculars before, and the Carson is much clearer than them.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Handy monocular, close-up to far. With focus suggestions.
*by T***D on November 24, 2013*

The Carson CloseUp: Handy, good quality monocular. I use it all the time. Very small, lightweight, cheap. Comes with a strap to carry it around your neck, and a little black pouch with belt loop. So very easy to carry along. Good for seniors like myself, or for kids who like to explore. You do need two hands to twist the two telescoping parts to focus-in on things. Carson did not place a scale with markings to make it easy to pre-set the monocular to an approximate distance, before fine-tuning the focus. This is a drawback that would have been easy to prevent by adding some little lines with viewing distances. Read on for my work-arounds. This monocular has a very wide viewing range, with two main areas of use (and focus work-arounds): 1) FAR: for distance viewing (mostly outdoors). See a bus number or street name from far away, or deer and birds on a nature walk. -- Prepare the monocular by screwing the two parts together, so it is at its shortest (only 2.5 inches long). The monocular is now focused for far away. This is the opposite of what you would expect (counter-intuitive). You would normally expect the monocular to be at its longest for viewing far away, like a telescope. But no. This is what took me the longest to get used to. So: short for far away. From this position it takes only 2 or 3 twists (quarter-turns) to focus in to as close as 8 feet. So easy to use, not much effort. 2) CLOSE: for close-up viewing (mostly indoors). Clearly read the finest print, see the smallest detail. Nature lovers can observe the details of flowers or strange little insects. You can see sharply from as close up as 11 inches. That is what makes this monocular so special, and why it is obviously called the Carson CloseUp. -- Prepare to use it for close-up by twisting the two parts apart, unscrewing them, so the monocular is at its longest (about 4.5 inches long). It is now focused at its closest, or less than 1 foot away (again, counter-intuitive). Then twist to adjust the focus to further away. It takes about 8 twists (quarter-turns) to get it to focus 3 feet away. So that is more work. Closer in, it has a very narrow depth of field. That means you do have to very exactly focus it to see sharp. So that takes a bit of work twisting it, adjusting the focus. A tip if you regularly use the CloseUp at medium distances. Like reading product labels and prices on the bottom shelf, without having to bend over or go down on your knees. Take a fine-tipped permanent marker, and draw some little lines, so you can pre-set the focus before viewing and fine-tuning the focus. That will save you a lot of work in finding the right focus in the mid area. Carson should have done this, engraving little lines. So little effort to save the user so much work. I hope these work-arounds will help make this product even more useful and easy to use, if you decide to get it.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ The HDE did indeed have the best magnification and like other posters said
*by B***M on September 17, 2014*

Was considering buying a replica mini telescope for bug-out bag at $65, Decided instead to gamble on three separate $15 scopes just to see if I could get one to meet my minimal requirements (mostly being small and lightweight). The three I ordered were: HDE® 15x - 55x Zoom 21mm Compact Monocular, Sold by: HDE Carson CloseUp 7x18mm Close-Focus Monocular (CF-718), Sold by: Amazon.com LLC Celestron UpClose G2 10x25 Monocular, Black (71213) In a nutshell, I was pleasantly surprised with all three. None of them were the cat's meow, but for ~$15 I didn't expect them to be (and you shouldn't either). For my own purposes, they were all surprisingly acceptable. The HDE did indeed have the best magnification and like other posters said, needs a tripod to really use anything at the upper levels, but it looked pretty darn good at the lowest level (15x). The Celestron had the best quality feel to it, which I expected, being a name brand, but the optics were no better than others. The Carson, which is half the size of the other two (you can't tell by the graphics) is my favorite. Tiny, lightweight, clear picture, enough magnification to just look out there and say, "What is that?" The Carson also has a Macro function, which is pretty cool. I used to check out a tiny splinter in my hand and could see it! My only complaint is the Carson looked like it had been returned by someone else (one of my pet peeves on Amazon when I'm buying 'NEW'). I can't give any of them five stars because they each do have small issues, but I thought four stars was fair because you are getting so much (materially) for so little (cost). Hope that helps.

## Frequently Bought Together

- Carson CloseUp 6x18mm Close-Focus Monocular (CF-618)
- Carson MiniMight 6x18mm Pocket Monocular with Carabiner Clip (MM-618)
- Carson BlackWave 10x25mm Waterproof Monocular, Black (WM-025)

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*Product available on Desertcart South Africa*
*Store origin: ZA*
*Last updated: 2026-02-05*