Canon IS 18x50 (1 Viewer)

KorHaan said:

The Docters that you suggest are not available here, as far as I know. I have never, ever seen them in shops or on the Internet providers.

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Malloot said:

The Docters are available in the Netherlands, Ronald.

http://www.roskamoptics.nl/

My reason not buying them where the heavy weight and that they are not waterproof compared to the Habicht 7x42 I bought instead.

But I'm still keen on having a pair for dusk/night watching of badger, deer, boar, owls, etc. But you can spend your money only once, so for the general use the Habicht fitted my demands best. And still do to day of today.

Due to our earlier conversation I tried the Canon IS 18x and 15x.
They where suprusingly nice to handle, but something why they don't fit my requirement are the small DOF and the large minimum focus distance.

I had a lot of trouble of putting a great tit in focus while the bird was hopping from branch to branch and I was turning the focusknob like crazy.

But for more open field observation for waders, ducks, etc. these IS bins may not be forgotten.

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KorHaan said:

Thanks, Norman!

I got all excited when I checked the link and saw 8x58 roof prism binoculars with a PLASTIC housing. Ideal owling bins! Eager to find out the weight, I was more than a little disappointed when I noticed it to be 1520 grams!! What a bummer! How can that be?! Surely not the weight of the lenses alone? When I read plastic, I presume it's lightweight, so I thought something of a little less than 1 kg. That would have been perfect.

The porro prism bins were 1350 grams for the 8x56 Nobilem and 1250 grams for the 7x50 Nobilem. Man, these are heavy mothers! I just don't want these around my neck at night, going owling. The prices are favourable, though, in the 600-700 € range, but still...

I had hoped I could finally forget ever getting the Zeiss ClassiC 8x56, but it's still lurking in the background. :eek!:

As far as your experience with the 15x and 18x Canon IS's, I'd say it's an accurate description that you gave. These bins really come into their own in open spaces, though I found I could use my 18x50's really well in close up circumstances too; I wouldn't have got my Barred Warbler tick on Texel last year, if I hadn't had my 18x50's ready. But the big Canons are still more of a substitute for a scope than actual all-round birding bins.

I've found the 18x50's especially useful when sitting down, elbows resting on my knees. Then there is nothing in binocular land that can touch them.
Period.

It's wonderful to have these in a rucksack for casual use, along with more all-round bins around your neck. You'd be surprised too by the amount of detail they give in dusk or dawn situations. The image of the 18x50's in the dark is dim, but I can see details I can't see with 8x bins.
The 15x's may be even better.

Best regards,

Ronald

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