18x50 Image Stabilization All-Weather Binoculars w/Case, Neck Strap & Batteries

Overall an excellent binocular. I have a hard time hand holding a binocular with more than 12x zoom, so the IS on this product is key to get a portable product that still has a good amount of magnification. The eyecups are hard to use and you have to jam them onto your face to get a good field of view or fold back the eyecups. I wish they had the standard twist outs that every other manufacterer seems to have that provides light control and is comfortable as well. That being said image quality is excellent and it's still well worth the purchase. Interestingly, these are my first set of 18x binonulars. Field of view is tight and my vision is excellent so I find that the improved field of view of some nice 12x binoculars like the excellent Swarovski 12x42 NL Pure is preferrable and more immersive. But when 18x is what you need this is a great pair. Update: after several months of ownership i continue to love the optics and performance of these binoculars though truly hate the eyecups. It’s uncomfortable to jam your face into them for an immersive view or else you fold back the cups and have lots of light spilling in. I finally solved the problem by folding the middle of the eyecups in which allows light to be blocked from the sides and a great view but no pain on the nasal bridge. This kept flipping back up but i liked the solution enough that I used rubber Sugru putty to mold the eyecups into a good ergonomic position flipped down in the middle (used rubber band to hold in position while glue set overnight). It’s a little ugly but now binoculars are prefect and comfortable.

i had too cut eye cups flush and add eye guards from telescope eyepieces , guess my eyes are close together ipd, also got the 58mm uv filters, also got the 58mm lens covers, both work together or u can use one or the other, i got the generic canon 58mm lens covers for 5 bucks, yes they should come wth binoculars!! but works perfectly, no complaints so far !! at first i had trouble finding the winged eye guards, but lucky that i found a link to “Alpine astronomical “ and they stock the size needed to fit over eyepiece perfectly. if you just cut eye cup flush with eyepiece, the size is 40.5mm...,,,, update, first light, i saw, m101,m51,m81,m82,m92,m13,m3,, all easy for these canon 18x50 bins, i was surprised at the size of these objects, also got a peek at jupiter, could easily see it as a perfect disk ! and the moons of course, just incredible !,, clear skies! , updated 5/25/2019,,, updated 6/7,19,, got a really great sky and picked up m97,m108,and m109,seen not glimpsed seen! 10th magnitude!!! just for reference i had the pleasure too own a 8 inch cass, 7 inch mak, and miyachi 100mm binoculars, not rich just lucky,all sold and gone, life got in the way and i could no longer get out under the star’s, after 15 years i’m able too again, i didn’t want a big telescope again, but wanted too see my old friends again!! , after a lot of reading “ astronomy came a long way!” and my best bet was the canon is,binoculars, yes for advanced users for sure, but these things are just awesome, and so same for the 12x36 is iii,. clear skies!!, also can be a powerful tool with 0-||| or other dso filters , i’ve seen m8 m17 m16 easily without these filters, but the pop u get with these fiter’s is very good, and noticeably better than without them, u can use a step up ring for the 2 inch deep sky filters, think 48mm too 58mm camera adaptation rings. as a last note, these 18x50mm binoculars are a globular cluster fanatics dream !! i’m one of em lol.,, was able too glimpse m109 :) hard one though!!

First, let's demystify binocular numbers: 18x50 18 - is the magnification power compared to the human eye at the same distance. 50 - is the objective diameter (in mm) of the aperture or lens opening. i.e. the bigger the number the brighter and sharper the image, the better for low light use, such as star gazing or artificially lighted night stadium events. For example, binoculars that are rated 9x25 will have an object that will be twice as small (or feel twice as far away) and will be 50% darker and less sharp in the viewfinder than these Canon 18x50 (before factoring in the stabilization). I have owned these Canon 18x50 IS UD binoculars since Aug 2009 and love them. My wife uses them for bird watching and we both use them as a telescope. The stabilization system works great and really does well at eliminating shake and jitter. Even though these are expensive binoculars, they remind me of the high-end units we used in the US Navy that cost thousands of dollars. Also, the rubber coating is good for truly all-weather service. Make sure that you get an inexpensive set of 58mm UV filters, at time of purchase, to put on the front elements for protection from physical damage and to protect the lens coatings from body oils. UPDATE: 27 Oct 2017 These binoculars continue to serve well and have been used for everything from bird watching to amateur astronomy. I would buy them again.

While these are heavy and not practical for all applications, they work extremely well when weight is not an issue. I use them when hunting in east North Carolina in large areas of soybean, cotton and peanut fields that can be as long as half-a-mile. On managed land such as this, it is easy to pick up and identify deer when antler size minimums can be an issue. The stabilization of the image is truly amazing with no lag in viewing and no negative impact on image quality. Take these to your MLB or NFL game of choice and you can all but count the stitches on the ball. Battery life is reasonable and the unit conserves power by shutting down after a couple of minutes if you forget to hit the button manually. The big lenses can be protected with standard screw on UV filters you can get anywhere. Without the image stabilization I would have never considered 18 power binoculars because they are impossible to hold still without a tripod. I tried them at a photo/video show and was immediately sold on this technology.These units, while expensive, have been worth every dime and offer up detailed viewing that is simply unavailable on other binoculars...and they are essentially weatherproof, an added bonus.

This is my review and accessory recommendations for the Canon 18X50 Image Stabilization Binoculars. The Binoculars alone I give 5 stars. The accessories I give 1-2 stars and I will provide my post purchase upgrades. The binocular’s optics are excellent, clear, sharp, powerful, colors are accurate and contrasty. The image stabilization works very well. Thank you, Canon, for choosing to use two AA batteries instead of some overpriced proprietary battery. The build quality seems excellent as well. The adjustable eye pieces and the diopter adjustment are very stiff in a good way. Once adjusted to your eyes they will stay put. The focusing knob is silky smooth. The rubberized body is very nice provides a secure grip. Now the accessories and lack thereof. I don’t understand why any binocular company (I know of) doesn’t have threaded front lens for filters like camera lenses. Then a protective UV filter, polarizer filters and lens hoods could be installed. The Canon 18X50 only came with rear untethered eye covers which can easily get lost. Through a bit of trial an error I have the “Brand: Generic 32mm Binocular/Monocular Objective Lens Caps Internal Diameter 47.5-49mm Rubber Cover Set Black.” Available from Amazon, they fit the eye cups and have tethers. I’m stunned that there are no front lens covers provided for these $1200 binoculars. The “JJL 2-Pack 58mm Front Lens Cover” suggested by Amazon work well and have tethers. The “Altura Photo 58mm Tulip Flower Lens Hood” doesn’t work because there are no thread mount provisions on the binoculars and the front lenses are two close for the two hoods to fit anyway. The neck strap is adequate. The case is really just a cover; It’s not padded and has no strap. It’s bad policy going cheap on the cheap parts, It makes me wonder if they went cheap on the expensive parts.

Excellent glass, but I shake too much to overcome the stabilization birdwatching and magnification great very sensitive when trying to focus left and right eye to adjust. The separation between the eyes is not easy to adjust and is very stiff.

As an amateur astronomer I have used my Canon stabilized 18X50s for several years on two continents and at numerous dark-sky sites and I now find them unusable for skytwatching. I'll start with the pros, then go on to my issues. If you use your binocs for hunting, birding, boatwatching, etc., my comments might not be relevant. The big advantage of the Canons is that the stabilization really does work pretty well. My 18X50s give a MUCH steadier view than handheld 7X or 10X conventional binoculars, though not as stable as binoculars on a tripod. If you've ever used binocs steadied on a monopod you can expect about that degree of stabilization--the Canons absorb a lot of the rapid shaking of hand-holding, but don't do much about directional errors introduced by breathing, "pilot-induced-oscillation," and muscle fatigue (these are significantly heavier than conventional 50mm binocs and your arms are going to FEEL it). Also, unlike other reviewers I haven't had any trouble adjusting the focus, and the binocs seem to hold focus well from use to use. The rubber armor has also held up fine without any of the stickiness reported by others (note, I don't usually use sunscreen or bug spray before handling the binocs) . But here's my biggest problem, and it is a show-stopper for me: the liquid-filled variable prisms develop bubbles at altitude that make the binocs unusable. If you have tried to use a liquid-filled compass at altitude you have probably faced a similar problem--the vapor pressure of gasses dissolved in the liquid is higher than the atmospheric pressure preventing them from coming out of solution, so bubbles form. While Canon mentions that such bubbles are likely to redissolve when you return to lower altitudes, I live in New Mexico at 7000 feet and my expensive Canons are permanently disabled. Since most amateur astronomers find themselves at altitude at one time or another, if you are a skywatcher you might consider other options. Another problem limiting their use for stars and nebulae is that the wedge-shaped prisms introduce chromatic aberration as soon as you turn the stabilization on. With the stabilization off the image quality is fairly good, though not on a par with many other $1000-ish binocs with fewer glass surfaces between your eye and the sky. With the stabilization turned on the image is degraded significantly by color fringes. Please note that this isn't a matter of adjustment, but inherent in the use of the wedge-prisms of the stabilization system. A third issue that bothered me at first was the tendency of the stabilized image to sway a bit at a frequency of 1/2 to 1 Hz inducing mild vertigo, although I was able to get used to it over time.

These are GREAT binoculars! Worth the money! I agonized and agonized. Should I buy the 15x50s? Some purchasers said the 18x50s don't TOTALLY stop the image from moving around, but the 15x50s will. What will I do if I don't like these things? Is $1,000 just too much money? Will I use these things or will they just sit in the closet? Well, I took a chance, knowing Amazon's reputation for great customer service. One guy who bought these things said he didn't like them, returned them to Amazon with no problem. Well, I got 'em and... I LOVE THESE BINOCULARS! They're WORTH the money! The jitter is TOTALLY GONE from the image. TRUE, the entire image itself DOES move around a little with the movement of my hands, BUT I CAN LIVE WITH THIS in exchange for the FAN-FLIPPING-TASTIC views of aircraft, wildlife and the moon! I like to use binocs while lying down on a chaise lounge, so I just support my elbows on the chaise's arms. Even when I hold them in my hands, the image doesn't wander all that much. I can live with it. My arms DO get tired after about 5 minutes of using these binocs, but who cares? I'll get stronger arms! I bought two Canon lens caps and two Hoya 58 mm UV filters. Yes, the Hoyas are more expensive than the recommended filters but, hey, if I'm gonna spend $1,000 plus for the binocs, why should I skimp on anything else? A point here: I'm not a rich guy. I saved money to buy these things. And again, to ME, they're WORTH the money! Do what you need to do for you, but, for me, they were an essential purchase! If you choose, buy these and HAVE FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Due to the great features it is understandably a bit heavy. They will be very good to see all the amazing wildlife we have on the west coast and make it easier to observe the UFO activity over the mountain.

Very pleased with these, the image stabilization works very well, regardless of light level. I was debating which power to get but am glad I chose the highest power model. I don't find the smaller field of view to be an issue.

My new canon 18x50mm with ‘is’ is wonderful. Even though it is heavy it is worth it. You do not have to carry with you a tripod just look ,push the button and enjoy. I live in a high-rise apartment and I can see easily man working on a new project 3 miles away. I can read license plates a mile away. The lens are superb, and the focussing mechanism is very smooth.

I'd give five stars if they were more user friendly/comfy. They handle like a truck.

Ce sont des jumelles très dispendieuse et aussi un peu long mais la qualité est au rendez-