Canon 8x25 Image Stabilization Binoculars w/Case and Neck Strap
by Canon
|
List Price: Our Price: $369.99 You Save: $29.01 (7%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $350.00 (click here) Category: Digital Camera See more product details |
|---|
Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Canon 8x25 Image Stabilization Binoculars w/Case and Neck Strap
Customer Review: Great Binocular for the price, Questionable reliabilty
Summary: 4 Stars
It is funny to see one reviewer compare it to the 8X32 Leica. because I am about to do the same thing. I just happen to own a Leica 8X32 also. Actually I agree 100% with the comparison from other reviewer. The IS function works so well that the Canon 8X25 IS and Leica 8X32 are comparable on hand held application, except the Canon is slightly dimmer than the Leica. There is no doubt that Leica will beat the Canon on a tripod, due to the better optic of the Leica.. For 5X the price it should. Also for 5X the price it also buy you the water proof and rubber armor. The Leica is more than twice as heavy as the Canon. You might call that Canon has the upper hand on Leica.
As for reliability, that is a different story. My Leica 8X32 has served me more than 15 years and still good as new. The IS function of the Canon 8X25 ISfailed after 15 months. Fortunately for the reason we can guest, this is the only product that Canon carries a 3 year warranty ( even the DSLRs from Canon carries only 1 year warranty). However it take at least 4 phone calls from me and from Canon USA to convince the repair department to fix it under warranty instead of charging me $450 to fix a $175 binocular.
A friendly advice: make sure that it comes with a 3 year warranty before you buy it. Or you can pay extra to buy the extended warranty.
Customer Review: Neat little gadget
Summary: 4 Stars
I have taken this binocular on several vacations. It is a neat binocular. The image stabilization worked great. It is not a gyro stablized binocular, so don't expect it to be a still image. I was on a police helicopter one time and they had the gyro stablized binos that were amazing. While hovering 1000 feet away, you can see everything clearly while the helicopter is in motion. Don't expect that with this bino. You are not paying thousands of dollars for it either. For the amount of money, this bino was a good deal. First the size is perfect. It is not small, but it is not big either. It was comfortable to have hanging around your neck. It wasn't too heavy. The images were clear and when you press the button, the image stablization kicks in. When you release the button, the IS stays on for a few more seconds, so you don't have to press the button constantly. The only thing I wish is that they would add an extra set of lense covers. You can use them to cover the view holes as well as the front lenses. The battery lasted a long time as matter of fact, I'm still on my first set and I've had it for several months now and have taken it on numerous vacations.Customer Review: nice, but not that amazing
Summary: 4 Stars
I couldn't help myself buying these after reading the reviews (all magnifications). I got it for $170 A/R.
When I took it out case and look through, I was a little bit dissapointed. The IS effect was not so obvious. But after a while I got used to it. I think it is not bad.
The binoculars are nice themselves without IS. The IS effect is not so big becasue I think this is only 8 times magnification.
This is the only reason that I am giving it a 4 star ranking instead of 5.
But don't get me wrong, the IS effect is there. I can read smaller words with IS on. So I suggest buying higher powers if you can afford them and you are OK with their sizes and weights. The higher power the better IS effet.
Now about those whines,
1. Battery.
It is said one cr123a can be used for 6 hours. It is OK and it's not expensive if you buy them online ($1.5 each).
2. Object lens caps.
I put eye lens caps on object lens, they fit well.
3. Durability.
It's a fine product. What do you wanna do with a fine optical product other than using it with care?
Customer Review: No more headaches
Summary: 4 Stars
Image stabilization (IS) is well worth the modest incremental cost and bulk of binocs w/o IS. You can see detail better and not get headaches from jitter. Almost as good as putting non-IS binocs on a tripod. I'd give it 5 stars if I didn't have to constantly hold down the image stabilization button. I'm sure Canon did that to prevent running down the batteries. However, it would have been nice to push once and have IS stay on for 30 seconds or so.Customer Review: Great product for the price
Summary: 4 Stars
There are other stabilizing binoculars that are better but they cost so much more I couldn't afford them. This one I bought for a present to some friends that were sailing off into the sunset. They rant and rave at how much they love them and how they've made spotting small items in the water so much easier! Once you've tried stabilized binoculars it's hard to use the other kind.