Alpha IS? (1 Viewer)

[Will K]

As far as I am aware, the only company among 'the big three' to currently produce an IS bino is Zeiss, with their gigantic 20x60. This has been around for a while, and is certainly less than popular due to the staggering price (approx. £5000) and extreme bulkiness. 20x is also a highly specialised magnification, which is not very appealing to the bird watching market. If you're willing to carry something that chunky, why not a scope?



Does anyone have a perspective on the current market for IS tech in an alpha context?

Perhaps the closest we have now is the NL/EL optional headrests, which seem to satisfy some, but not all. Would people be interested in a IS Noctivid, Ultravid, NL, EL, or Victory SF? Do you think this is something we will see in the future? Or do you think these binos should remain 'pure', i.e., no electronics?

 

[Conndomat]

Perhaps the closest we have now is the NL/EL optional headrests, which seem to satisfy some, but not all. Would people be interested in a IS Noctivid, Ultravid, NL, EL, or Victory SF? Do you think this is something we will see in the future? Or do you think these binos should remain 'pure', i.e., no electronics?

An IS that is successful all around would of course be desirable!
IMO there are still too many restrictions at the moment, the optical performance is often not at alpha level and mechanically and there are also deficits in handling.
In addition, all glasses wearers should be able to use an IS, at the moment I would not buy one.

In fact, I could imagine Leica entering the IS market, Leica builds a lot of new Geovid models, i.e. with electronics, they also have a large market share here, and a Geovid with IS could result in more complete binoculars, when measuring distances that could be beneficial.
Whether Leica would build a pure IS glass is difficult to say.

But I don't think that IS binoculars are becoming widespread, a decade ago it was said that conventional binoculars would soon disappear from the market, but I think a lot of people prefer simplicity and the biggest market is low budget, people only use their binoculars occasionally for walks no attention is paid to optical refinements.

Andreas

 

[Maljunulo]

More things to go wrong, and compromises in order to meet a price point.

 

[wllmspd]

Also depends on advertising budgets and what other people use. Not having IS in <10x isn’t a big issue. IS makes for less robustness. For higher powers you move to a tripod stabilised spotter.

Peter

 

[Swissboy]

More things to go wrong, and compromises in order to meet a price point.

I tried two Canon IS models in a store yesterday (10x30 and 12x40 if I remember correctly). Both came with foldable rubber eyecups, a first turn-off right at the beginning. The 10x was relatively comfortable to hold, but first felt like the IS would be hardly noticeable, until I found out it was missing its battery. No wonder then. The 12x did show the effects of the IS , but it was relatively weak. Don't know whether the power was almost gone or whether my expectations were too high?

 

[kimmik]

My guess is *electronic "IS" will come to monoculars before binoculars, if they come at all, for the euro brands.

I also guess it wont be swarovski, which is heavily invested in larger scopes.

 

[Swissboy]

.........................tripod stabilised spotter.

Peter

Not sure what you mean by that. Do you mean a scope on a tripod? If so, it is what I use now, but having stabilized binoculars would still be a good thing, if they work well.

 

[Will K]

My guess is "IS" will come to monoculars before binoculars, if they come at all, for the euro brands.

I also guess it wont be swarovski, which is heavily invested in larger scopes.

It might be interesting if Swaro think about putting IS tech in future scopes, given the handheld applications of their new ATC. Still not very likely, though.

 

[wllmspd]

Stabilised spotters have been tried, but didn’t sell well. Given the perfectly stable views I can get when using a tripod, why would I want to pay to have additional (non optical) stuff in there?
IS is useful in binoculars , I’ve had some 12x canon for ages, handy if you want to see further away stuff and don’t want to bring a scope, you can resolve more details vs handheld. Not sure it’s as useful at lower powers and higher powers start to enter scope territory and get rather heavy.

Peter

 

[Binocollector]

My guess is "IS" will come to monoculars before binoculars, if they come at all, for the euro brands.

I also guess it wont be swarovski, which is heavily invested in larger scopes.

There was a monocular Zeiss IS 20x60. No longer made unfortunately.
All in all -- for nighttime use I like the Canon IS 18x50. For all else I prefer non-IS with between 7x to 10x magnification. Sometimes even just 6x.
For long range observation of course the IS is nice. But the whole point of the stabilization is rather quickly gone when holding those bricks for more than 5 minutes. I sometimes use it during the day for close-up views of ships going by. Never really used it in the field but some here do carry them bandolier style or with a harness.
I still prefer the simplicity of old-school binoculars.
But just wait a while and a few members here will tell you how Swaro, Zeiss and Leica "dropped the ball" and will soon go bankrupt for not making IS-binos.

 

[[email protected]]

IS is nice, and you will see more detail if you like to use above 10x, but I think most birders use an 8x32 or 8x42 and for 8x it is really not necessary.

 

[rdnzl]

IS is nice, and you will see more detail if you like to use above 10x, but I think most birders use an 8x32 or 8x42 and for 8x it is really not necessary.

I would say that while IS may not be necessary at 8X, the benefits are fantastic. When walking around the park or trails, I can spot a bird or animal and then lift the bino to my eyes, and have the next best thing to having them on a tripod. You can see far greater detail when the subject isn't jiggling around. I can read signs at a far greater distance with IS at 8x than without IS. Even fine print. I think IS at 8X is probably more steady than at the higher powers because 8X is more steady to begin with. I always have my Canon 8x20 IS with me.

 

[Hermann]

There was a monocular Zeiss IS 20x60. No longer made unfortunately.

I've got a 20x60S Mono. It's - like the 20x60S - sort of "in between": Too much magnification to replace a normal binocular, too little to replace a scope.

But just wait a while and a few members here will tell you how Swaro, Zeiss and Leica "dropped the ball" and will soon go bankrupt for not making IS-binos.

I'm convinced they'll lose plenty of market share as soon as someone makes an IS binocular with an optical quality comparable to the Canon 10x42 IS (the only current IS binocular that can compete against the alphas optically) and more user friendly.

Them going bankrupt is of course nonsense.

Hermann

 

[William Lewis]

My guess is *electronic "IS" will come to monoculars before binoculars, if they come at all, for the euro brands.

I also guess it wont be swarovski, which is heavily invested in larger scopes.

I'm tempted to give opticron's i.s monocular a go. You can fit the eye pieces from their telescopes to it - 8 to a 24x zoom for example.

It's a 30mm objective to might be a bit iffy (similar exit pupil to a 80mm scope at 60x when the monos set to 24x), and it's not got Ed/hd glass.

It's not going to be great in summary but doesn't mean it wouldn't be useful.

I'd be keen to hear if anyone has given it a try.

Will

 

[Binocollector]

I'm convinced they'll lose plenty of market share as soon as someone makes an IS binocular with an optical quality comparable to the Canon 10x42 IS (the only current IS binocular that can compete against the alphas optically) and more user friendly.

I remain unconvinced. There already is a 10x25 Nikon with IS that is as small as a normal bino -- of course it has no "alpha" quality but Nikon themselves seems to be so unconvinced that those will gain any market share, that they don't even offer them outside of Japan.
Thinking that people who now buy an NL Pure would buy an IS-bino instead, no matter how user friendly, is like thinking that people, who now buy a Rolex would replace it with a Casio, just because the Casio is radio controlled.
Maybe if it was with mechanical stabilization in a form factor as small as a normal binocular and as robust, then I'd think they might get some traction, but not while using batteries and looking like a plastic toy with the ergonomics of a brick.

 

[Hermann]

Thinking that people who know buy an NL Pure would buy an IS-bino instead, no matter how user friendly, is like thinking that people, who now buy a Rolex would replace it with a Casio, just because the Casio is radio controlled.

Many people (if not most) use their binoculars as a tool - to observe and identify birds, for instance. And there can be no doubt whatsoever that you get more details on a bird with a stabiliser.

Maybe if it was with mechanical stabilization in a form factor as small as a normal binocular and as robust, then I'd think they might get some traction, but not while using batteries and looking like a plastic toy with the ergonomics of a brick.

So you don't like batteries? Well, well ...

Hermann

 

[james holdsworth]

The market doesn’t lie.

 

[exup]

Who said Canon IS bins can't take abuse?

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[Binocollector]

So you don't like batteries? Well, well ...

No, I don't. There is already far too much battery-powered electronic crap in everyone's life as it is. I don't need another tool that needs batteries that you either have to charge or take spares on every hike just so your IS-bino keeps working.
BTW -- that is one of the reasons why mechanical watches still exist.
I don't like smartwatches either btw. No matter how much fancy stuff they can do.
But if one day the zoom cameras in smartphones get good enough -- no normal person (not into optics) will still buy binoculars at all, no matter if they have IS or not. Same as cameras.

 

[John A Roberts]

It would be surprising if the three premium European manufacturers haven't explored the possibility of electronic IS binoculars.
And with Leica there’s at least one known example . . .

Last November, Tobias posted about a visit to the Ernst Leitz museum at the Leica headquarters in Wetzlar,
see: Leica Wetzlar Leitz park and binoculars

The museum has a variety of binocular exhibits, including prototypes at various stages of development.
And the article has a number of images, including at least one IS concept model - a Stablevid 14x42 (along with a smaller version?):


(Image cropped and adjusted)


In addition, Meopta has a large military optics and optronics production programme, see: Military applications | Meopta :: Better view of the world
So it would seem likely that they would also have explored IS possibilities for the civilian market.


- - - -
And in terms of a more compact/ user friendly envelope, there’s an Asian manufactured 16x42 model currently offered under various brand names
(The label on the box of the SIG version is marked 'Assembled in Japan').
Some images of the Bresser branded version:


From: Bresser | BRESSER 16x42 STABILIZER OIS binoculars with image stabilizer | Expand Your Horizon


John