12 replies to this topic

[Stuart W Johnson]

I received a brand new Canon 18x50 today. Unfortunately, they are already on the way back for a refund. The stabilization is just not that good. Nothing like my 10x42L WP. Kind of a bummer. I really wanted to like them. I could easily observe micro shaking. The size didn’t bother me.

I guess I’ll wait for a product improvement / next gen version. It might be years based on the speed Canon comes out with new products.

[rwhillman]

I received a brand new Canon 18x50 today. Unfortunately, they are already on the way back for a refund. The stabilization is just not that good. Nothing like my 10x42L WP. Kind of a bummer. I really wanted to like them. I could easily observe micro shaking. The size didn’t bother me.

I guess I’ll wait for a product improvement / next gen version. It might be years based on the speed Canon comes out with new products. 

The greater magnification of the 18x50 makes stabilization more difficult and increases the importance of technique in handling the binocular.  Even the next generation of 18x, if there is one, is not likely to match the 10x42 stabilization.  It is a tradeoff between amount of magnification and operation of stabilization.

[jefffed]

I read an article somewhere that considered the 15x50's to be a better choice (Can't find it though). And I purchased a pair on the recommendation.  I have to say they are great performers. They just about equalled my 15x70's and didn't need a tripod.

[Krzysztof z bagien]

I've seen some reviews and opinions that stabilisation is OK for 15x magnification (and I actually have 15x50 IS and I find its stabilisation adequate and really like it, to the point that I get annoyed when I use binoculars without stabilisation, even lighter ones with lower magnification, like Zeiss 8x30), but 18x might be a little to much for it; I belive it's the same mechanism in both versions.

Maybe you could try 15x50 instead, to see if it's good for you? Unless of course you need that 18x, but in that case I guess you're out of luck.

 

Edit: there's also Zeiss 20x60 S and I think you can't get anything better than that, they even use it on the ISS - but it's like 5 times more expensive than Canon

I'm getting it if I win some kind of lottery or something!

Edited by Krzysztof z bagien, 16 November 2020 - 08:01 PM.

[ihf]

This is unfortunate. The 18x does show qualitatively more than the 10x. To me it was worth learning how to use it. The only bino that was about as trivial to hold as the Canon 10x42 IS was the Canon 12x32 IS (and probably the 10x32 as well, but I did not try it). Maybe a small 72mm ED refractor?

[duck2k]

I had my IS 15 x 50's for a week.  They have already been out for many observations, and I love them.

[Stuart W Johnson]

This is unfortunate. The 18x does show qualitatively more than the 10x. To me it was worth learning how to use it. The only bino that was about as trivial to hold as the Canon 10x42 IS was the Canon 12x32 IS (and probably the 10x32 as well, but I did not try it). Maybe a small 72mm ED refractor?

I have a brand new pair of the Canon 10x32 IS.  They are rock solid.  I love everything about them except the eyecups.  The person that designed the eyecups should be tortured until he dies. 

[Pinac]

.....

.....

..... The person that designed the eyecups should be tortured until he dies. 

Until he dies?? 
What if it was a woman (I am sure it was)??

[ArsMachina]

The person that designed the eyecups should be tortured until he dies. 

There is an easy and very good solution for that.

You only need a cutter knife and a bino bandit

 

Jochen

Edited by ArsMachina, 17 November 2020 - 12:17 PM.

[Milos1977]

I have 18x50 IS and no "micro shaking" Stars do move in fluid slow motion if you aren't steady with your hands, but eyes have no trouble focusing because there is no fast micro shaking. 

I had 15x50 before that, and decided 18x was giving me better views and no jitter at all. 

If they don't release anything better than 18x , Im never selling it. Optics and image are superb! 

Edited by Milos1977, 17 November 2020 - 03:13 PM.

[ihf]

I thought we were discussing astronomy here and not how to run Abu Ghraib?

[Mark9473]

I received a brand new Canon 18x50 today. Unfortunately, they are already on the way back for a refund.

I could easily observe micro shaking.

I think you were overly hasty. A few days of horizontal storage might have fixed that.

[Alan French]

One of the last times this came up I spent time comparing my 15x50s and Sue's 18x50s on the birds on our feeders. They both worked fine and I did not see any obvious difference in the effectiveness of the stabilization. (They are both stored objectives down.)

 

Clear skies, Alan