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8x25 Optical windows (1 Viewer)

Binastro

Well-known member
The user of the old type 8x25 and now the new tilt IS binocular has had the optical windows fall out because the thin retaining grommet detaches.
It is too narrow or the glue is faulty.

The binocular works fine and is excellent for watching cricket, both are good, but dirt can get in.

The weather is lovely and the team is winning.
 
The user of the old type 8x25 and now the new tilt IS binocular has had the optical windows fall out because the thin retaining grommet detaches.
It is too narrow or the glue is faulty.

The binocular works fine and is excellent for watching cricket, both are good, but dirt can get in.

The weather is lovely and the team is winning.

You can always lie on your back and watch the birds fly by!!

Couldn't resist that but I probably won't be so flippant if it happens to mine.

Thanks for the info.

Stan
 
Hi Stan,
Southern Canon binocular repair centre is at Elstree.
Perhaps they'll make a movie while I wait.

Canon camera repairs were in Colchester.
They repaired a 65,000 exposure camera free. 11months old.


Maybe the ones I want to look at don't usually fly overhead.
 
The 2 Canon 8x25s have just been taken in to Canon for repair.
The one just under a year old will be fully checked and repaired under warranty.
The 7 year? old one will cost 50 squid. Sounds reasonable considering the age.

Probably a few days?

Should have taken them in earlier but, as they say in the classics, better late than never.

Not sure if all Canon IS now 2 years warranty or just the latest.

P.S.
Normal Canon repair turnaround for non CPS members is 10 working days, subject to parts availabilty.
 
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The 2 8x25s were ready for collection after 4 days.

They both had the optics cleaned internally and the binoculars adjusted. They had new external parts including rubber rings.
I am not sure if they had new optical windows or the old ones installed. I wonder if the coatings differ.

The old one cost £44.52 for the repair including VAT at 20%. Presumably professionals reclaim VAT.

The other was under warranty.

Both binoculars have an extra 6 months warranty.

One battery was left out being almost flat. They did not supply a new battery. The other battery was fine.

There were several professionals bringing in large lenses to this Canon facility, which seems to have busy technicians.

The binoculars probably won't get used much before the cricket season.

Seems like a good Canon facility.
 
The 2 8x25s were ready for collection after 4 days.

They both had the optics cleaned internally and the binoculars adjusted. They had new external parts including rubber rings.
I am not sure if they had new optical windows or the old ones installed. I wonder if the coatings differ.

The old one cost £44.52 for the repair including VAT at 20%. Presumably professionals reclaim VAT.

The other was under warranty.

Both binoculars have an extra 6 months warranty.

Seems like excellent customer service by Canon.
Such an experience helps offset some of the concern that was generated by earlier Canon IS repair reports, where the bill was a large fraction of the purchase price.
 
I'm thinking of buying the 8x25, I have just bought the 10x30 IS and have to say i'm pretty impressed with it so far, the catch and little cover where the batteries go looks a bit fragile to me, being very careful with it, has anyone had this break? It's the first time I have used an IS binocular, I would not normally consider anything over 8x hand held, hence interest in the 8x25, but must say I have found this 10x is very comfortable to use even without the IS button.
 
Hi Ben,
I wouldn't buy an IS binocular secondhand. But maybe you did?

Did your 10x30 have a 2 year warranty. Mk II?

I would buy a late new 8x25 as they changed the IS.

I have not had the cover break, but they could.

I use Energiser? lithium AA throwaway batteries. Some people use Eneloop rechargeables. I use these in cameras.

The 8x25 needs a special battery.
 
Thanks David, well the one I bought is not MK11, it was secondhand but stated unused, an unwanted gift left in a cupboard, I know you can't be certain but it looks unused, all boxed with original wrappings, papers and nothing undone, the strap still in it's bag etc, and an unopened pack of two AA throw away batteries. No problems so far, have enjoyed using it. The 8x25 I was considering is definitely used though, so may leave it. From what you say, Canon seem reasonably priced for service / repairs, so at the right price could be worth it and send in for service? Must admit I have little experience of IS binoculars.

Ben
 
The 8x25 2014 model seems to have better stabilisation than the 2007? model. Quite different method.
I don't know when they changed it.
In addition most Canon IS are not waterproof and may have moisture in them.
I doubt whether I would pay anything for one with internal moisture. I did buy a 10x30 unknown to have moisture, and it is o.k.but I don't like it.
 
The 8x25 2014 model seems to have better stabilisation than the 2007? model. Quite different method.
I don't know when they changed it.
In addition most Canon IS are not waterproof and may have moisture in them.
I doubt whether I would pay anything for one with internal moisture. I did buy a 10x30 unknown to have moisture, and it is o.k.but I don't like it.

Canon's service is obviously not alpha level. Indeed, it seems more attuned to the throw away consumer electronics market than the high end optics space. That said, their IS glasses are very reliable and quite robust, at least in my experience. Nor would I be paranoid about a bit of condensation in a Canon glass, my 10x42s sometimes fog up briefly internally when they go out into the cold, with no ill effects thus far.
It would be nice if Canon would recognize that alpha status requires alpha service. Swaro and Zeiss's unstabilized optics command more than double the price of Canon's best IS offerings. That is not because Canon's hardware falls short, but because Canon does not stand behind its offerings in the same way that Swaro and Zeiss do. A one or two year warranty just does not cut it in the market for high end optics.
 
The used 10x30 I unwisely bought has films of moisture condensation internally.
It is old. 10 plus years. It works, but I don't like using substandard binoculars.

The question one has to ask is. (Not if one is feeling lucky. Clint Eastwood, but).
Do you want to use a binocular that has moisture condensation in the objectives, prisms, inside the eyepieces, in the electronics and in the stabiliser mechanism?
Or internal dust, as had an 8x25 that nobody on this forum apparently knew how to sort out (I did).

If a £10,000 professional Canon lens is brought in to Canon service U.K. no doubt they can strip it, clean every glass surface, reassemble and align to full standards.

Will they do the same with a 10x30 IS?
Maybe they are easy to strip down, clean and have electronics replaced. I don't know.
That is why they have 1 or 2 years warranty.
You get binoculars that completely outresolve any standard competitor but at the cost of complexity.

That is why I would not buy unseen used.
And the stabilisation has changed over the years, maybe for the better. So again old Canon IS unknown have little true value. If you want one, buy it new or fully inspected with great care.

A moistured or fungused IS binocular out of warranty is to me of no commercial value, unless Canon can indeed provide a full service, which it might on the 42 and 50mm.

In Hong Kong they strip everything and clean off the fungus. Those days are long gone in the U.K. although some have the patience to do it.
Cooke and TTH lenses have for 100 years been made to easily strip and clean. Not so most others.
Do you really want to buy an old fungused Olympus zoom lens? Or an old Nikon lens full of dust.
I don't.
 
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The used 10x30 I unwisely bought has films of moisture condensation internally.
It is old. 10 plus years. It works, but I don't like using substandard binoculars.

Maybe...That is why they have 1 or 2 years warranty.
You get binoculars that completely outresolve any standard competitor but at the cost of complexity.

That is why I would not buy unseen used.

Sadly I think you are quite correct.
The extra value of the Canons is the IS feature, yet Canon's meager warranty clearly suggests that that features' durability is questionable.
Moreover, Canon repair prices are steep by all accounts.
That combination of marketing choices has defeated Canon's effort to become a serious contender in the sport optics sector, where people pay above all for reliability.
Canon could probably do better with a changed approach, but given the pressures they face in cameras, their primary market, change is unlikely.
 
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