Binoculars appropriate for a 6-year-old?

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nisiprius
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Binoculars appropriate for a 6-year-old?

Post by nisiprius »

Our grandchild is always staring at the crappy plastic binoculars in e.g. museum shops... I wonder if anything exists that meets my list of desiderata... the basic idea is: just enough power to be worth looking through, and everything else gauged so that an inexperienced user is likely to SEE something.

1) Interpupillary distance adjustable down to a child's, maybe 40-50 mm.

2) About 4X. Powerful enough to be worth looking through. Not too powerful to hold steady.

3) Seriously big exit pupils. Good soft eye cups and good eye relief. Don't need to get your eyes perfectly positioned to see well.

4) Smooth and fast focussing action.

5) Decent optics, maybe not great but decent. (A few years ago I saw dirt-cheap Vivitar-branded binoculars that claimed to be "7x50" and thought, wow! Turned out the front lens diameter was indeed 50 mm but immediately behind the front lens was an aperture stop with about a 1 cm clear aperture! That would be an example of "NOT-decent" optics).

6) Maybe Galilean optics are acceptable if there is such as thing as quality Galilean optics. (In Ye Olde Days, before prismatic binoculars became common, there were such things, called "field glasses," and the only issue with them was a somewhat restricted field of view).

7) Fairly rugged.

8) Not so expensive that it's a tragedy if they get lost, dropped in a pond, etc.
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FinanceGeek
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Re: Binoculars appropriate for a 6-year-old?

Post by FinanceGeek »

Make sure your grandchild knows not to look into the sun (or reflections of the sun).
rbwb
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Re: Binoculars appropriate for a 6-year-old?

Post by rbwb »

Leopold Yosemite 6x30

Nice glass for about $70. Fit small hands and faces.
Only downside is the focusing has an o-ring type seal for "waterproofing" and it can be a little sticky until you get things moving. More so in cold weather.

I bought the Yosemites for my granddaughter and my son-in-law (a dedicated birder) was impressed.
I keep one in the kitchen for watching backyard deer and feeder birds. And to keep the grandkids away from my Swaros.
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Re: Binoculars appropriate for a 6-year-old?

Post by jebmke »

rbwb wrote:Leopold Yosemite 6x30

Nice glass for about $70. Fit small hands and faces.
Only downside is the focusing has an o-ring type seal for "waterproofing" and it can be a little sticky until you get things moving. More so in cold weather.

I bought the Yosemites for my granddaughter and my son-in-law (a dedicated birder) was impressed.
I keep one in the kitchen for watching backyard deer and feeder birds. And to keep the grandkids away from my Swaros.
Leupold make excellent binoculars. They are, of course, known for their rifle scopes.

No matter what brand, they have to be tried out "live" -- that is only way to know if the specs work. We tried various brands and some just didn't work (mainly due to blacking). We like our Leupolds because the glass has low color distortion and the focus is very fast (we are birders). We really liked the Vortex glasses but couldn't make them work for us. Very good glass.
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Glenn
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Re: Binoculars appropriate for a 6-year-old?

Post by Glenn »

I've got two 6-year-old grandsons and bought Kowa YF30-6 binoculars for them, and they've worked out well. Critical parameters:

6 power, with an 8 degree FOV...so they can actually find what they want to look at.
Interpupillary distance adjusts down to 50 mm, for small heads.
Rubber armored.
Optical quality is surprisingly good for the price, in keeping with Kowa's reputation.
Minimum focus distance of 16'
16.6 oz weight.
Cost is about $90.

I think they are just about perfect for kids in the 6-12 range, with the most noticeable flaw being a rather stiff focus ring.

They're expensive enough that I wouldn't want them dropped in a pond, but it wouldn't be nearly the same tragedy as if they dropped my personal Swarovskis!
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retiredjg
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Re: Binoculars appropriate for a 6-year-old?

Post by retiredjg »

nisi, this is such a great idea. That kid is going to be SO excited!
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Re: Binoculars appropriate for a 6-year-old?

Post by jon-nyc »

Hmmm.... Maybe a nice holiday gift for my 5 year old.
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Re: Binoculars appropriate for a 6-year-old?

Post by nisiprius »

jebmke wrote:...We tried various brands and some just didn't work (mainly due to blacking)...
By "blacking," do you mean that the exit pupils are floating in space at some funny location, and you can't find a comfortable way to hold the binoculars at the right distance and alignment to see the whole field through both eyes at the same time?
Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen and six, result happiness; Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.
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Re: Binoculars appropriate for a 6-year-old?

Post by jebmke »

nisiprius wrote:
jebmke wrote:...We tried various brands and some just didn't work (mainly due to blacking)...
By "blacking," do you mean that the exit pupils are floating in space at some funny location, and you can't find a comfortable way to hold the binoculars at the right distance and alignment to see the whole field through both eyes at the same time?
Yes, that is it. If the eye relief is too short, part of the view is blacked out because the lens is focusing to the wrong spot. Different brands have different characteristics. It is a bit like fitting a shoe. Wrong fitting shoes aren't bad -- they just don't work for you and another brand does fine.

The only way to be sure is to try binocs "live".

Eagle Optics is a good online vendor and last time I checked they allowed free returns. Depending on where you live there might also be retail vendors that carry many models.
Don't trust me, look it up. https://www.irs.gov/forms-instructions-and-publications
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Re: Binoculars appropriate for a 6-year-old?

Post by celia »

Nisi, On the thread about not getting something you wanted for Christmas, I was enthralled with your camera/lens story. I was going to PM you that you were/are such a nerd (in a good way). :D http://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtop ... g#p2201950

But the fact that a grandkid shows an interest shows that this fascination with lenses may run in the family genes. The best thing you can do is share time with the kid (and other grandkids) on this hobby. It just isn't the telescope/camera, per se, but the bonding over a mutual interest. But check with the kid's parents first before buying him something that the parents may think is inappropriate for his/her age or if there are younger kids around.
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Re: Binoculars appropriate for a 6-year-old?

Post by nisiprius »

Thanks to everyone to made suggestions, and thanks to Celia for her insights.
Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen and six, result happiness; Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.
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ram
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Re: Binoculars appropriate for a 6-year-old?

Post by ram »

Perhaps - Eagle Optics Kingbird 6.5x32 Binocular. ($95)

I got 2 binoculars at about $250 each from them a few months ago and these were very good. Havent used the one mentioned above but that seemed the nearest to your requirements as seen at their website.
Ram
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