Reviewed in the United States on September 28, 2006
.
NOTE: Although VINE VOICE is written by my name, I purchased these binocs at full price, long before VINE was started by Amazon. UPDATE: After 8 years, these binocs are still my go-to binocs, stellar performance continues.
Seems very expensive for a pair of binocs, but the price is clearly justified as Canon has packaged some amazing optical / electronic / mechanical wizardry in a small compact package. I will outline what makes these particular binocs so unique....
Before you read too much about these specific binocs, u might want to go down further in this review, where I explain what factors make the best binocs for your needs. (day/night use, age, physical strength / shakiness, tripod, etc)
Details on these Canon 10x42L binocs:
1. TFOV - 6.5 Degrees. TFOV = True Field of View - in visual optics, TFOV defines how much of the scene (subject) is visible inside the image circles you view through the EP's. (EyePieces). The greater the TFOV is, the easier to locate subjects you are seeking, as you see more of the subject area. (such as finding wildlife that appears in the periphery of the image circle) To be specific, the 6.5 degrees means, if you stood in the middle of a circle, and pointed the binocs to the circles circumference, you could see a 6.5 deg. "slice of the pie". It doesn't seem like much, because we can see approx. 110 degrees with our two unaided eyes, but the binocs offer 10x magnification, which is why we see such a small piece of the pie. But on a relative basis, for binoculars of this magnification, the 10x42L's TFOV is exceptional, which also is what makes them very nice astro binocs for stargazing, as TFOV allows you to pack more stars in the viewing image circle.
Large TFOV is a function of the magnification, but also the AFOV (explained below), and requires relatively short fl's EP's which must be well corrected for aberration / distortion, and also must contain large field stops in the EP's, (Eye Pieces). Both of these optical characteristics are very difficult to design and build...this is true in all optics, not just binoculars. 6.5 deg. TFOV is one of the most generous TFOV's available in ANY binocs of this magnification (10x), even those costing several thousand dollars more. This is one of the features that differentiates lower priced binocs from higher priced binocs., as larger TFOV requires bigger, more complex, and therefore heavier glass.
2. AFOV - 65 Degrees. The "Apparent Field of View" is a clear and sharp 65 degrees. AFOV defines the size of the image circles you see when looking through the binocs. This means, at 65 degrees, your eye must swing 65 degrees, (+/- 32.5 deg.) left to right (or up n down) to see the entire image circle. To put this in perspective, one unaided eye can see 90 deg. without swinging. So these binocs takes us to 2/3 rds of the AFOV we are accustom too...and therein lies one of the big breakthrough in newer binocs, as in yesterday, these numbers were in the 30-40 deg range, and in optics, slight gains are very hard to achieve due to the limitation of optical design, glass size, glass type, and of course, weight. Lower cost binocs often have 40-50 deg AFOV, which gives you a slight sensation of "looking through a tunnel". Too appreciate the impact of this, compare side by side, a 45 deg AFOV binoc with these 65 deg AFOV binocs - the difference is quite shocking, for all ages. AFOV is one of the most costly design features in all visual optics, specially telescope EP's.
The other major factor is optical image quality, as our eyes are sensitive (and appreciative) to resolution. Our brains naturally compare visual optics to our unaided vision as a reference. If your visual acuity is less than 20/20 due to age, eye issues, macular degeneration, higher resolving optics often will not offer you any benefits. Hence why binoc choice is so specific to the user.
At 65 degrees, Canon is nearing the limits of AFOV for visual eye pieces, in a hand held optic. t the time of this review, probably one of the largest AFOV's for any binocs I am aware of. But Canon maintained the sharpness in the entire AFOV image circle, with virtually no distortion! (a remarkable accomplishment in optics for this mid tier price range) The larger the AFOV, the more life-like the view becomes as it fills your retina with imagery, avoiding the "looking through a tunnel sensation" which smaller AFOV's will make u feel. This produces a feeling of immersion (such as cinema screen vs. home tv), and this large AFOV really adds to the WOW factor. This is the largest AFOV I have ever seen in a pair of binocs at ANY magnification. This large AFOV is the first thing that will strike you when using these binocs. Unless you venture into high end astronomy gear (costing many times these binoculars) it's hard to find find good optics with a AFOV this wide, AND, with sharpness right to the edges AND virtually NO distortion.
3. L Glass.... Those who use high end photographic lenses know how prized Canons "L" lenses are...hence why I was surprised to see "L" glass in these binocs. L glass at this price point is relatively unheard of for Canon. These binocs have very sharp glass, with no false color and pinpoint sharpness, nearing true APO chromatic lenses. This is very evident when viewing stars at night, the stars are pin point sharp, better than most astronomy binocs I have used.... and with the the wide TFOV and large AFOV, you feel like you are space walking while laying back on a lounge chair. Of course, with only 42mm objectives, it helps to be in a very dark area. If astro use is the primary intended use, then larger objective diameters are better suited. 50 - 70mm objectives are ideal, such as the 7x50's I mention below...or if you use a tripod, then max. objective diam becomes more desirable such as 15x80 or even 20x100. So, these binocs make "good" astronomy binocs, but are not ideal...there is better options with bigger apertures for star gazing... it's just a nice add-on feature if your intended use is mostly daytime viewing. I would also add, that tripod use, higher magnification and 90 deg eye pieces are ideal for night time viewing, as looking straight up can be QUITE the pain in the NECK after awhile. Hence why I classify any of these kinds of "straight through viewing" binocs as good, but not ideal astronomy binocs.
4. IS (Image Stabilization) - well, this has been beaten to death in many reviews.... but IS is the single biggest breakthrough since binocs were invented - ASSUMING you want to hand-hold at high magnification. Otherwise, the IS feature is not as significant. The IS in these 10x42's are superb... the "push once" IS button is a nice feature, as you don't have to continuously press the button while viewing. The IS has a motion sensor which senses when viewing is finished. It will then turn off the IS, to save battery life - nice feature. But other Canon binocs have IS, so it's not what sets the 10x42's apart from the other Canon IS binocs... But if you hand-hold, and desire at least 10x or greater magnification, IS should be your single most desirable feature in binocs. Remember though, hand holding for long periods of time can fatigue the arms / hands based on your age and fitness level. IS adds weight!
5. Aperture (Objective lens Diam.) - 42mm obj. diam. at 10x magnification provides very bright views, specially during mid day, and good (but not great) at twilight. They are also "just" large enough to use as astro binoculars...once you begin star gazing through these you will become interested in the night sky. Buy a good binocular astronomy book and you will be amazed. If they tried to go with larger objective lens diameters, the weight of the binocs would become unruly, creating arm fatigue even for the young and strong....while these binocs can already be too heavy for the elderly or frail user. I feel Canon reached a good compromise at 42mm objectives. My one complaint about the design.... A pair of UV filters are a good idea to protect the objectives as the elements are not recessed far enough behind the rubber front rims. (one of the few shortcomings I have found with these binocs) I have a pair of Fuji 10x70's, which the 70mm objectives, which allow almost 3x more light in....yet with the IS and pinpoint sharpness, I am quite amazed how these Canons perform considering their small objectives for astronomy binocs. I am pretty sure Canon did not design these for astro binocs. But night time viewing is very acceptable with the 42mm objectives, as they allow 2x the light vs. normal 30mm objectives, and the added light is very apparent, as more light produces higher contrast imagery...and high contrast is how our retinas perceive sharpness.... to learn more, Google MTF curves...which graphically represents the transfer of contrast of the subject to the target (in this case, the target is the retina, the back of the eye which records the image our eye lens projects)
6) Exit Pupil diam.... The exit pupil diam of any visual optic, is the diameter of the circle of light that exits the eyepiece and funnels into (or on) the eye (specifically, the cornea). This exit pupil diameter is measured at the ER (Eye Relief distance) The diameter of the exit pupil is determined by objective lens diam. / magnification. 42/10 = 4.2mm wide. The significance of this diameter is how it relates to the diameter opening of your eye pupil. If the exit pupil diameter is larger than your eye pupil opening, it means several things....
a) some of the captured (and projected light) is being wasted, as its overflowing the bounds of your eye pupil opening. This wasted light means, you are carrying heavier binocs than you need to, as the weight and size of binocs are a function of the front objective lens diam. and magnification. For the elderly or frail, this should represent a major factor in your buying decision.
b) However, this extra light, provides a useful benefit, as it allows some eye placement leeway, so you don't need to be ultra precise in setting the binocs IPD (Inter Pupilary Distance setting) and keeping the binocs dead still. As when the exit pupil of light misses your eye pupil opening, you get that annoying "black-out" condition in your eye. This happens very often when the exit pupil of the binocs equals your eye pupil diam., i.e. the exact same, i.e. requires perfect alignment and holding, no room for error. Soon one eye pupil will miss the projected light circle, and you will get partial black out in one, or both eyes. As we age, our day / night eye pupil diameters change radically, so binocs buying decision making process is VERY age sensitive, explained in detail below.
c) The larger exit pupil diam. also allows your eyes to swivel a bit inside the image circle without the black-out condition. It should be made clear here.... no binocs are designed to allow you to swivel your eye.... it is beyond the capapcity of a visual optic...instead, you keep your eye centered, and move the binocs. However, a few deg of eye movement will occur naturally, hence the need for slightly larger exit pupils. With these 10x42's, at 4.2mm exit pupil diam., assuming you set-up the binocs IPD adj. precisely to match your eye spacing (this marked by IPD distance in mm, so you can easily re-set), as well as the EP to cornea distance (by twisting the lens covers in/out) you have very little leeway to swivel (rotate) your eye inside the exit pupil diam., so this forces you to keep your eyes looking at the center of the image circles. Therefore you must constantly move the binocs to keep the subject of interest centered in the image circle. This can be quite annoying when watching a flock of birds or wildlife...vs. having a larger exit pupil diameter, where you eyes can swivel around a bit, without moving the binocs.... but, that luxury comes at a big price, you must carry larger objective lens binocs to gain this benefit. IMO, this issues is often overlooked in selecting binocs. If anyone compares larger exit pupil (vs. your eyes pupil diameter, explained below) side by side, everyone will enjoy the added leeway larger exit pupils offer. Hence why it sometimes makes sense to go for a lower magnification binocs, as they offer larger exit pupil diameters at the same objective lens diameter, see formula above. Subject matter is significant here as well. If your subject matter is still, this becomes less of a factor.
To further complicate this matter, our eye opening dilates based on the amount of light hitting the eye. For mid day viewing, most human eyes are dilated down to 2-3mm opening, regardless of age. However, as we age, our max. eye pupil opening becomes smaller....this is very significant when selecting visual optics. Next time you get an eye exam, ask your eye Doc, what the diam. of your dark adjusted pupil is. (they measure this) When we are young, our eye pupil will dilate open VERY wide at night. But aging is very unfriendly to the eye in this regard. Here is a table showing how our max. pupil size becomes smaller as we age...
Age vs. Eye Pupil Diam. (Avg)
Age... Day light pupil...Night light pupil (mm)
20...(4.7)....(8.0)
30...(4.3)....(7.0)
40...(3.9)....(6.0)
50...(3.5)....(5.0)
60...(3.1)....(4.1)
70...(2.7)....(3.2)
80...(2.3)....(2.5)
As an interesting side note.... this chart demonstrates how our night vision declines rapidly with age. The relative light that can enter our pupils is based on the area of the pupil, which is a function of the pupil diameter, pi r^2. If you wonder why your night vision is so poor vs. your younger years, here is why....
vs. a 20 yr old, here is the light reduction we see as we age ....
at 30 yrs of age, we see 33% less light than a 20 yr old.... at,
40 yrs, - 44% less light
50 yrs, - 61% less light
60 yrs, - 74% less light
70 yrs, - 84% less light
80 yrs, - 90% less light
Back to binoculars.....
The significance of this chart, it helps determine how wide your eye pupils are at a given age, which helps you better select what size exit pupil diameter binocs are best suited for you. Of course, u must consider whether you plan to use the binocs for day / night viewing, as this radically changes the demands on the binocs. Night viewing often requires larger objective lenses for best viewing, till you get older, where it matters much less, as your eye pupil will simply not dilate wide enough to utilize the wider diameter exit pupils that larger objective binocs will deliver. So you are carrying heavier binocs, that will offer you NO visual benefits. And by heavier, it can mean up to 4 lbs heavier, nothing small if hand holding or lugging to an event. It's obvious from the chart, binoc buying decisions vary tremendously based on your age. Here is examples of two extremes....
If you are 30, and use binocs at night, you would benefit greatly by binocs that have exit pupil diameters to match your 7.0mm eye pupil opening. Such candidates are, 7x50's (7.1mm), 10x70 (7mm), etc. Unfortunately, no binocs are made to produce larger exit pupils, cause the market would be way to small, so you must keep your eyes centered, and move the binocs to keep the subject of interest centered to avoid black-out condition. Anyway, these are VERY heavy binocs, some weighing in the 6 - 10 lbs range, but the views are spectacular if your eye pupil opening can accept such a large exit pupil, i.e. u are very YOUNG!
On the other extreme, you are 80 and need to only accommodate your 2.5mm eye pupil diam. for day or night time viewing. Now, a tiny pair of binocs, 10x30 (3mm), 7x20 (3mm) will provide your eyes as much light as they can possibly absorb. To gain a bit more eye placement leeway, it always makes sense to use slightly larger exit pupil diameter vs. your eye pupil diam, which means bigger objective lenses for a given magnification. But sometimes weight and size take precedent. This is where personal preference enters into the buying decision, then, travel, arm strength, magnification needs, etc. All these factors fine tunes your buying decision. Bottom line, younger people can benefit greatly by heavier binocs, vs. older users who gain NO benefits by the heaviest binocs... and all binocs become heavy with enough carry time, or neck strain from a strap, in due time, unless u have them mounted on a tripod or monopod.
But even during mid day viewing, a person 20 years of age would benefit greatly with objective lenses 2x the diam. at a given magnification vs. a person 80. One of the reasons is, larger objective lenses produce sharper images due to less aperture diffraction. If you double the objective diam, you double the sharpness potential within a given magnification. However, more expensive binocs such as Zeiss and Leica fine tune the optics to acheive excellent resolution in small sizes, hence their several thou $ price tags. Anyway, this explains the huge selection binocular magnification and objective lens sizes.
In general, larger objective lenses have many advantages (mainly for the magnification and for larger exit pupils for the young).... but, they are offset by significant added size and weight, and of course PRICE.
Anyway, this hopefully explains why the Canon 10x42's at 4.2mm exit pupils are in a sweet spot for DAYTIME viewing, as they almost fully fill the eye pupil of the 20 year old, and provide some eye placement leeway for the older aged person - hence the 10x42's size has a wide market appeal.
7. Retractable eye cups. These assist in eye placement. As these binocs are a "one size fits all", they have good Eye Releif (ER) of 16mm. ER is the distance the center of your eye should be at. The eyes center is approx. 12mm behind the cornea (eye lens). This leaves about 4mm, 1/6th of an inch, between the cornea and the glass. Eye glass wearers must move further back, reducing their capacity to rotate their eyes throughout the image circle, soon, vignetting occurs (image clipping) 16mm is on the low side of required ER for EG wearers. But don't expect more from other makers, its too costly to design long ER visual optics. For non EG wearers, it is difficult keeping your pupils at exactly 16mm from the glass.... so Canon allows the eye cups to twist inward / outward to accommodate the depth of your eye sockets. When the rubber cups touch above your eyeball, (at about the eyelash) it provides a great reference point to keep your eyes at the exact ER position to maximize the exit pupil placement onto your cornea. It also assists in keeping the binocs still as it is touching your face. Remember, you are trying to keep the small exit pupils of the binocs to remain affixed over your eye pupil opening, so keeping the binocs steady is important to prevent that awful "black-out" effect, when the exit pupil misses your eye pupil opening. This is different than the image shaking due to the high magnification factor, which the IS (Image Stabilization) feature addresses. For a "one size fits all" product, this is a very well designed system to overcome the difficulty of maintaining proper eye placement positioning while viewing.
The message above is.... binocs are highly personalized items...setting up all the variables, IPD adj, focus for each eye, and eye cup setting, is important to maximize the use of the binocs. Giving the binocs to others, and having all the settings compromised really can be frustrating as u must constantly fine tune the settings for your use. So consider this when with others...make them get their own pair :-)
If you are forced to wear corrective EG's due to astigmatisms (the binocs will correct for mismatched refractive errors with a diopter corrector on the right eye piece), AND you wear thick glasses AND have deep set eyes, then the 16mm Eye Releif will fall very short, as a result, the view will be vignetted and you will no longer be seeing all the image circle. If this is the case for you, see below for other sweet spot binocs. So why aren't all binocs designed with longer ER? Actually, the 16mm on these binocs is considered generous... in gen. binocs are not friendly to EG wearers.
If binoc use will become a big part of your enjoyment for many years, (such as a retiree who is taking up birdwatching as a regular hobby) and u must wear corrective eyewear, (and possibly have deep set eyes and thick glasses, a worst case scenario for binocs) and your eye correction lends itself to contact lenses.... consider being fitted, and using contact lenses, even if only used for your binoc viewing time. As this would GREATLY increase the viewing pleasure and decrease the size n weight of the binocs u have to carry.
8. Diopter adjustment - to accommodate different refractive errors of the eyes, allowing many EG wearers to view without their EG's assuming they do NOT have astigmatisms. (which unfortunately, the user often will be forced to wear their corrective EG's). You use the focus adjustment for one eye, then correct for the other eye with diopter adjustments. The diopters are marked for easy recall when others use the binocs and change the diopter correction.
9. Rugged and waterproof. The build quality seems superb.... binocs are very sensitive instruments, and the more expensive the binocs, the better the optics and mechanicals need to be protected against hard hits, otherwise, they can loose their collimation (lens center alignment). Canon did a great job projecting these binocs, as well as making them water proof, another expensive feature in binocs. The binocs also do not fog internally as their barrels are sealed. Of course the external glass is always subject to fogging when the temp of the glass is below the dew point temp. of the area the binocs are exposed to. So beware of letting the binocs get cold, then bringing them into a warm humid environment. (this applies to all camera lenses and binocs, not unique to these 10x42's)
10. Excellent collimation. These binocs are very well collimated, which adds to the beauty of the view. Each eye sees the same subjects within the image circle and requires no divergence or convergence at infinity. This is a very labor intensive process to provide such accurate collimation, something not often found in lower priced binocs., and the difference can mean "WOW" type viewing, vs. "these binocs give me a headache" viewing. My binocs were very well collimated, but since I never saw other 10x42's, not sure if mine were a lucky sample...so your mileage may vary...
If you buy these binocs, or any expensive binocs, first thing to confirm when you open the box, confirm the two sides are well collimated, if not, return them, as its very difficult to collimate binocs and they will provide you with years of headaches / light headiness, dizziness, etc.! A simple test to determine collimation, focus on single subject at infinity... preferably something that fills the center of the image circle only (such as a street lamp many miles away)....then blink your eyes simultaneously, so you see right view / left view / right view, etc..... If the binocs are not well collimated, you will see the subject jumping between views, as the brain holds the previous image long enough (image persistence) to notice the difference in placement between the two eyes. While perfect horizontal collimation is not required as the eyes can converge (move together in cross eyed mode) with no problems, the eyes have very little tolerance for divergence (i.e. move apart, the opposite of cross-eyed, as only a lizard can do) AND our eyes have virtually NO tolerance for vertical divergence, (one eye up, the other eye down) which is what must occur if one side shows the subject higher / lower vs. the other other side. Any of these collimation issues become very apparent when doing the blink test. If any new binocs are out-of collimation on horizontal divergence OR Vertical divergence, they should be returned immediately, as this creates large amounts of visual and mental stress, making the viewing process very annoying, leading to headaches, light headiness, disorientation, etc. (but the avg. person would never know why, they will think its their meds or a food additive, or MSG in the Chinese food they ate :-)
With lower priced binocs, it pays to go to a store and test this out, so you can pick the sweetest pair in inventory, although the store manager may kick you out :-) Yet if a small bit of convergence exist, meaning the two subjects overlap a bit (inward), this is not so bad, as it adds a slight depth sensation for infinity subjects and rarely if ever provides any visual stress... cause its natural to cross our eyes a small bit when viewing close subjects, (assuming its not extreme convergence which would be very noticeable with the blink test) Remember, mental stress caused by collimation issues are a function of "how long" the optics are used, combined with, how poor the collimation is and your tolerance of this oddity which our brain is not conditioned to deal with. If you use binocs for a long time, such as birders do, proper collimation is critical for long hours of viewing.
11. Matched fl's. Canon seemed to pay a lot of attention to assuring the fl's of each optical train, for each eye, are matched in magnification... .this is another very high-end feature which is often not a concern in lower priced binocs, sometimes creating mis matched magnification in each eye, creating a condition called retinal rivalry, i.e. the brain is battling two different sized images, which creates mental stress. Often these subtle differences creates eye strain as well. If the problem is extreme, you can see this in the blink test....not likely noticeable in binocs of the 10x42's quality. (at least not significant enough to detect with such a simple test)
Achieving all these variables, add-up to great binocular vision. Binocular vision is hard to simulate at magnification as a result of many of the issues I pointed out above.... the more variables that go wrong, the worst the experience will be. Clearly these 10x42 binocs have very good QC. Now keep in mind, I may have luckily received a good sample... unless I tested many of samples, I would not know for sure how good the QC is. With Amazons liberal return policy, I felt safe gambling and testing them.
So now ya see why some binocs cost $50, and others $5k? A lot of features, build, IS, and Quality Control issues, magnification objective sizes, etc.
So overall, these binocs are superb. And if a company other than Canon attempted to make such a fine optical instrument, they would probably cost 2x or 3x the price Canon is selling them for. Yep, this is Canons "claim to fame" making high end optical products affordable... I am not saying $1350 binocs are affordable to everyone...but I am saying, it took a company like Canon to cram all these features in binocs at this price...so Kudos to Canon...
Now, there is a few areas I would like to see improved...
1. front objectives dangerously exposed....I would have liked to have seen an extra 10mm of lens recess. (see below for a fix)
2. Eye cups are a bit hard... a softer rubber would be nice
3. Lens caps poorly designed on front lenses and poor fit on the EP's.... surprising for Canon, but all things considered, you will probably overlook this.
4. IS button hard to find, hard to push. It would be nice to hear a slight beep when they turn on/off.
5. The inter pupillary adjust is very stiff and cumbersome to grasp.
6. Focus could be a bit finer.... a bit coarse for high end optics - but sufficient.
7. Weight is heavy, but that is the price you pay for such superb optics and and large AFOV...there is a lot of glass in these binocs. Reducing weight, would either reduce the optical quality or the housings ability to secure the collimation. If you're a frail person, hand holding these binocs may not work for you, test, test, test.
The one issue you should first decide when buying binocs is magnification requirements. IMO, I feel 10x is a sweet spot in binocs....but often 7-8x is enough, and if the binoc are used in daylight, and you are not so keen on the best optics, a pair of the 7x or 8x IS binocs could suit your needs, and you might appreciate their smaller size and weight. Not everyone can hold heavy binocs. On the other end of the scale, the 15 and 18x binocs are quite a jump in magnification for hand held optics. Be sure you need that extra magnification to justify the added weight and inherent less stable images....its much harder for the IS to hold 18x image still vs. a 10x image. (about 1.8x harder :) But if you view things from a great distance, this may be a very important factor. At 15x +, I would consider a small 80mm or 90mm fast f ratio telescope with a Bino Viewer and tripod as a more suitable alternative.
During day time viewing, often, the limiting factor how far one can see with any optical instrument is limited by atmospheric conditions, NOT magnification...hence again, why 10x is a sweet spot for binocs. The obvious, and popular exception, is birding, where the subjects are relatively close AND small! Remember, at 10x, viewing a person at 100 yards, i.e. standing on the goal line, and you on the other goal line, this i is the unaided vision reference. Now, use 10x binocs, and the person will appear the same size in the binocs as if you viewed the person from the 10 yard line. That is a lot of magnification! When adding additional magnification, some of the features of the 10x42's would begin to fall-off... such as the TFOV is reduced to 3.7 degrees, (about half), and the image will loose about 1/3 of the brightness level. The point is, buying binocs is a "reverse engineered decision". First assess what you plan to use the binocs for, then find the binocs that best fit that application (distance, subject size, age, day/ night, handhold or tripod, etc) If you have multiple uses, there often is NOT a "one size fits all", and two pair of binocs are required.
One final subject I would like to mention regarding binocs in general. The beauty of these binocs are their compact size, relatively large objectives, Canons "L" glass and of course IS. If the price of these binocs are not in your budget... one can easily attain a very good pair of binocs for much less money, excluding IS, but yet still have great optics and big (even bigger objectives) If your intended use can tolerate either a tripod or monopod to support the binocs. You can save a lot of money and get a very nice pair of 10x - 15x binocs with even better stabilization via tri / mono pod. Nothing holds optics more still than a tripod, (beats high tech IS wizardry) and in most cases, even a monopod can match or beat "IS" performance. Of course, this is more items to carry, so again, it depends on use. If you view by your car, this is a non-issue. Also if you use a monopod or tripod, you can also tolerate more weight and therefore gain bigger objective lenses.... a much desirable feature as it allows for larger exit pupils (see above) which makes binoculars much easier to use as you experience much less, or no black-out (vignetting) conditions when the exit pupil from the binoculars becomes mis aligned with your eye pupil... as explained above, this is very age sensitive issue.
Oberwerk has a lot of good wide objective binocs that offer great views for the dollars. Garrett Optical also has wonderful large apt. binocs. For wide exit pupil binocs, the Fuji 10x70 are my favorite, producing massive 7mm exit pupils, but NO IS, and not L glass, so view is good, but not as crisp as the L glass in these Canons...and of course, only 50 deg AFOV, so much less immersive feeling. Of course, if the tripod / monopod doesn't fit your using style, than nothing beats the "IS" feature when hand-holding binocs of 10x or greater magnification. Birding, concerts, boating, etc., the IS feature is unbeatable.
11/5/06 - I have added two images above. (not sure why Amazon removed these) See Customer images below the pix on this page. I have shown the binocs with added UV filters and lens hoods. Considering how expensive these binocs are, and how exposed those front objectives are, I consider these 52mm threaded UV filters and 52mm threaded lens hood mandatory. With this added protection, I don't have the need to use th
