Binocular Review - Canon 12x36is

[Mr Spock]

I purchased a pair of Canon 12x36is binoculars purely for birdwatching. Having image stabilisation on some of my camera lenses, I'm aware of what a difference it can make. I can say without reservation, that for birdwatching, these are the best binoculars I have had hold of, regardless of price or optical quality. Once you press that 'is' button, detail abounds.

They are of polycarbonate contruction and are quite light given the internal electronics. The 'is' system works by adjusting the prisms to match any vibration and runs off two AA batteries. The 36mm objective is an achromat only - no ED glass here. The eyepiece has 6 elements, with a 60° field. The binocular also has a two element field flattener. The 'is' button is in an easy place for the finger and has to be held down to operate.

Naturally, as an astronomer, I very quickly pointed them upwards even though they don't appear at first glance suitable for the task. The 36mm is a bit small for astro use, but the 'is' feature makes up for this somewhat. With a little patience, I was able to pick up M101 despite the moon being around. The moon itself was nice and sharp with plenty of detail.

Any downside? Yes, CA is more abundant than I'm used to. Bright daytime objects have a distinctly colourful halo, but without any loss of detail - they are very sharp! Oh, and the field flattener works too. Same for astro subjects, obvious CA but lots of sharpness. If you are being critical of the 'is' system, it does introduce a faint tremor, but this is the smallest of movements compared to the jiggle you get holding regular 12x bins and is only noticable if you look for it.

Recommended? For birdwatching, yes. I doubt I'll be changing anytime soon - unless they introduce an ED objective. There is a 10x40L 'is' available at twice the price. For astro use I'd suggest looking at the 15x50 or 18x50 models.

[Doc]

I've been looking at these recently as well. As you say the 10x42L is just way out of my b udget but the 12x36 is perfect for bird watching which is one of my main hobbies and the 15x50 perfect for astro.

If only I was rich, which I'm not