Canon 12x36 is III first impressions

[davekelley]

Finally my Canons arrived, they have been so out of stock during this lockdown.  It's thick cloud tonight but I've had a chance to play with them before dark and I'm slightly underwhelmed.  I owned some of the original square chunky versions back in the day and was amazed by them but since then I have purchased some Nikon Monarch 7 8x30 bins and optically I think those are far better than these Canons for less than half the price, plus smaller, lighter and with a wider fov.  The Canons are showing a lot of colour fringe around anything against a bright background, I'm used to better.  The stabilisation is great and definitely makes a difference in terms of seeing detail but it's not a 100% steady image, definitely not like tripod mounted bins.  I need a clear night to check these out on the night sky where the Nikons are pretty much useless as you need a steady image for astronomy and I can't hand hold them.  I probably expected too much. I do remember being amazed by the original 12x36 is but I didn't own the Nikons at that time!  I'll get back after I've had more time to evaluate and consider the advantages/disadvantages.

Cheers

Dave

[JeremyS]

Thanks for your honest review Dave. Let’s hope you have better experiences on the night sky. Keep us posted! 

[davekelley]

Today, I took the both bins out, just birds and planes and rooftops, usual thing and did a proper side by side comparison, Nikon Monarch 7 8x30 vs Canon IS 12x36 and I changed my mind.  the colour fringe is there in the nikons, it's just less noticeable, and everything else is less noticeable in the Nikons, the Canons in terms of resolving detail are a world better, and with the batteries replaced for Energiser ultimate lithiums the view seems almost like tripod mounted.  What you can see observing a pigeon on a nearby rooftop well there is no comparison. You see the pypils of that bird like it's sat on your arm it's mad.  All clouded out still so awaiting a look at the moon or stars some time soon.

[davekelley]

Finally a gap in the clouds on a day when I haven't got a 4am alarm call.  Took a look at jupiter and saturn and a few milky way constellations (Cygnus, Cassiopea.  It was not fully dark before the cloud blanket covered the whole sky but meanwhile:  Beautiful pinpoint stars, lots of double stars and colours showing up well.  The best views of starfields I've seen in binoculars.  Jupiter showed a large disk, no bands visible, perhaps a bit too bright?  3 moons clearly shown, biggest surprise of all, Saturns rings showing quite clearly which I did not expect at 12x!  Tiny  yes but clearly showing.  This  is not my imagination is it?  Because I know what I'm looking at I wondered if my brain could be doing this to me?  I swear I could clearly see the tiny planet and the rings.  Hoping for better skies tonight but what we really need here is a storm to clear the air.

Clear skies all

Dave

Btw I found some fab objective lens caps for the Canons on Amazon uk!  37mm opticron fir perfectly and quite nice quality soft rubber.  The retaining O rings are loose due to the tapered barrels of the bind but that's not an issue to me.

 

[davekelley]

So, I may be talking to myself on here but another update on the Canon's.  I went out walking  on a hot day yesterday, and I took my Nikon Manarch 8x30 with me.  I didn't fancy taking out the Canons as I like to travel light as possible and the Nikons hand from my belt strap in their soft pouch.  That told me all I need to know about the Canons as a pair of all-round use bins.  So if they are going to be just for Astronomy and very occasional use in the field, I may as well have gone for the 15x50, for the extra aperture.  So I am returning them and exchanging them for some 15x50 is!  I shall report back again when they eventually arrive..................

[Stu]

1 hour ago, davekelley said:

So, I may be talking to myself on here but another update on the Canon's.  I went out walking  on a hot day yesterday, and I took my Nikon Manarch 8x30 with me.  I didn't fancy taking out the Canons as I like to travel light as possible and the Nikons hand from my belt strap in their soft pouch.  That told me all I need to know about the Canons as a pair of all-round use bins.  So if they are going to be just for Astronomy and very occasional use in the field, I may as well have gone for the 15x50, for the extra aperture.  So I am returning them and exchanging them for some 15x50 is!  I shall report back again when they eventually arrive..................

I’m listening Dave 😉. I think that will be a good decision. I had some 15x50IS for a number of years and really enjoyed them for both daytime and astro use. You can also get some step down rings for the front threads which allow you to use 2” filters. I saw the Veil and NAN with mine using one UHC and one OIII filter (wasn’t going to buy another of either!)

One other thing, they don’t come with objective caps, but you can get Canon Camera lens caps to fit.

Look forward to hearing how you get on with them.

[davekelley]

thanks.  the 15x50's arrived yesterday.  for me, and its a  personal think with binoculars, these things blow the 12x36 out of the water.  My concerns were after reading on the web, the eyecups, the weight, the fov....nope...no issuee, I  Iike these things they feel nice and comfortable,  the fact you can press and release the IS button is a  MASSIVE plus for me makes them so much easier and more comfortable to  hold.  Only caveat, the focus does seem to drift in and out with the is on but if you twiddle the focusser out then in again it seems to settle down....anyway.........these are amazing things.