Wasabrot
Well-known member
I think the problem would be that the kids have to step back 2m to view the bug, spider or whatever.
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Baby S (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter VS007
- Start date
Hi,
point taken - will be interesting how much magnification and afov is achieved then, but yes, that works in a pinch with other roofs too. But you usually have to go very close for a useful magnification - so nice for plants or fungi, not so much for most animals...
As for missing diopter adjustment, yes that might be a bummer in some edge cases, but I tend to be more lenient with that due to 18mm of eye relief.
Joachim, who had both kids who got a papilio use other bins before and thus knew that they were interested and could check needed IPD when the bins were returned...
Not that I can see. But they do mention in a couple of places that it is rugged and can cope with everyday accidents.
Thotmosis
Well-known member
Can be an interesting bino for hiking. Would be interesting to read reviews when out on the market.
Yes. As with Vortex Bantam 6,5x32 there is no reason this binocular would not be a good option even for adults. The main feature intended for children is the shorter minimal distance between the barrels. And the ocular design is a bit more simple in order to hold down the price, and provides narrower FOV.
But the size is very good for backpacking and hiking.
If the usable ER is sufficient My Junior 7x28 definitely is in my purchase list!
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Hermann
Well-known member
Really? Check the third photo in post #3: IMO the focus knob clearly shows that the binoculars have dioptre correction, +/-3 diopters.
Hermann
Edit: I was wrong! No dioptre correction!
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Ignatius
Pigasus J. Pig IX for President
I only see a focussing knob with two pictogrammes at the extremes for distance and magnifying use to make things easier for children. But of course YMMV.
Hermann
Well-known member
You're right. I just had a look at the "manual", and it's pretty clear there's no dioptre correction.
Sorry about that. My bad.
Hermann
That is really strange. But: if I understand it right diopter correction is only necessary for eyeglasses wearers when using binoculars without eyeglasses. With eyeglasses or contact lenses it should not be required. This means eyeglasses wearers(unless the eye sight is equal for both eyes) need to use the binocular with eyeglasses, which requires sufficient eye relief for eyeglasses.
John A Roberts
Well-known member
Hi Hermann and Swedpat,
I initially assumed that the diopter adjustment was like that on the CL Companion,
where you push in the centre of the focus knob - compare it to the knob on the MJ shown in post #3 above.
However, while the spec’s for the CL Companion indicate a +/- range of diopter adjustment (as do other Swarovski spec sheets),
the perhaps abbreviated (?) spec’s from the main page for the MJ shown in post #4, don’t include a +/- range.
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And a copy of the much simplified single sheet manual:
John
I initially assumed that the diopter adjustment was like that on the CL Companion,
where you push in the centre of the focus knob - compare it to the knob on the MJ shown in post #3 above.
However, while the spec’s for the CL Companion indicate a +/- range of diopter adjustment (as do other Swarovski spec sheets),
the perhaps abbreviated (?) spec’s from the main page for the MJ shown in post #4, don’t include a +/- range.
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And a copy of the much simplified single sheet manual:
John
Hermann
Well-known member
That's what I thought as well.
Yep. And the datasheet for the MJ is clearly not for the consumption of kids, it's far too technical. Why should it be simplified?
The manual, however, is of course simplified. That makes sense. But have a close look at (4) on the right in John's attached photo:
This means IMO: If you want to focus on something close by, focus clockwise to the flower symbol on the left of the dial. And if you want to look at something far away, focus anti-clockwise to the mountain symbol on the right. Check the third photo in post #3, it clearly shows the symbols.
A few thoughts:
- Children have got a far broader accomodation range than adults. Most (but probably not all) children with different acuity in their eyes should be able to use the MJ even if they don't wear glasses or contacts.
I'm not an ophtamologist so I can't be sure whether this works. However, I'm sure Swarovski gave this a lot of thought.
Perhaps someone who knows can chime in. Looksharp, where are you?
- If there is really no dioptre correction, the binoculars are a lot simpler to make at a low cost. At the same time there are fewer things that can go wrong and the binoculars are probably more robust. There's a reason why military binoculars don't have center focusing. Simplicitiy=robustness.
- The close focus of 4m is IMO also both a cost-cutting exercise and makes the binoculars simpler and more robust.
- At the same time Swarovski made sure many adults won't be able to use the MJ satisfactorily. Many adults, especially older adults, need to change the dioptre adjustment from time to time. For instance, when I'm tired or stressed I need to change the dioptre adjustment by ~0.5 dioptres even when I'm wearing glasses. So, even if an adult can cope with the colours of the MJ, it may not really work for them.
But then adults are probably supposed to spend 4 to 5 times as much on an NL ... Interestingly Swarovski also seems to have changed the direction of the focuser, making it even more difficult for adults who are used to the "usual" direction to switch.
Edit 1: The more I think about the MJ, the more I come to the conclusion that the Swarovski designers went clean off the rocker here.
Edit 2: #5 is not correct. Got confused there ...
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I understand children don't need to refocus as much as adults. But a problem can be that left and right eye cannot adjust focus independently.
Someone can correct me if I am wrong here.
And at what age does that no longer apply I wonder?
Ignatius
Pigasus J. Pig IX for President
Only people with a condition called anisometropia can focus both eyes separately. The German poet Goethe was famous for it and it has become known as 'Goetheblick' in common parlance in German. From what I understand it is not something completely under one's control, but instead one eye is more or less short sighted while the other more or less far sighted. Hence that person cannot one day focus closely with the left eye and far with the right and vice versa the next. Strangely about 3% of humanity have at least a slight anisometropia (ca. 2 dpt).
A newborn has an accommodation of about 14 -16 dpt (even though children do not reach an acuity of 0.6 until the age of three) which works out at infinity to ca. 6 cm. This then goes downhill throughout life until it reaches about 2 dpt at around age 50.
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I don't know exactly if this changes gradually or if it starts at a certain age. But at around 45 years age I started to have problem with reading a book or newspaper with the eyeglasses on. And now more than 10 years later I have hard to focus at closer than 1 meter.
It seems to that Swaro really have lost their way somehow. First we had the Visio which is nothing more than an expensive proof of concept/protoype that will either be a one off or be technologically obsolete in a year or two (with zero resale value in either case). Then we had the 75th anniversary CL at a crazy price due to some fancy pieces of leather stuck on it, and now this. I reckon Zeiss, with their excellent Conquest, SFL and SF lineups are laughing all the way to the bank having captured a lot of the "normal" binocular purchasing market.
