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Fujinon new 12x28 vs Canon IS (1 Viewer)

I'm going to wait and see how my return goes. It is a good deal but I had to pay $30 shipping to Hawaii and I think you got free shipping.

For my needs the Fujinon would really be a travel binocular. I'd like to see if you will be toting it along on trips. For viewing at home I'd pick up my 14x32 Canon every time when looking out over the bay.

You don't care for the new Canon's but I think they are amazing. I use mine multiple times a day. Love it.


I never experienced that with the Canon IS. I found the 14x40 Fujinon had more of that floating wave feel especially when the gyro is warming up.

Well, I'm glad you like it. Image Stabilization is amazing. These Fujinon's are priced right and I hope the market grows so we all benefit.
That high magnification stabilized view is really nice looking out over the ocean looking for ships and whales and whatever. I might try the Fujinon 16x28's. Buzztronic's don't have the 16x28 though for that good price. The Fujinon's are reverse porro's which I didn't know. The 16x28 has a 4 degree FOV so they have a quite large 64 degree AFOV. They are a little heavier at 18 oz. but not bad. They would be great for wolf spotting in the Lamar Valley at Yellowstone National Park. I bought a pair of Fujinon 16x28 and I will write a mini-review after I have tried them. What I am beginning to realize is IS is the answer to the finicky nature of small compact binoculars with small exit pupils. By stabilizing the image you don't need as big of an exit pupil because the smaller exit pupil stays aligned with your eyes better. The Fujinon 12x28 could be the best small binocular I have ever used. It is bigger than the Swarovski 8x25 CL-P or Zeiss Victory 8x25 but just blows them away in detail and comfort when you engage the IS. The Fujinon 16x28 is close to the power of the Canon 18x50 but less than half the weight but I will bet in the daytime it is comparable in performance.
 
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Get it Sunday. Had to buy from Amazon.com. Buzztronics don't have the 16x28. I am expecting it to be really good. The IS really helps on these little, lighter binoculars. 12x or 16x would be hard to hold steady on these light binoculars but with the IS they are great. The IS really helps with eye placement also I am finding. It makes the small exit pupils on these Fujinon's not nearly as finicky as most smaller binoculars. What is nice about these Fujinon's is that they have bigger and longer eye cups so it matches the eye relief quite well and they fit up with your eye sockets and help avoid blackouts. These are very nice little lightweight IS binoculars. Where else can you get a 16x IS binoculars that weighs 18 oz.. The Canon's are way heavier and bigger. I find the Fujinon's are brighter and have better contrast than the Canon's I have had also. Especially, better contrast. They must have pretty good transmission and coatings. Fujinon's are known for high transmission.
 
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I have looked through one Fujinon 12 x 28 and a couple of the Kenko versions of this IS binocular, and none of them gave anything close to what I would call a sharp and high-quality image. Stabilization worked very well, but that was not of much use when the view was so dismal otherwise.

I looked trough two Fujinons. Both were lemons.

End of story.

Hermann
 
I looked trough two Fujinons. Both were lemons.

End of story.

Hermann
The Binomania Review disagrees. They say they are" light and incredible" and a "small jewel of electronics" and I agree mine are fantastic! Binomania said it was years said they had so much fun with a pair of binoculars! There must have been some bad samples in the beginning. The Fujinon's also correct image shake to 3.0 degrees versus only 1.0 degree in the Canon's meaning you can really shake them and they will still be stabile and also they will work better on a boat or in a car. IMO the optics and stabilization are superior to Canon's.

https://www.binomania.it/recensione...zzato-fujinon-ts-12x28-leggero-e-incredibile/
 
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The Binomania Review disagrees. They say they are" light and incredible" and a "small jewel of electronics" and I agree mine are fantastic! Binomania said it was years said they had so much fun with a pair of binoculars! There must have been some bad samples in the beginning. The Fujinon's also correct image shake to 3.0 degrees versus only 1.0 degree in the Canon's meaning you can really shake them and they will still be stabile and also they will work better on a boat or in a car. Optically they are way superior to Canon's.

https://www.binomania.it/recensione...zzato-fujinon-ts-12x28-leggero-e-incredibile/


Binomania's biggest problem is that it is written in Italian.

I'll keep my Canon 12x36 IS 3. I'm satisfied with it after using it for 6 months.
How technically sophisticated does a binocular have to be anyway?

Bob
 
Denco, I am really looking forward to your review.

I have the Canon 14x32 and the optical performance and IS blow me away. Unfortunately, the ergonomics leave much to be desired. I am certain the Fujinon is an improvement in that department (especially eyecups) so if the optical and IS performance is even halfway decent I am going to give them a try. I really want the 16x, but the 12x would meet my needs if they prove to be significantly more usable.
 
The neat thing about the Fujinon's is that they are so small and light. They are fun like Binomania says. It is nice to have a 15 oz. binocular that you can throw in your pack or put in your jacket pocket and pull it out and have a 12x tripod like view at a moments notice. I like the stabilization better than the Canon's and as you said the Fujinon's have excellent adjustable eye cups that come out a long ways to match the eye relief and are very comfortable. The ergonomics are really nice with a perfect tension focuser. I get the 16x28's tomorrow so I will write a mini-review. With a 64 degree AFOV they could be more impressive than the 12x. An 18 oz. binocular with a tripod like 16x view sounds like a lot of fun. You can REALLY get close to those birds. Forget 8x.
 
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From the picture of the Fujinon 12x28 in the Binomania website (with the hand holding it) It appears to be about the same size as Swarovski's 8 and 10 x 25 CL Pocket binoculars.

https://www.swarovskioptik.com/birding/cl-pocket-mountain-c21010503/cl-pocket-mountain-8x25-p5393126

Does the Fujinon 12x28 actually have reverse porro prisms? That would certainly help keep it smaller.

The next question is "What are the actual FOVs as opposed to AFOVs of the Fujinon 12x28 and the Fujinon 16x28?

Bob
 
From the picture of the Fujinon 12x28 in the Binomania website (with the hand holding it) It appears to be about the same size as Swarovski's 8 and 10 x 25 CL Pocket binoculars.

https://www.swarovskioptik.com/birding/cl-pocket-mountain-c21010503/cl-pocket-mountain-8x25-p5393126

Does the Fujinon 12x28 actually have reverse porro prisms? That would certainly help keep it smaller.

The next question is "What are the actual FOVs as opposed to AFOVs of the Fujinon 12x28 and the Fujinon 16x28?

Bob
Bob. The Fujinon 12x28 is about an 1 1/2 inch longer than the Swarovski 8x25 CL-P but a 1/2 inch narrower when the Swarovski is opened and the height is about the same. The Fujinon uses a hybrid prism system consisting of a roof prism and a penta prism called an auxiliary prism. The roof prism is phase coated. The actual FOV of the 12x28 is 4.2 degrees and 218 feet and the 16x28 is 4.0 degrees and 210 feet. The FOV of the 16x is almost as wide as the 12x. The Fujinon is light partly because the body is fiberglass reinforced plastic and the objective diameter has been reduced from 32mm to 28mm. All the lenses are FMC for high transmission. One advantage it has over the Canon is the IS works WHILE you are focusing so you don't seem to get those artifacts like you do with the Canon. The IS uses less energy than the Canon also with the CR2 battery giving almost 14 hours of use. Because it uses a smaller, lighter CR2 battery than the AA in the Canon it allows the body to be designed more ergonomically with a place to put your thumbs underneath the binocular. It is not like holding a big square brick like the Canon 10x42 IS-L nor does it have the huge uncomfortable eye cups like the Canon. The eye cups on the Fujinon fit your eyes perfectly and are comfortable. Ergonomically it kills the Canons. I do a CA test on all my binoculars and I was amazed that there was very little CA with these even though they do not have ED glass.
 
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I got the Fujinon 16x28 and it is not any bigger than the 12x28 except for the eye cups which probably have to be bigger for the higher magnification oculars. To cut to the chase I really like it. The 12x28 is slightly lighter and has slightly easier eye placement because it has a 2.5mm EP and the 16x28 has a 1.8mm EP. They both have remakably easy eye placement for such a small EP I think because the IS stabilizes the view and makes it easier to keep your eyes centered over the EP. Outside of that the 16x is in another world. I really can't believe how much detail you can see at 16x! I can read the names of the Doctor's on the door of a medical building that I can not read with the Fujinon 12x28 or SV 12x50. If you really want to see something in detail 16x is where it is at as long as you have IS. I tried using the 16x28 without the IS and I couldn't BELIEVE how much I was shaking. You could never hold 16x without IS or a tripod. The Fujinon 3.0 degree IS handles the shake incredibly well even at 16x. The AFOV of the 16x is 64 degrees so it is much more immersive than the 12x28. It sucks you into this incredibly close up view. You can see detail you never imagined with an 8x binocular. I had the Canon 15x50 IS and I don't feel in the daytime it was as good as the Fujinon's 16x28. You don't need a big exit pupil in the daytime at least if you have IS stabilizing the binocular. The Canon's at almost 40 oz. would be intolerable for birding, whereas, you could actually USE the Fujinon 16x20 for birding because it weighs less than 18 oz. I think these little, light high power IS binoculars will be a game changer for a lot of people.


Fujinon12x28 next to the Fujinon 16x28(Notice the bigger oculars on the 16x28)
 

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Exactly about the same size. Both the 12x28 and the 16x28 eye cups are very comfortable though. I am amazed how good the CA control is on these Fujinon's. I see hardly any CA. They must use high quality achromatic lenses since it is not ED glass. I am also impressed with the glare control on these and how well they do in low light for such a small aperture. I had them both out tonite watching seagulls after sunset and they performed very well even the 16x28. High transmission maybe? The compact size of these make the big old heavy Canon's especially the 10x42 IS-L seem like dinosaurs. Maybe these will force Canon to update their binoculars. With the 16x I could the Seagulls winking at me.:king:
 
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You just put your finger on it and pull it towards you. It is kind of raised like a cam. It is actually very easy and in contrast to the switch on the Canon 10x42 IS-L which you can't find it is in a good location. The battery box has a nice little metal screw on cap instead of that pop off cap on the Canon that breaks and then you have to throw the binoculars away.
 

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