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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Sancho" data-source="post: 3496699" data-attributes="member: 27039">During my heady 'try-everything-in-case-you're-missing-out' days, I had at one time or another all the Canons except the 18x50. I didn't keep any. Partly from a desire for simplicity, as you suggest, but really because I don't think IS is necessary. If you're out birding, you have a scope...that's your 'IS' right there 'cos it's on a tripod. The binos are for scanning, maybe searching through close foliage at 8x, in which cases you don't need the extra hassle of complicated IS wizardry. The only times I thought Canon IS was handy was from a boat, or when seawatching from a fixed point after 'one-eye scope fatigue' sets in. I never go mucking about in boats, and I solved the second (seawatching) issue with 15x non-IS bins on a Finnstick.   All of that said, a pair of 10x30 Canon IS will reveal more detail hand-held, for 350 euro or so, than any pair of 2,000-plus 'alpha' binoculars.</blockquote>