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Boaters and birders should like new image-stabilizing binoculars
By Tim Renken Of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch
07/18/2002
For most sports uses, including outdoor sports, the recommended magnification power for binoculars is 7 or 8. Why?
No. 1, that's all the magnification needed for most sports uses.
No. 2, binoculars of this magnification have relatively large fields of view.
No. 3, these binoculars are relatively light and portable, a big factor if they hang around a person's neck.
No. 4, binoculars of greater magnification are difficult to hold steady by hand. The greater the magnification, the more the image seems to move.
Solving the problem of image instability is the aim of one of the newer gadgets for outdoors people. Image-stabilized (IS) binoculars use a gyroscope and sensors to electronically hold the image still.
Do they work? Are they worth their additional weight and cost?
Answering the first question is easy. Go to a local camera dealer and ask to see one. The sales clerk will likely show you a Canon IS, which is available in magnification from 7x50 to 15x50.
It will take you about 30 seconds to find that the things do, indeed, work. With the 7x50 the difference between IS and non-IS mode is apparent but not great. With the bigger units the difference is huge.
With the 15x50 the license plate on a car moving past will jump around so much you won't be able to read the numbers. Push the IS button and you'll be able to read the numbers - and the state name.
Look at a plane in the sky and you'll barely be able to keep the blurry image in the circle. Push the IS button and you'll probably be able to see the airline logo, maybe even the numbers on the wings.
If there's that much difference, are IS binoculars flying off the shelves?
"They're selling OK, but not flying off," said Ashli Marler, assistant manager at Creve Coeur Camera in Crestwood. "Most people don't know about them yet. And the IS models are bulkier, heavier and more expensive. And, really, the difference isn't all that great in the smaller magnification."
The outdoors people least likely to switch to IS binoculars are hunters. There is no such thing, yet, as a compact IS binocular, the kind that fits in a vest pocket. The hunter who is carrying around a gun and other gear may be reluctant to lug bigger binoculars.
Boaters might be among the first to dive into IS binoculars because the IS function helps reduce wave movement. And boaters often need high magnification.
Some birders probably are switching to IS binoculars. Birders often can use 12- or 15-power magnification to pick out those confusing fall warblers that hang out in the tallest trees.
IS binoculars cost more than conventional units of similar quality, but prices are coming down. At Creve Coeur Camera, the Canon 8x25 is $329, but Canon is giving a $50 rebate. The 12x36 is $700 with the rebate.
Prices of IS binoculars, with new ones coming to market every year, range up to $5,000 for top-end, high-magnification models. The Canon 15x50 retails for about $1,500, the Nikon 14x40 for about $1,100, the Fujinon 14x40 for $1,000.
Most IS binoculars now on the market use AA batteries which give about two to six hours of use.
Smaller IS binoculars weigh little or no more than regular binoculars of the same magnification. But the 15x50 Canon IS binocular, typical for its class, weighs 42 ounces and is 7 1/2 inches long. A typical 8x32 roof-prism compact, by contrast, weighs about 20 ounces and is 5 1/2 inches long.
By Tim Renken Of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch
07/18/2002
For most sports uses, including outdoor sports, the recommended magnification power for binoculars is 7 or 8. Why?
No. 1, that's all the magnification needed for most sports uses.
No. 2, binoculars of this magnification have relatively large fields of view.
No. 3, these binoculars are relatively light and portable, a big factor if they hang around a person's neck.
No. 4, binoculars of greater magnification are difficult to hold steady by hand. The greater the magnification, the more the image seems to move.
Solving the problem of image instability is the aim of one of the newer gadgets for outdoors people. Image-stabilized (IS) binoculars use a gyroscope and sensors to electronically hold the image still.
Do they work? Are they worth their additional weight and cost?
Answering the first question is easy. Go to a local camera dealer and ask to see one. The sales clerk will likely show you a Canon IS, which is available in magnification from 7x50 to 15x50.
It will take you about 30 seconds to find that the things do, indeed, work. With the 7x50 the difference between IS and non-IS mode is apparent but not great. With the bigger units the difference is huge.
With the 15x50 the license plate on a car moving past will jump around so much you won't be able to read the numbers. Push the IS button and you'll be able to read the numbers - and the state name.
Look at a plane in the sky and you'll barely be able to keep the blurry image in the circle. Push the IS button and you'll probably be able to see the airline logo, maybe even the numbers on the wings.
If there's that much difference, are IS binoculars flying off the shelves?
"They're selling OK, but not flying off," said Ashli Marler, assistant manager at Creve Coeur Camera in Crestwood. "Most people don't know about them yet. And the IS models are bulkier, heavier and more expensive. And, really, the difference isn't all that great in the smaller magnification."
The outdoors people least likely to switch to IS binoculars are hunters. There is no such thing, yet, as a compact IS binocular, the kind that fits in a vest pocket. The hunter who is carrying around a gun and other gear may be reluctant to lug bigger binoculars.
Boaters might be among the first to dive into IS binoculars because the IS function helps reduce wave movement. And boaters often need high magnification.
Some birders probably are switching to IS binoculars. Birders often can use 12- or 15-power magnification to pick out those confusing fall warblers that hang out in the tallest trees.
IS binoculars cost more than conventional units of similar quality, but prices are coming down. At Creve Coeur Camera, the Canon 8x25 is $329, but Canon is giving a $50 rebate. The 12x36 is $700 with the rebate.
Prices of IS binoculars, with new ones coming to market every year, range up to $5,000 for top-end, high-magnification models. The Canon 15x50 retails for about $1,500, the Nikon 14x40 for about $1,100, the Fujinon 14x40 for $1,000.
Most IS binoculars now on the market use AA batteries which give about two to six hours of use.
Smaller IS binoculars weigh little or no more than regular binoculars of the same magnification. But the 15x50 Canon IS binocular, typical for its class, weighs 42 ounces and is 7 1/2 inches long. A typical 8x32 roof-prism compact, by contrast, weighs about 20 ounces and is 5 1/2 inches long.
