Subject: image stabilized binoculars
Date: Jun 1 07:58:44 2004
From: Kevin Li - kdli at msn.com


I have several pairs of binoculars, including the image stabilized Canon
10x30; I spend a lot of time on the water and find them very useful while
boating & kayaking and any other times when my hands might be shaky from the
wind or the cold. There are many days (especially in winter) when I reach
for the Canon rather than my Leica or Pentax. They can often be used by a
passenger in a speeding car, particularly for subjects soaring or ahead.

Several other companies make image stabilized binoculars, but most others
were out of my price range. Canon makes them in a variety of magnifications,
8-18x, and the lower powered ones start at a few hundred dollars. They're
certainly not water proof, but I've used mine in a light drizzle with no
problems; they've never fogged up on the inside. My 10x take two penlight
batteries; battery life varies, and I usually carry a spare set. It's really
annoying when the batteries fade while viewing a good bird; the unstabilized
image is not so great, at least not at 10x.

They're certainly not for everybody, but for anyone with shaky hands they're
pretty amazing. They can even make it possible to use one-handed, if you
don't have to make a big adjustment to the focus wheel. Nikon now makes
them, but I've not seen them yet; Fujinon also has them, and I think Zeiss
makes a 20x60 set for $5000.

Kevin Li
Ballard, USA