Bresser 16x42 stabilizer OIS first light

[bomberbaz]

I decided to upgrade from my current 10x30 image stabilised binocular to a larger size.  I had been looking at various brands then stumbled upon the bressers more by accident than anything else.

So I will keep this to the point. The Bresser's give as stated a 16 times magnification (I had been looking at 14 or 15 times) and a 42mm objective. Good point is this configuration gives me a 2.6mm exit pupil which makes viewing without glasses very acceptable despite my astigmatism. There is a tiny bit of astigmatism showing through in the view but it isn't enough to bother me. The extra 12mm of aperture just about doubles the light gathering over the old canon 10x30's.

They are light too, roughly the same weight as the Canon 10x30 at 644gm.  Another plus point for them in the image stabilising button locks in place so no need to keep it constantly pressed in, on the downside it times out after a few minutes, 

They are super steady in use and give a useful 3.8 degree FOV.

Had a very quick play outside tonight, they have arrived very well collimated and got some good (but washed out by moonlight) views of Pleiades, Hyades also managed to find andromeda, orions belt looked tidy in one FOV and could make out some nebulosity in M42. Managed to glimpse M103, the owl cluster and the double cluster too and then dropped onto the moon in all her fullness. A satisfying little session to break them in.

All in I am very pleased with them and the £850 price tag is far less than competitors offering similar spec.

[Shimrod]

11 hours ago, bomberbaz said:

I decided to upgrade from my current 10x30 image stabilised binocular to a larger size.  I had been looking at various brands then stumbled upon the bressers more by accident than anything else.

So I will keep this to the point. The Bresser's give as stated a 16 times magnification (I had been looking at 14 or 15 times) and a 42mm objective. Good point is this configuration gives me a 2.6mm exit pupil which makes viewing without glasses very acceptable despite my astigmatism. There is a tiny bit of astigmatism showing through in the view but it isn't enough to bother me. The extra 12mm of aperture just about doubles the light gathering over the old canon 10x30's.

They are light too, roughly the same weight as the Canon 10x30 at 644gm.  Another plus point for them in the image stabilising button locks in place so no need to keep it constantly pressed in, on the downside it times out after a few minutes, 

They are super steady in use and give a useful 3.8 degree FOV.

Had a very quick play outside tonight, they have arrived very well collimated and got some good (but washed out by moonlight) views of Pleiades, Hyades also managed to find andromeda, orions belt looked tidy in one FOV and could make out some nebulosity in M42. Managed to glimpse M103, the owl cluster and the double cluster too and then dropped onto the moon in all her fullness. A satisfying little session to break them in.

All in I am very pleased with them and the £850 price tag is far less than competitors offering similar spec.

Interesting review - I've been considering some image stabilised binoculars as we've somehow managed to damage one of our 10x42 binoculars. I had been looking at the Canon 12x36 as they seemed to be closest equivalent at a sensible price. I'd seen the Bresser binoculars but didn't see them anywhere remotely close to £850 - where did you buy them? 

We use our binoculars for bird watching and general terrestrial use (their main purpose) with sky-watching a secondary activity. There's a lot of good reviews for the Canon - the only thing that has put me off buying so far has been lack of waterproofing, which the Bresser's offer (along with higher magnification). I'd be interested to hear how they perform in daylight and how well CA is controlled.

[bomberbaz]

32 minutes ago, Shimrod said:

Interesting review - I've been considering some image stabilised binoculars as we've somehow managed to damage one of our 10x42 binoculars. I had been looking at the Canon 12x36 as they seemed to be closest equivalent at a sensible price. I'd seen the Bresser binoculars but didn't see them anywhere remotely close to £850 - where did you buy them? 

We use our binoculars for bird watching and general terrestrial use (their main purpose) with sky-watching a secondary activity. There's a lot of good reviews for the Canon - the only thing that has put me off buying so far has been lack of waterproofing, which the Bresser's offer (along with higher magnification). I'd be interested to hear how they perform in daylight and how well CA is controlled.

So I obtained them from this outlet:  

https://www.photospecialist.co.uk/bresser-16x42-stabiliser-ois- and I have to say they were very good with the service, had them in about a week.

Just tried them now in daylight on tree branches at a variety of positions and distance, remember these are F2.6 ish and they gave no blue fringing except on the ones closest to me which appeared to have a slight blue/purple fringing along the lower edges. 

It won't bother me that much as I will be using them terrestrial too, we go to a local wetland wildlife centre regular away. 

 

[Coco]

Nice, they look similar to the Kite version. should be a lot of fun I'm sure.

[Shimrod]

5 hours ago, bomberbaz said:

So I obtained them from this outlet:  

https://www.photospecialist.co.uk/bresser-16x42-stabiliser-ois- and I have to say they were very good with the service, had them in about a week.

Just tried them now in daylight on tree branches at a variety of positions and distance, remember these are F2.6 ish and they gave no blue fringing except on the ones closest to me which appeared to have a slight blue/purple fringing along the lower edges. 

It won't bother me that much as I will be using them terrestrial too, we go to a local wetland wildlife centre regular away. 

 

Thanks for the info - do they ship from the Netherlands and does the £850 include any import fees?

[bomberbaz]

1 hour ago, Shimrod said:

Thanks for the info - do they ship from the Netherlands and does the £850 include any import fees?

I paid the £850 only, can't comment on anything else. You would have to contact them for further info about that. 

[bomberbaz]

10 hours ago, Coco said:

Nice, they look similar to the Kite version. should be a lot of fun I'm sure.

They are clones imho but they are superb

[bomberbaz]

UPDATE.

Correcting first off my previous statement that these are F2.6, I think that is not correct and do not know the correct F ratio despite much searching however they are probably around F6.

I spent half a day on birding, looking in trees of course and chromaticity is apparent but not excessive. I guess it depends what is acceptable to you. 

WHat I did also do was follow an incoming passenger plane faultlessly and also managed to easily track a helicopter at great height where because of the stability, was able to identify it as a police one. 

Edited April 5, 2023 by bomberbaz

[Shimrod]

On 04/04/2023 at 22:11, bomberbaz said:

UPDATE.

Correcting first off my previous statement that these are F2.6, I think that is not correct and do not know the correct F ratio despite much searching however they are probably around F6.

I spent half a day on birding, looking in trees of course and chromaticity is apparent but not excessive. I guess it depends what is acceptable to you. 

WHat I did also do was follow an incoming passenger plane faultlessly and also managed to easily track a helicopter at great height where because of the stability, was able to identify it as a police one. 

Great to see you're enjoying them! After a  bit of thought, I ended up getting the Canon 12x36, partly because I was probably going to buy two pairs but mostly because of the £150 price difference - the extra reach of the Bresser binoculars was an attraction though for wildlife. The IS is really a game changer for handheld binoculars - I have it in a number of camera lenses but can't believe I hadn't considered it for use in binoculars as well. It always sounded like a bit of a gimmick.