When my daughter was small, she found binoculars were too difficult to use to be helpful. After growing older and several years of O&M practice with her monocular, however, binoculars suddenly became terrific and much better than the monocular. Part of the trick is getting the right pair of binoculars. The best ones have a short minimum focal distance (so you can use them to see something close, like a menu behind the counter at McDonalds), a wide field of view, and can zoom in and out between moderate and high magnification.

My daughter’s favorite model of binoculars is the unparalleled, but unfortunately discontinued, Pentax UCF 8-20×24 with 6 foot minimum focal distance. What do those specs mean? The 8-20 is the range of magnification. Normally this would be just one number, but since these are zoom binoculars it gives a range, from 8x to 20x magnification. The 24 means a 24mm light gathering lens. The 6 foot minimum focal distance means objects need to be at least 6 feet away in order to focus on them. For objects closer than the minimum focal distance the binoculars won’t work—so its best to switch to your smartphone magnifier app.

The table below compares the two best available binocular models I have found against my daughter’s favorite. I recommend trying the Nikon Sportstar Zoom 8-24×25.

Model	Specs	Min Focal Distance	Comment
Pentax UCF	8-20×24	6 feet	My daughter’s favorite but discontinued
Pentax UP	8-16×21	10 feet	Not as good as my daughter’s favorite on any spec, but still available
Nikon Sportstar Zoom	8-24×25	13 feet	Worse minimum focal distance but better on the other stats. Try this one and use a smartphone when closer than 13 feet.

Note on sunglasses: When my daughter first started using binoculars, she wanted a similar adaptation as we made for her monocular—tinted lens caps for use outside so she could take off her glasses and use the binoculars without them. (This would let her place her eyes closer to the eyepieces and achieve a wider field of view.) Now however, she finds that its easier to use the binoculars as-is. The binoculars already significantly cut down on light, so often she doesn’t need additional tinting. When she does, she is now sufficiently adept with the binoculars to use them with her glasses.

Note on short focal distances: Now that my daughter has an iPhone, she uses its camera or magnification app when she needs to see something closer than her binocular’s 6 foot minimum focal distance.