Binoculars

[Clipper707]

I always carry a pair of Nikon Aculon 8-24x25 binos. They're compact enough with good excellent quality glass. In the US they were about $120 if I remember right.

I fly beyond VLOS often, though I've never used binoculars for a substitute for VLOS. Binoculars come in handy for pre-flight checking for power lines and other obstacles you might not otherwise see, even within VLOS. It's almost always a good idea to get eyes on an objective before launching.

 

[sar104]

real nice but I can buy a new drone for the price of those LOL

You get what you pay for.

 

[Guitarzan]

I use these when working the fire towers in Northern California. Great magnification, good lenses. My spotters use them when I fly:

Amazon.com: BARSKA X-Trail 15x70 Binocular w/ Tripod Adapter & Tripod: Sports & Outdoors

Anything over 7X will generally require a tripod and too powerful (narrow field of view) to hand hold. I have used 10 X 70's for wide field astronomy, but hand holding isn't steady enough for details.

 

[sar104]

Anything over 7X will generally require a tripod and too powerful (narrow field of view) to hand hold. I have used 10 X 70's for wide field astronomy, but hand holding isn't steady enough for details.

Unless they are stabilized. Then you can go to much higher magnifications.

 

[Guitarzan]

Unless they are stabilized. Then you can go to much higher magnifications.

True...that's what a tripod is for, but I understand Canon (and maybe others) have electronically-aided stability.