MapisM
Well-Known Member
I had the opportunity to try the Fujinon stabilised binoculars in the past, and I was really impressed.
Otoh, I've always thought that my old 7x50 stuff was good enough for its job, and that it wasn't worth forking out the silly money that these things cost.
But at the end of last season, my old bino eventually went belly up, so I had a look around the web to see if I could find a Fuji at a decent (well, almost) price.
And I did find one at $800. Still far too expensive for a bino I hear you saying, and I don't disagree, but a sort of good deal when compared to the 12 hundreds bucks street price - not to mention the EU prices...
So, I convinced swmbo to anticipate my birthday present, and I had it delivered to the US, in view of a trip which we were going to make.
Now, I just had the opportunity to try it out a bit, while driving around the Alaskan outdoors.
And all I can say is that I had indeed good reasons to be impressed, the first time I tried it!
The stabilisation is simply spectacular, and at 14x it makes the difference between being actually able to see what you're looking at or not.
I've been able to read clearly some road names at a distance where without the bino I could barely see the whole sign.
And without the stabilization, there was just no way to be able to read the letters on it.
Unfortunately, these Fujinon things are much harder to find than the Canon IS stuff.
And they are somewhat more expensive too, though not much when comparing like-for-like specs.
In fact, if anyone is considering the similarly priced 15x Canon, there's simply no comparison: the Fuji stabilization is in an entirely different league.
And I would definitely recommend also anyone looking at the 12x Canon to give the Fujinon a try first. The difference is well worth the price difference, imho.
Probably, the much lower price tag of the 10x Canon is the only sensible alternative, in terms of price/performance. But as always, you get what you pay for.
Here's the only review of the thing which I found on the web, just in case anyone's interested.
http://www.kenrockwell.com/fuji/fujinon-14x40.htm
Glad to answer any questions you might have, as far as I can.
Otoh, I've always thought that my old 7x50 stuff was good enough for its job, and that it wasn't worth forking out the silly money that these things cost.
But at the end of last season, my old bino eventually went belly up, so I had a look around the web to see if I could find a Fuji at a decent (well, almost) price.
And I did find one at $800. Still far too expensive for a bino I hear you saying, and I don't disagree, but a sort of good deal when compared to the 12 hundreds bucks street price - not to mention the EU prices...
So, I convinced swmbo to anticipate my birthday present, and I had it delivered to the US, in view of a trip which we were going to make.
Now, I just had the opportunity to try it out a bit, while driving around the Alaskan outdoors.
And all I can say is that I had indeed good reasons to be impressed, the first time I tried it!
The stabilisation is simply spectacular, and at 14x it makes the difference between being actually able to see what you're looking at or not.
I've been able to read clearly some road names at a distance where without the bino I could barely see the whole sign.
And without the stabilization, there was just no way to be able to read the letters on it.
Unfortunately, these Fujinon things are much harder to find than the Canon IS stuff.
And they are somewhat more expensive too, though not much when comparing like-for-like specs.
In fact, if anyone is considering the similarly priced 15x Canon, there's simply no comparison: the Fuji stabilization is in an entirely different league.
And I would definitely recommend also anyone looking at the 12x Canon to give the Fujinon a try first. The difference is well worth the price difference, imho.
Probably, the much lower price tag of the 10x Canon is the only sensible alternative, in terms of price/performance. But as always, you get what you pay for.
Here's the only review of the thing which I found on the web, just in case anyone's interested.
http://www.kenrockwell.com/fuji/fujinon-14x40.htm
Glad to answer any questions you might have, as far as I can.
