Wide Angle Peephole Door Viewer Doorscope 2- 3/8" Silver Metal

so i read back through some of the reviews, and i must say they're interesting. one person was upset about shipping (1 star review); so why not review the SELLER and not the product. a couple of things to note: hopefully this will be helpful for those on the fence about this product. the clarity is on purpose; i wish that people understood why, and they would probably give this thing better reviews. it's purposely textured because this further prevents someone from seeing in via the reflective mirrors contained in the unit. you are supposed to apply a very thin coating of patroleum jelly to give that "dry" look a bit more clarity. it's actually a pretty nice lens, but the "dry" look is not only easily reduced, but it's on purpose. another reviewer said that the image was upside down. wow! it's flipped vertically because it's using a prism/lens method for projecting the image on a textured surface. think of a much, much, MUCH clearer version of a shoebox sun viewer. just rotate the lens a 1/4 turn and you're looking at a picture right-side up, but (like i said) flipped vertically. why give the product a poor review because of your lack of understanding? one more thing is about night vision...yes...it will be a bit harder to see than a normal peephole...will it work? yup...look at my photos. you can see just fine in normal scenarios and i'll go a step further and say that it works really well if you have a porch light. now, if you don't have a porch light...you should make that your FIRST purchase anyway. move on to that before you get this.... lastly, there's one thing that got me, although i'm not going to take away a star (although I probably should). the outside cover is chrome. this is perfect...exactly what i needed to match our door handles etc. the other parts are more like....brushed aluminum. why not make them the same all around? maybe corrosion? i guess i should try to understand this before docking the review, because there could be a good reason for it. over all though, it's really barely noticeable...this is a negligible gripe.

I have this mounted in my front door, looking through a storm door that has bars and a screen over it. I can still see out of it quite adequately. The picture isn't perfect and crisp, but it offers a GREAT advantage to a normal peephole. You don't have to put your face up to the door to see who's there. I have a split level entry home, and I can see someone coming up my stairs while sitting in a chair upstairs. In daylight the picture is fantastic. At night, it's not the best but it does great with the light you give it. Hint- turn on your porch lights. The key to mounting it is this: Don't mount it as high as you would a normal peephole. You don't need to put your face against it to see out of it, and mounting it lower lets you see more of the subject at your door, and less of the sky. Plus, if you have kids this gives them a better viewing angle on it. Especially if you have a step down from your front door. All in all a great product, solidly built. Glad it's in my front door.

I bought this for the front door of my split-entry home. I knew my young kids would not be able to see out of a regular peep hole, so I thought this would provide a greater angle for viewing for the shorties in my family. But it only partially works for them. They have to stand on the second stair in order to get a straight line of sight out the viewer. However, with the huge viewing screen, they are still able to see out from 3 feet away! That's pretty cool. I was also hoping to be able to see out from up stairs (7 steps) but again, the viewing angle doesn't allow for this. You have to be straight in line with the viewer to be able to see out. The only other way i can think to describe it is to look through binoculars - if you aren't straight on then you can't see through them. My other negative on this peephole viewer is the odd 2 3/8" hole-saw size. Between myself, my brother and my father in-law we have about 20 hole saws (some are duplicates). But none of us had the odd size needed for this job. So plan on taking on another $12 or more to the price of this peephole because you will most likely have to buy a hole saw.

Our beautiful mid-century brick ranch has one of those old-fashioned solid doors and no sidelites, so when someone knocked at the door of home, there was no way to see if it was friend or foe. Seems like there's been an uptick in crime with all the economic problems, so I decided it was time to invest a few dollars in a simple peephole for that front door. Both my husband and I extremely nearsighted *and* farsighted we both wear bifocals. I wanted a peephole that would work for us. When someone rings the bell, I did not want to spend 12 minutes getting my eyes and/or eyeglasses into the sweet spot in a desperate attempt to see out a wee-tiny peephole. We had this wide-angle peephole fully installed in about 20 minutes and it looks great. The only caution is that you have to buy a 2-3/8" hole-saw for the installation, and that adds another few dollars to the cost. We installed it a bit lower than the manufacturer recommended, and I'm very glad we did. It's at about 4'6" and at that height, you still see a bit of the porch roof. If we'd installed it at 5'2" (as is recommended), we'd be seeing a whole lot more of the porch roof, which isn't helpful! At 4'6", we can see a fair bit of the porch floor, and that's just what I wanted. If a small child is at the door, I'll be able to see him/her, and if someone is trying to hide against the brick walls that flank the door, I imagine I'll be able to see them, too. The only disappointment is that I couldn't find the brass version of this product until a few days after I ordered the original product. I don't know where it was hiding, but I see it's available now. Drat and double-drat. Back to the good news: This viewer does give a panoramic view of the world outside your door. And best of all, you'll know whether you need to answer the door wearing a smile or wielding a shotgun.

The image is reversed on mine, you need outdoor lighting, and it's not easy to install into a metal door, but this is a huge step up over a regular peephole. The image is almost like a screen and it's much bigger than I expected. You cannot see into the house from the outside. You can see outside from the inside though. The description says you need to be within about ten feet, but I can see from clear across the house (although I have to get within about fifteen feet to recognize the person). I used a metal cutting disc on a Dremel to cut out the shape - I initially got a metal cutting hole saw on a drill, which was a horrible idea. This might work on a wood door, but it was impossible on a metal door. The Dremel worked great and the rest of the installation took about twenty seconds.

I bought this peep hole for my mom's house. I also had to buy a hole saw for this project since I didn't have this odd ball size in my set of hole saws. When the peep hole arrived , it was bigger than I expected physically. The dimensions are given, but when you actually have the unit in your hand its a lot bigger. The optics a very poor quality and the image is very fuzzy. I decided not to install this unit and butcher up a perfectly good door for a blurry peep hole. Instead I installed a standard type peep hole. Mom was very happy and the optics are very clear. I'm still out about $40 for the hole saw and the wide peep hole.

Pros: Wide Angle Viewing, Easy Install, Great Quality (metal). Cons: A little larger than imagined (it gives the dimensions in the description but I didn't pay much attention), Must apply vaseline (per instructions) periodically to inside lens to get clear image - otherwise you are looking through hazy smoke surfaced glass and can't see anything. When it arrived the vaseline was already applied but picked up a lot of dirt and dust from packaging. From outside at night, you can see light emitting from inside of house and see if someone is approaching the door but there is not any way to see any detail inside, just light movement. If a tv is on inside and the light from the tv reaches the viewer, you will be able to see the changes of light emitted from the tv while standing outside the door. Some viewers have a cover for the inside as an accessory - it would be nice if it was available for this model. Note: Dropped a star because description should state there is maintenance involved with owning the viewer. I have had the viewer for about 3 months and have not had to reapply vaseline yet, but over the years I'm sure I will.

Although this product looks huge when it is first unpacked, it did not look overwhelming on our 8' front door. It gives a wide angle view of what's outside the door, and beyond. We have a covered porch, but the viewer gathers enough light to see anyone standing in the shade. Inside, it's like looking at a tiny LCD screen. Although the product description says "viewable from 7-10 feet", I'd say 4-5 feet is more realistic. One benefit of this item is it allows someone in a wheelchair to easily see who's outside. The silver metal looks like polished chrome; I would like to see it offered in a brushed nickel to more closely match my other door hardware. We had our carpenter install it as he was doing other work for us at the time and I did not have the 2 3/8" drillbit needed. This Doorscope is definitely a conversation piece - everyone who sees it exclaims over it.