image stabilised binocs

[snowleopard]

any experiences with these miracles of modern technology? i bought a pair (canon 10 power) expecting them to damp out the motion but found they were no help at all with a sea running.

have i got a duff pair or are they really only any use on land?

 

[tillergirl]

Can't answer your question but I would have thought that if the image stayed still as the boat and rose and fell, I would probably be as sick as a dog pdq. Apart from sheer naked terror, looking through the bins is the one thing that makes me go.

 

[Observer]

Have a look at <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.monkoptics.co.uk/Fuji/technostabi_review.html>http://www.monkoptics.co.uk/Fuji/technostabi_review.html</A>. I haven't tried them but thought I might do if I had the money for a new toy.

 

[Twister_Ken]

Dunno, but...

...I've used IS lenses on Canon cameras. What they are good for is killing camera shake - i.e. hand tremble. What they are not good for is anything which is involves movement like tracking a moving target, when they try and freeze the image, then let go and refreeze it, etc, several times a second, so that it gets very jerky. That's why the lens has an IS on/off switch. If the bins work the same way, then they'd be good for a stable object viewed from a stable platform, but with the target moving and the boat moving, I'd have thought the whole experience would be up-chucking.

 

[Piers]

A few years ago, I used the most powerful Canon IS bins, in a small boat around St Martins Point off Guernsey in a most irritated sea. I was astonished by their ability to smooth the jerking out, and their clearness (no sea-sickness felt at all) and will definately be buying some this season. Maybe not the most powerful model, but the next ones down.

Piers du Pré
www.playdeau.com

 

[wpsalm]

Got the mid size canon 12 power reckon you must have as you suspect a duff pair

 

[Opinionated]

Of course, there is another aspect to why the 7x50 is so popular, it is because the exit pupil (50/7) is a nice fat 7mm. With that size of e.p., as your own eye pupil dilates in the late evening light, there is plenty of light coming from the binos. With 14x40, the e.p. is only 2.8mm, suitable only for a nice sunny day! The slightest misalignment of your eye and the e.p will mean big black circles bumping across your vision, and I would have thought that this physical misalignment, nothing to do with IS, would be rather hard to avoid on a yacht in anything but the gentlest of conditions?


(I don't have to agree with YOUR opinions, but I'll defend your right to express them).

 

[Opinionated]

You found they were no help at all with a sea running. Could you be a bit more explicit. I, too, have considered buying a pair of IS binos, and would appreciate a more thorough explanation.

(I don't have to agree with YOUR opinions, but I'll defend your right to express them).

 

[pkb]

Three years ago I bought a pair of Fujinon Technostabi's. 14 times mag and fantastic ability to damp out movement. I think they use tiny gyroscopic motors to move the lenses. On a lumpy passage back from the West Country a friend of mine who is normally resistant to new fangled gizmos had to use them in anger to identify a bouy and his comment was: "These are the dog's ********!"

I'm not sure what the technical term is but their field of view (?) and their ability to gather light isn't as great as normal 7 times sea going bins but their ability to make enhanced magnification a practical proposition at sea more than compensates. They are also waterproof but do tend to eat their way through AA batteries.

Cost when I bought them - about £800.

Peter

 

[snowleopard]

what i found was that they would iron out the normal shake you get from hands on land but they couldn't cope with the low-frequency high amplitude movement associated with a boat at sea. the result was that they were no better than a normal pair of 10x30s.

there is a noticable difference when you press the activation button (on land) so it's not just that they aren't working.

incidentally there is no jerkiness when panning.

if you're interested in the canon type, another problem is that they come in a soft case and it's very easy to put them down upside down so the button is pressed in and the batteries go flat in an hour or two.

 

[gtmoore]

Very true and in fact a 10x50 is an even better match as we age as 5mm is a more average pupil size and ensures that all light actually enters the eye. With a 7mm exit a bit gets lost around the edges but the additional shake from the higher magnification probably more that offsets this and it's here that stabilised binoculars give you the best of both worlds (and are truly excellent for astronomy).

I find that a good set of 7x50 binoculars seem to give an almost 'night vision' feel when using them in low light.


Gavin

 

[Opinionated]

No, not so. No part of the image is lost if your pupil is smaller than the ep of the binos - that is like saying some things you can see through the window will be lost if it is bigger than our pupils!! The 10x50 will give all the light collected by the 50mm objective lens into a 5mm circle. The 7x50 put the same light into 7mm. This means the 10x will give a brighter image, but your pupil must line up. Now, in the evening light, our pupils will dilate to as much as 6 or even 7 mm. This is where the 7 x 50 will excel, as they are now operating truly as night glasses, that is what night glasses are. Try your 10x50 out at midnight with a crescent moon or just starlight - then pickup your 7x50's and you will find you CAN see buoys and boats that are virtually invisible in the 10x50's, which will be difficult to actually see anything through.

Mind you, the new Image Enhancers......something else!

(I don't have to agree with YOUR opinions, but I'll defend your right to express them).

 

[gtmoore]

I meant the intensity of the image would be less not that any of the image is lost. I'm approaching this from an astronomy angle where very faint objects that are on the limit of visibility are detectable by capturing the maximum amount of light into an area ideally suited to the eyes expanded pupil. It's the quantity of light captured that is important and as I understood it the human eye does start with a pupil capable of dilating to 7mm but age takes its toll and this is soon reduced to 5mm hence the better match by the 10x50's exit pupil. I would imagine that this will apply in all very low light applications but as I mentioned before this is not really a burning issue at sea when a rolling boat is thrown into the equation!


Gavin

 

[Opinionated]

I astronomically agree with you.

But, about the size of pupil. I think you are right about the maximum dilation reducing with age, but not to the extent that you suggest. In fact, the 6 or 7mm I was using relate to a typical adult. In a child the dilation can be almost out to the edge of the iris!! Since the eyeball size is pretty constant with age, this would mean about 9mm.

The advantage of having 7mm ep and 3 or 4mm pupil is most felt when the binos and eyes are difficult to keep in line. That is why I was questioning the 2.8mm ep of these Fuji binos, the sheer difficulty of keeping aligned.

Not a work about that aspect in YM, I wonder why? If Kim looking over our shoulders, be nice to get an answer from IPC.

(I don't have to agree with YOUR opinions, but I'll defend your right to express them).

 

[milltech]

This is a pretty general impression. Gyro stabilised binos will take out the pitch and roll but they are more expensive. I have a couple of pairs of Russian tank commanders 12x40's and they are brilliant, if heavy. I believe that the Fujinons are very good but I haven't tried them. Enquire of Philip Monk, Monk Optics.

John
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.allgadgets.co.uk>http://www.allgadgets.co.uk</A>

 

[gtmoore]

I stand corrected on the pupil size and can also appreciate now the advantage (certainly in daylight use) of having an exit pupil larger than the eye pupil when accurate alignment is difficult such as on board

Regards


Gavin

 

[oldgit]

Good review of this type of binocular in Sky and Telescope a month or two ago,which reviewed the equipment back to back with a couple of russian designs.

Oooh look its still not dark and its nearly 5pm