Looking to get some IS binos and was wondering what you guys recommend? Looking for 10X and fairly durable.
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Image Stabalized Binos
- Thread starter t-payne
- Start date
The best image stabilized binoculars are the Canon 10x42 L IS WP Image Stabilized Binocular. I have compared them to $3000 European models. The Canons blow them away. I will never buy another non stabilized binocular ever again. All shake is gone. Completely. Here is the best way to put it - with standard binoculars, I can see planes coming into my local airport. I can see them deploy the landing gear. With my Canon 10x42, I can not only see the landing gear, I can study them.
I know all the tricks on how to keep standard binos stable - use your hat, use the strap, and other methods. They really don't hold a candle to how stable IS binos are. You end up spending all your effort on keeping the bino stable vs. looking at the object you want to view.
I have high tech vision gear - Canon IS, gen III PVS14s and LS64 thermal. The technology and effectiveness of the IS binoculars is my favorite of the three. They are that good.
I know all the tricks on how to keep standard binos stable - use your hat, use the strap, and other methods. They really don't hold a candle to how stable IS binos are. You end up spending all your effort on keeping the bino stable vs. looking at the object you want to view.
I have high tech vision gear - Canon IS, gen III PVS14s and LS64 thermal. The technology and effectiveness of the IS binoculars is my favorite of the three. They are that good.
I have been using the cheaper Canon 10x30IS glasses. Side by side with my EL's whoever is holding the Canons spot varmints at about 5 to 1 over the non stabilized glasses. I can read print and see things that are lost in the shake of regular glasses. I can glass all day and never get motion sickness or eyestrain anymore. I cannot do that with my EL's. My Canon's are tough too. They have never been babied. They have been fogged up in the rain at least a dozen times, dropped from 5 feet high onto gravel and they still work. I hate using cases so they ride on the dash or shoved wherever when they aren't in use. They look beat. If I bought them again I would try to take better care of them. Next ones will be the water proof ones. The Canon 10x42 L IS WP
I have a buddy with the 18 power IS canon's. They are far and away the most amazing long range observation device ever devised. When I stand behind him shooting long range I can see the trace every time and pick squirrels out of dense cover almost as good as the big Swarovski spotter but only hand held and a much wider field of view.
I have a buddy with the 18 power IS canon's. They are far and away the most amazing long range observation device ever devised. When I stand behind him shooting long range I can see the trace every time and pick squirrels out of dense cover almost as good as the big Swarovski spotter but only hand held and a much wider field of view.
I ordered a pair of these specifically for shooting and spotting. How well do you think they work for that purpose? Is it easy to spot a shooter's misses or trace? Also how heavy of a rain was it when your 10x30's fogged and how long did they take to fog? Did that ever cause any problems with the electronics?
It hasn't hurt the electronics at all. I still only need to change batteries maybe twice a year. It was raining pretty good each time thy fogged up. If they don't leave the truck when it raining they never fog.
If you like the 10x30s, you will love the 10x42L image stabilized binoculars! The manual says to dunk them in a bucket of water to clean them. Like I said, IS binos are the only binoculars I will ever buy again. For handheld use, they blow away all the $3000 high end binos.
How does the canon compare to the Nikon VR series? I have always liked the products Nikon puts out.
I was at a match last year and was looking at an array of targets with my 8x binos I carry. They were 500 to 600 yards away. I was having a hard time seeing the target number labels next to each one that determined the shoot order. A fellow shooter handed me his 10x IS canon binos, I was impressed, I could see the labels perfectly. I think they run in the 600.00 range.
The 10x42L version is about $1400. It sounds expensive until you try them.
I am not an expert. But, I think the Nikons are more gear for boating. The stabilization is designed more for the ups and downs of ocean waves than the tremors of your hand. I looked through a pair of the Nikons at Basspro and they made me dizzy when I moved them from object to object.
I am not an expert. But, I think the Nikons are more gear for boating. The stabilization is designed more for the ups and downs of ocean waves than the tremors of your hand. I looked through a pair of the Nikons at Basspro and they made me dizzy when I moved them from object to object.
My unit started using the Canon 10X42L IS binos on our recent deployment. They are phenomenal. You have to see them for yourself. I could pick up on stuff freehand that our DM was having trouble spotting through his S&B PMII on 15x. My company had 20 pairs of the binos for 8 months on patrol every day and only managed to break one pair (not sure how they managed to). My buddy had his in his pack and kicked the whole pack off a ~10 foot roof when he started taking fire and they were fine. Thats pretty rugged in my book.
How is Canon's 8x25? I don't have a great need for binos but a decent pair would be nice to have.
Had them for 10 years now. Very good glass, IS works great. I've always been a little shakey with binoculars, these are my go-to for every use. Can't go wrong really.
Have you compared them with any of the Steiner 8Xs? I looked through a friend's 8x30 from their military line and that's my love for binos now. That glass was very nice!
I haven't no. When I did more photography I always shot Canon and used Canon lenses so it was some brand loyalty. No complaints though. The IS is great.
I agree the Canon's are great .... bright, sharp and stable. They are the perfect binocular for folks who don't have great color acuity. Bright and sharp is easy, contrast is really really tough. The best pair of image stabilized binoculars are the big Zeiss 20x60 because they do contrast, too. It's too bad Zeiss can't do or won't do lower power IS binoculars. Lots and lots of color blind or slightly color blind people out there and if you are, the Canons are perfect because you'll never know the difference.
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I've never used the Canon IS binoculars before, but as a camera buff I can assure that anything marked "L" from Canon is top quality. The L series is Canon top line of lenses. You can tell an L lens by the red ring around the objective end. Just watch the current NBA playoffs and see that 99% of sports photographers are using these lenses. These are people you make their living off of situations where high magnification and optical clarity / color are paramount as well as allowing as much light as possible for fast shutter speeds.
I would but glass from Canon's L series right up there with the top optics we all talk about (S&B, Nightforce, Swarovski, Zeiss, etc)
I would but glass from Canon's L series right up there with the top optics we all talk about (S&B, Nightforce, Swarovski, Zeiss, etc)
The performance of a Canon IS binocular goes beyond just comparing the glass between two binoculars (Even though Crazy1323 is right about the L being top quality).
I looked hard at the $3000 Swarovski's for handheld use. It seemed like buying the most accurate rifle known to man and trying to fire it during an earthquake. I couldn't really take advantage of the quality that I would be buying.
The stabilization allows me to actually use the high quality L glass that I purchased.
I looked hard at the $3000 Swarovski's for handheld use. It seemed like buying the most accurate rifle known to man and trying to fire it during an earthquake. I couldn't really take advantage of the quality that I would be buying.
The stabilization allows me to actually use the high quality L glass that I purchased.
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Contrast is soooooo hard, like $3,000 hard. It's really hard to describe, it's only an experience. And the experience is being able to see the difference between organic brown and inorganic brown at hundreds of yards or greater. No one is using Canon binoculars to spot Coues whitetail because it's not possible if they aren't moving. You might as well be looking through black and white binoculars. But that really is the only difference assuming one doesn't have some level of color blindness.
If you're a serious hunter with good eyes, you're using ELs and nothing else because they are that good. Zeiss are usable (the 20x60 stabilized are wonderful), everything else is for the color blind or other applications. The Canons are great, depending on who's using and what they're being used for.
If you're a serious hunter with good eyes, you're using ELs and nothing else because they are that good. Zeiss are usable (the 20x60 stabilized are wonderful), everything else is for the color blind or other applications. The Canons are great, depending on who's using and what they're being used for.
I would say your contrast doesn't mean much if you can't hold still enough to focus on anything. You think you are focusing but till you put your glass on a rest you can't really tell what your missing. I have EL's and for spotting digger squirrels in thick (brown on brown) cover or down in dark holes nothing compares to the Canon IS binoculars unless your Swarovski glass is on a tripod. With the Canon's I regularly spot antler tines in thick brush that go unnoticed in our EL's just because we can focus and dig into the brush to study details. Sometimes I pick a unit apart so bad I start spotting water bottle lids, gum/cigarette wrappers and other small trash down in the grass. That was never an issue before I got the Canon's. I just wish Swarovski could stabilize the EL's.
Anybody remember those Varnet sun glasses that made browns and greens contrast so well. Those made game jump out at me on a bright day.
Anybody remember those Varnet sun glasses that made browns and greens contrast so well. Those made game jump out at me on a bright day.
Ive had the 18x50is since they first came out about 15yrs ago. The image stabilizers are so good I leave my spotter and tripod at home for hunting. It saves weight plus I can do a quick scan of the landscape and then go back and do a more detailed viewing which saves a lot of time.
My only real complaints are the eyecups which suck and no lens covers. My buddy has the 10x which are nice but for the money and the weight penalty I would rather just carry the 18x50's.
Im sure the 20x60 Ziess are the bomb but Im not sure they are worth $5k more!
My only real complaints are the eyecups which suck and no lens covers. My buddy has the 10x which are nice but for the money and the weight penalty I would rather just carry the 18x50's.
Im sure the 20x60 Ziess are the bomb but Im not sure they are worth $5k more!
The 10x42 L Canons will accept a 52mm UV filter. They are about $5 each. I use those on mine for protection.
I am still laughing at the "buy the Canons if you are color blind and can't tell the difference." It is a classic example of how far people will go to justify a $3000 purchase of an inferior product.
In my mind - IS make ALL other binoculars obsolete for handheld use.
I am still laughing at the "buy the Canons if you are color blind and can't tell the difference." It is a classic example of how far people will go to justify a $3000 purchase of an inferior product.
In my mind - IS make ALL other binoculars obsolete for handheld use.
Yes, the blind leading the blind. What's "funny" is we can all accept the fact that people can't sing. One of the biggest reasons for that is hearing. If you don't hear correctly, you can't sing correctly. Lots can be done about that. It's not so easy to change someone's acuity.
The argument is similar between light intensified night vision and thermal imaging. One has superior detail, the other has poor detail but superior contrast. If you had the choice between top of the line light amplification or top of the line thermal imaging, which would you pick?
The contrast makers don't market that way because people get butt hurt that they can't see everything. Makes people mad, so they stick to "sharp", "bright" when in reality what makes them different is contrast.
I've agreed the Canon's are as bright and sharp as they come for image stabilized binoculars. They just don't have great contrast which is really really important for certain applications.
I'll tell you my epiphany. My very first pair of decent binoculars were the Canon 15x45 IS purchased from a camera shop in Las Vegas, Nevada in 1998. I paid $1,250 for them plus tax. The camera shop was near Eastern and Sahara and that's where you bought high end binoculars in 1998. There was no eCommerce, eBay was only 3 years old. I can't remember how I happened to want them but I remember calling Canon to see who had them and they directed me there.
So I come back to Arizona, yeah, I drove to Las Vegas to get them and I was happy 'cause I was going to get to use them on my very first javelina hunt. Woo hoo! These babies were fantastic! So me and a buddy are down in the Rincon Valley spotting the north side of a hill about 600 to 800 yards away and he's got his 10x40 T* Zeiss roof prisms (they weren't phase coated) and I've got my new 15x Canons. So we're looking and he spots some pigs and directs me to their location and I can't see them. There they are just sitting on the hillside and I can't see them. We switch binoculars and, wow!, there they are. How is this possible? How can we see the javelina in the 10x old Zeiss and not these new 15x high dollar Canons. The answer, contrast. The pigs looked like every other grey bush with the Canons but they were nice brown pigs in the Zeiss. And this has not changed. It has not changed because when you're friends with an Outfitter who also owns a high end sporting goods store, you get to look through everything.
Thank God for eBay. Back in 1998, I was the only high end pair of binoculars on that sight. I listed them for $1,300 and to my amazement someone actually bid and sent a cashier's check to me. There was no other way I could have got my money back out of them back then. Took the money and paid $1,000 for a pair of Zeiss T*P* from a camera shop on Camelback Road in Phoenix.
To this day if you offered me a decent pair of Zeiss Classics 10x40 T*P* (Cabelas bought the entire last supply of them and blew them out at $799 many many years ago, $699 with $100 off coupon) over any of the Canon IS, I'd still take the Zeiss, not even a contest. Yeah, the ELs are much better than the old Zeiss but they are the best and that's just the way it is.
The Japanese stopped with contrast with the Nikon Superior E porro prism binoculars. The Nikon Venturers are ok but still not as good as the old Zeiss classics.
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Low dispersion does not mean contrast. Everyone has low dispersion, high definition. Bright and sharp is easy.
I'll let you in on a little secret. The new EL range finding binoculars are not working. Some say it's because to get the laser to work one or more of the coatings is missing and they've lost contrast. So even on low dispersion glass, the contrast is in the coatings.
I'll let you in on another not so secret. Every photograph you see is digitally enhanced, especially for contrast. Contrast is pretty irrelevant now for photographers because it can be altered after the fact. So camera companies don't really care because so little of their business is binoculars.
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Contrast is a matter of the coatings used on the optics. Even though I don't buy the highly exaggerated claim that effectively say the Canons see in black and white and the ELs see all colors of the visible spectrum, there is more to finding game in the field than contrast - movement and shape.
Maybe the ELs are a little better for contrast (hypothetically). But, the stabilization in the 10x42L's will allow you to stay steady enough to see shape and movement infinitely better than any non stabilized binocular.
This is 100% fact. You can spend your time studying the image in your binoculars instead of spending your time fighting to keep your binoculars steady.
Maybe the ELs are a little better for contrast (hypothetically). But, the stabilization in the 10x42L's will allow you to stay steady enough to see shape and movement infinitely better than any non stabilized binocular.
This is 100% fact. You can spend your time studying the image in your binoculars instead of spending your time fighting to keep your binoculars steady.
I just picked up Canon's 8x25 IS binos. I would recommend them, the stabilization is awesome the glass is good enough for most purposes (not as good as the steiner 8X) but the IS makes up for it. You can easily read documents and signage as well as identify animals and targets easier because there's so much less wobble.
