Telescope Reviews: Canon 12x36 IS First Light<>IC 4665

Hi Folks,

I received my new 12x36's a week ago and had to wait until last night for the clouds to clear for first light--it was worth the wait.

I chose the open cluster IC 4665, also known as The Summer Beehive, in Ophiuchus for first light to honor my friend, fellow binocular observer, and talented astrosketcher, Rony DeLaet. It was through Rony's series of Binocular Icon sketches that I first learned about the Summer Beehive--see Rony's Binocular Icon 18 : IC 4665. Be sure to check out his galleries for more.

Through the 12x36's, the member stars of this open cluster were pinpoint sharp, as was every star all across the field. Colors are striking--and I don't see color well at night. The binoculars are light (~1.5 lbs) and fit my hands well. When I engaged the IS system. things would settle down in less than a second.

My only cause for dismay was the fact that there are no caps for the objectives. Why make such nice optics and not protect the whole system?

After viewing IC 4665, I toured the night sky. Transparency was average to below average everywhere I looked (even at the zenith). Although it was very low by this time (less than 15°), M4 was easily seen. Since I was in the neighborhood, I traced along Scorpius to its tail, seeing M6 and M7. Unfortunately, the Northern Jewel Box was lost in the soup. M8 and M20 fit easily together into the field of view.

I wanted to check the actual FOV against the specs (supposed to be 5°) so I framed beta and gamma Aquilae in the field. With an angular separation of 4° 45' (according to Starry Nights), the pair *just* fit.

Since it was close by, I moved over to Cr399, the Coathanger. Nice. While I was looking, a satellite in a polar orbit swept through the field, so I tracked it, holding the IS button down all the while. It stayed sharp and clear--I can't wait to get a look at the ISS with these bad boys.

After looking at M13--very bright and I thought I detected some granularity--I tried for M57. I suspected the Ring with averted vision, but I think the transparency was a limiting factor--I want to try again under better conditions.

From Lyra, I hopped over to Albireo--wow, how beautiful! With the image stabilizer on, they quit jiggling and steadied into a crisp gold and sapphire blue pair.

I wanted to go back to Lyra, but Jupiter was on the meridian and I had to put away the Canons and turn to the telescope. Gary Seronik says in his book Binocular Highlights that the double zeta Lyrae needs at least 10x, good focus, and steady support--should be a good test for these IS binoculars.

I guess I'll keep them.

--------------------

Michael Rosolina
8" f/10 Orange Tube SCT
4.25" f/4.2 Astroscan Reflector
SVP 3.6" f/13.6 CA Reflector
40mm PST f/10
APM Germany HD 15x70 binoculars
Canon 12x36 IS II binoculars
Mark I Eyeball
My CN Gallery

Post Extras