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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Entry level bins (1 Viewer)

pluvanut

pluvanut

DOCG
My 5 yr old grand daughter has long enjoyed animal spotting (rabbits, deer, cows ,sheep) as well as birds on country outings. Occasionally she asks to look through the (8 x 32) bins and has obviously begun to see properly though them. She can describe what is there accurately sometimes. Very much hit and miss with focus and IPD still a big problem.

I don't subscribe to the idea of buying 'toy' bins - does more harm than good - her patch in the garden is a 'good' bit, not the spot where nothing grows.

Most of the probems could be minimised I guess with 7 x 30/35 i.e big DOF and exit pupil and probably light enough. Nearest thing I've found so far is Bushnell fixed focus at around £40. They need to be cheap enough to replace without grief when she damages/loses them.

Welcome any comments or suggestions as to similar experiences and/or other contenders, new or used. Already watching ebay.
 
I think you've got everything covered there Paul.

I can remember when my daughter started taking an interest as about 8 years old, having similar problems.

I agree... "toy" bins are a waste of time, so for me the main issues were as you have said, plus, of course, getting something small enough.

I don't have experience of Bushnells, but I expect they would be perfectly suitable in terms of quality... in the end, we got a pair of bog standard unbranded ones, which she occasionally, but rarely still uses 5 years on (they didn't get dropped!!!). Now she tends to borrow mine!
 
birdman said:
I think you've got everything covered there Paul.

I can remember when my daughter started taking an interest as about 8 years old, having similar problems.

I agree... "toy" bins are a waste of time, so for me the main issues were as you have said, plus, of course, getting something small enough.

I don't have experience of Bushnells, but I expect they would be perfectly suitable in terms of quality... in the end, we got a pair of bog standard unbranded ones, which she occasionally, but rarely still uses 5 years on (they didn't get dropped!!!). Now she tends to borrow mine!
Click to expand...

Hi Birdman
Can you remeber where you found your bog standard ones? Doesn't seem to be much on the web or high street, I must be looking in the wrong places.
 
pluvanut said:
Hi Birdman
Can you remeber where you found your bog standard ones? Doesn't seem to be much on the web or high street, I must be looking in the wrong places.
Click to expand...
Might've been Jessops or Dixons...

:t:
 
pluvanut said:
My 5 yr old grand daughter has long enjoyed animal spotting (rabbits, deer, cows ,sheep) as well as birds on country outings. Occasionally she asks to look through the (8 x 32) bins and has obviously begun to see properly though them. She can describe what is there accurately sometimes. Very much hit and miss with focus and IPD still a big problem.

I don't subscribe to the idea of buying 'toy' bins - does more harm than good - her patch in the garden is a 'good' bit, not the spot where nothing grows.

Most of the probems could be minimised I guess with 7 x 30/35 i.e big DOF and exit pupil and probably light enough. Nearest thing I've found so far is Bushnell fixed focus at around £40. They need to be cheap enough to replace without grief when she damages/loses them.

Welcome any comments or suggestions as to similar experiences and/or other contenders, new or used. Already watching ebay.
Click to expand...

Hi,

I was in the same situation with my 7 years old son. I would suggest that you give your grand daughter a little choice of perhaps 3 different binoculars you checked up before as optical good (I thinkt a 7-8x30 would be the best) and ask her which one she prefers. So I did and we take a 8x32 Vixen Ultima for a price of 109,- Euro which is optical very good, lightweight and has a good FOV.

Regards

Steve
 
pluvanut said:
My 5 yr old grand daughter has long enjoyed animal spotting (rabbits, deer, cows ,sheep) as well as birds on country outings. Occasionally she asks to look through the (8 x 32) bins and has obviously begun to see properly though them. She can describe what is there accurately sometimes. Very much hit and miss with focus and IPD still a big problem.

I don't subscribe to the idea of buying 'toy' bins - does more harm than good - her patch in the garden is a 'good' bit, not the spot where nothing grows.

Most of the probems could be minimised I guess with 7 x 30/35 i.e big DOF and exit pupil and probably light enough. Nearest thing I've found so far is Bushnell fixed focus at around £40. They need to be cheap enough to replace without grief when she damages/loses them.

Welcome any comments or suggestions as to similar experiences and/or other contenders, new or used. Already watching ebay.
Click to expand...
Could try some from here: http://www.7dayshop.com/catalog/normal_search_result.php?keywords=binoculars&sort=2a&&page=1&PHPSESSID=95082e8ab12665fe08df967c8905538e

I have the 10x42 waterproof and amextremly happy with them!
 
Thanks for all suggestions and comments:

Where it ended up.
Decided against things like Jenoptem on Ebay, on grounds of being too bulky for small hands.
Spent some time looking at all suitable options at Bird Fair, of which there are a number with a strict price limit of £50. I bought Pyser 'Harrier' 8 x 25(non-wp roof) in the end - very (surprisingly) good image - hard to criticise in terms of colour, contrast and sharpness; good, smooth, easy handling and lightish weight; compact enough for small hands. I guess sample variation may be a problem at this price, though the 2 (one demo and another at random) I looked through were consistent.
Other threads in this forum have been making a strong case for bins coming from China (like these) and I see what they mean now. Well worth a look.
Wouldn't hesitate to buy for a back-up or pocketable second pair at this price.
Edit: P.S. Originally looking for 7x with a 25ish objective didn't work out, but Opticron MCF 7 x 24 (at £125) would have fitted perfectly except for price - optically excellent by any standard IMO.
 
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