Got these several years ago when my tremors were acting up and they were a godsend for not being able to hold my bins steady. IS works very well once you are used to keeping the button down. Optics are OK, not up to alpha grade but with the IS as compensation, they performed very well. They do indeed work as well as a higher objective lens bino (42mm) due to the IS, but once light starts to fall of - dawn & dusk - they cannot catch up to larger glass's ability to render detail, colors and overall quality. The IS might be put to good use on a boat like a pelagic outing but I'm not sure I trust the weatherproofing enough to test them out!
The focus wheel on mine was a little "loose" and is much smaller than on most binos. This makes fine-tuning a bit more challenging but, again, once you are used to it, it's not a problem.
The rubber coating is troublesome as it wears off with very little use. Of course that doesn't affect the viewing quality but does make them look kind of crappy after a while. I've seen some where the rubber is literally sloughing off in hanging shreds like some kind of bino-disease.
Since it has openings at the focus wheel and battery compartment I'm not sure how much I'd trust them in rain.
My only other issue is that they have rudimentary lens protection. For the ocular lenses they include a very basic cap that friction simply inserts inside the eye-cup. No string or other attachment to tether it therefore they go missing about the first time you use the bins. This is unacceptable, given that you really do want some sort of decent covers to keep rain and debris out of the eye-cups.
The objective lenses come with NO protection whatsoever. They are protected by being recessed a fair distance into the barrel but still, some sort of cap, or cover would be great.
It may seem that, with all the little quibbles, my rating is too high! But, optically and convenience-wise, these are really dandy little binos. Particularly if one has a tremor, is getting old or less able to lift the heavier weight of a pair of 10X traditional style binos, these are great.
The focus wheel on mine was a little "loose" and is much smaller than on most binos. This makes fine-tuning a bit more challenging but, again, once you are used to it, it's not a problem.
The rubber coating is troublesome as it wears off with very little use. Of course that doesn't affect the viewing quality but does make them look kind of crappy after a while. I've seen some where the rubber is literally sloughing off in hanging shreds like some kind of bino-disease.
Since it has openings at the focus wheel and battery compartment I'm not sure how much I'd trust them in rain.
My only other issue is that they have rudimentary lens protection. For the ocular lenses they include a very basic cap that friction simply inserts inside the eye-cup. No string or other attachment to tether it therefore they go missing about the first time you use the bins. This is unacceptable, given that you really do want some sort of decent covers to keep rain and debris out of the eye-cups.
The objective lenses come with NO protection whatsoever. They are protected by being recessed a fair distance into the barrel but still, some sort of cap, or cover would be great.
It may seem that, with all the little quibbles, my rating is too high! But, optically and convenience-wise, these are really dandy little binos. Particularly if one has a tremor, is getting old or less able to lift the heavier weight of a pair of 10X traditional style binos, these are great.