Canon 12 x 36 IS II Black Friday Deals!
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Canon 12 x 36 IS II Black Friday Deals!.
Product: Canon 12 x 36 IS II Amazon Price: Too low to display Availability: In Stock |
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As an experienced brider (bird watcher to some) I've owned some of the world's greastest optics, the type of European "alpha-glass" that top tour leaders wear with pride.
I bought the Canon 12x36 almost 2 years ago based mostly on my respect for the Canon L lenses with internal stabilization that I exhaust on a regular basis for bird photography. All I can say is... Wow!. These light-weight, high powered lenses have become my favorites in the field for wildlife observation, especially when viewing wild birds.
At first they took a petite time to accept musty to. They really don't have the feel of a top-of-the-line pair of binos (they are somewhat darker than most and setting the eye-peices for your fill interocular distance is a puny weird compared to the roof prism glasses that many of us have become accustomed to), but they are what they are. These are not your daddy's binoculars. However, if you are looking for state-of-the-art high tech optics, leer no further.
When a subject is focused you gawk the type of image shake that one would demand at 12x magnification. Then I depress that unbelievable dinky button that activates the image stabilization feature. All of a sudden I feel as though I am now looking at the bird face to face, like I'm fair THREE FEET AWAY! It's as if I was studying the bird in a book. I can watch details and field marks that others only wish that they could. It has helped me to execute some really tough indentifications for my life-list that I might not have recorded otherwise.
After being so elated with the 12x I decided to engage the 18x50's. I've owned them both now for a while and I net that I catch the 12x36's out mighty more often that the larger, heavier 18x. I highly recommend the Canon 12x36 for serious nature (and or sports) observation.
While attending an astronomy club's night out, one of the members offered to reveal me a globular cluster using his image stabilized binoculars (note unknown) . As I brought the share of sky into focus, I pressed the button and -- WOW! I could clearly spy the cluster, not because it was highly magnified, but because my eyes had a chance to focus and process the image. Thoroughly impressed, I walked over to my wife and told her of the experience. A few weeks later, we had a pair of 12x36 Canons, and were counting the moons of Jupiter. My wife wanted her occupy pair so we would not have to readjust them when sharing. She complained about having to possess down the button all the time, something that I don't mind doing as I have long fingers. She also wanted a pair that would focus closer.
SOLUTIONS: We bought her a pair of 10x30's, and to enjoy the button down, we simply wrapped a strong rubber band, compliments of our postal letter carrier, around them and stuck a short allotment of 1/2" dowel rod between the rubber band and the button. The dowel rod is connected to the focus knob by a part of thread so that, when we do not want the button pushed, the dowel rod does not become lost. We have opted to utilize lithium cells, rather than alkaline, as they are lighter and last longer, and using our rubber band system will likely mean using the IS remarkable more.
Some reviewers complain that the image smooth moves as you proceed. Yes it does, gracefully. What the Canons do well is buy out that itty bitty shake that makes things difficult to concentrate on well enough to explore details. Now I can aprreciate eagles as I smoothly track them in flight, or follow the antics of a chipmunk, or count some of Jupiter's 63 moons.
Some complain about the minute size of the "exit pupil." Being that my wife and I are in our 60's, a 3mm exit pupil is impartial about all our eyes can accomodate. They do not seem to be difficult to possess in such a plot as to gawk the whole image. Both of us can leave off our glasses (she is come sighted and I am farsighted), which makes the image even more pristine.
Thanks to one relate of the storage case strap breaking, we have opted to exercise the strap directly connected to the binocs while they are in the case. We simply zip up the case with the straps coming out the top and have had no quandary with that system as of yet.
I inquire of these to require far more protective treatment than our backpacking binocs, and I am quite cheerful that they arrive with a 3-year warranty. I noticed how carefully the astronomy club members treated their equipment and, given how extraordinary these Canons are, we will do the same with them. The bottom of their case is padded but, incandescent that we will more often than not dwelling them down on that padded kill, I have installed a part of very stiff fiberboard (like the camouflage of a 3-ring binder) in the bottom of the case to resist anything that might try to gallop its arrangement into their unbiased lenses.
No matter how superior the manufacturing, optics are always a compromise and, because of that, someone who does not know any better will always have a principal comment. You simply cannot have it all, at any notice. I have been an amateur photographer for over 50 years and think the optical quality of these to be advantageous. There is microscopic if any distortion or light loss for nearly 85% of the field of thought. Only as the viewed object approaches the last 15% of the field (approach the edge) does distortion become noticeable, certainly not objectionable. And why would I focus my eyes on something arrive the edge when I can fade the binocs to bring the object into the center? The nice thing about these, in that regard, is that the distortion is so itsy-bitsy as to not bring attention to itself when viewing a central object.
I should add, at this point, that my first pair of 12x36s did have a defect in the left ocular. Amazon swapped them out so like a flash that the binocs practically passed each other in shipping. Obedient ticket, expedient service, and generous viewing.
I have enjoyed looking through some of the finer binos out there and was really taken attend by the quality of the Canon 12x36 IS II binos. They feel solid and well made. The controls are well placed and the cups feel gracious. The IS button is well placed and comfortable to spend. I wish it had a lock-on feature so I could travel my hands around. Battery life seems reasonable to me. The case lacks padding, but this is a minor snort.
The size of the binos is a compromise between capability and size. They feel a diminutive full, but this is expected with the IS feature. It is very easy to adapt to the feel of these binos and they balance well.
They provide a fascinating and crisp image and the IS feature is astounding. It does not compensate for the larger hand movements, but does stabilize all the minor shakes that reach from hand holding a 12x bino. I was even able to consume them when though-provoking in a car. It took some practice, but after some practice reducing the larger bumps I could easily read license plates hundreds of yards down the road. This feature is well worth having. I secure that 12x makes viewing nature all the more delightful. After all, the purpose of a bino is to magnify detail and a 12x bino does it better than a 8x bino. When you glimpse a true 12x image and compare this to a slightly sharper brighter image of a top of the line 'alpha' bino, you might agree that the Canon IS with 12x makes more of a inequity to your overall bino experience than the profitable image of the higher waste bino. To me it was not end.
Some have complained about them being sunless and while I agree that they do not match up with binos costing $1500 and more. It is really not an command for me. The fact that you have a 12x magnification is going to build them a miniature darker and they are not 42mm glass but 36mm which again means a slightly darker image. The coating are not on pare with the 'alpha' class binos, but for the tall majority of users this will not be an whine. Do not be misled these are knowing binos for what they are and I collect they work well in vulgar light. They have a nice flat field and the details are fascinating across the field.
Would I choose them again? Yes I would not hesitate to do so. This is a high quality bino with some trade offs, but overall for ~$500 it is a colossal, if not exceptional, bino value. The ability to have a exact 12x is extraordinary and takes the bino experience to a original level. I wish Canon would have included integrated front caps and I would have liked to have this pair waterproofed, but then the cost would increase.
Based on overall value I feel this bino deserves 5 stars.
