Canon 12x36 IS II Image Stabilized Binocular USA

Comments about Canon 12x36 IS II Image Stabilized Binocular:

we live on a large lake with residences and a lot of activity on the lake at night. we use it to keep an eye on our boat house and to watch others on the lake late at night.it is amazing how i can see them up close even in the dark! love them.

Comments about Canon 12x36 IS II Image Stabilized Binocular:

I gave them as a birthday gift to my son for his boat and for me to watch him play NFL football. The optics are very clear with great resolution. I was able to see in detail the other end of an NFL stadium and the image was very stable. Good product Canon and thanks B and H.

Comments about Canon 12x36 IS II Image Stabilized Binocular:

IS makes bird watching possible with 12x. Without IS, stay with 8x to avoid the shakes. Definitely worth the money. [...]

Comments about Canon 12x36 IS II Image Stabilized Binocular:

When I reviewed the 10 by 30's some months ago, I said I expected the 12's would have better colour and sharpness than the 10's due to their low dispersion glass, but even so, I decided on the 10's for their closer focusing. When bush walking, you often come across birds less than 20 feet away ( the minimum focus distance of the 12's). That's a big handicap. Now, having bought the 12's as well, I can say that the low dispersion glass does make as big a difference as I expected. And the increase in magnification does take you to a new level.

That doesn't mean the 10's disgrace themselves at all, far from it. The 10's give an impression of a more colourful and contrasty view of the world, probably due to a slight smearing of light which doesn't happen with the 12's. The 12's don't drift towards red when looking between between the black and white parts of a bird which is seen in bright sun light on the 10's. Overall, the 12's give a much more matter of fact view of the world. Colours are rendered more accurately and very small detail is preserved, despite their considerable power.

Given the 12's magnification, you tend to find yourself viewing birds at quite extraordinary distances. I recently watched a small but harmless battle between Magpies and Currawongs that was happening on a hill side half a mile away. It was rather like watching a wild life documentary, and quite unnerving just how easily you could see everything. The 10's are equally pleasing and intimate for watching nearby action closely. They both have their place and I'm using very duty re-chargeable batteries in them..

Some observations.
Initially, I was puzzled by the 12's stabilisation. They were jumpy and not inclined to let the image settle. I decided that this might be because they were new, and they needed time to become less "tight". I found over about five hours use, they did indeed settle down and became as stable as the 10's. I now find the 10's are almost instantaneous when the IS is turned on, while the 12's take about two to three seconds, the image improving as they do so. I find that IS always gives extra detail, and I find that I can adjusting the focus more precisely once it's active.

Overall, both binoculars are light, balance well in the hands and make bird watching a joy. I would never consider owning a non IS binocular. Both of these Canons are well worth the money.

Comments about Canon 12x36 IS II Image Stabilized Binocular:

I use these to spot birds for bird photography. I find them easy to use once you get used to the positioning of the focus and IS buttons. The IS works well.
Needed to buy lens caps seperately which is a bit of a shame.

Comments about Canon 12x36 IS II Image Stabilized Binocular:

I use the binoculars for wildlife viewing, hunting and birding. I have several Canon telephoto camera lenses so I was familiar with IS and how well it works. I was not disappointed. The IS works well, the image is bright and the image quality is good. My hands normally shake enough to affect the image for anything over 8 power but these 12 power binoculars are quite steady when I use the IS.

Comments about Canon 12x36 IS II Image Stabilized Binocular:

From only a couple of weeks of use, I'd say that Canon has produced a good product.I don't expect to us it in heavy rain or under conditions that involve a lot bumping about. The clarity of the optics are as advertised, tack sharp from center to edge. I like the added closeness for bird watching and distant scenic viewing. Ignore complaints about night brightness. The binoculars aren't designed for enhanced night vision. Positioning on the face and optical adjustments of the binoculars are easy. I do wish that there were a bit more tension on the adjustment wheel. That, however, might impede its smoothe functioning. I wear glasses, but prefer using the binoculars without them for a fuller field of view. The diopter adjustmnt is easy to handle. The IS feature works well and one can fine tune adjustments in the stabilized mode. I echo comments about the flimsy case. And, I don't like the fact that the zipper needs to slide all the way down the side of the case in order to extract the binoculars - too much chance of the binocular falling. I usually don't pay too much attention to serial numbers. But, I noticed that there was a one character difference between the number on the binocular body and the number on the warranty card. CanonUSA promptly replied to an e-mail query, informing me that warranty claims wouldn't be honored. [...]

Comments about Canon 12x36 IS II Image Stabilized Binocular:

Works better than Imthought.

Comments about Canon 12x36 IS II Image Stabilized Binocular:

These binoculars exceded my expectations.
Get them, you will not regret it.

Comments about Canon 12x36 IS II Image Stabilized Binocular:

I use it to wildlife viewing and marine use.
Same as canon lenses, it has same quality lens as european lenses but much more cheeper.
12x magnification + IS is the best combination

Comments about Canon 12x36 IS II Image Stabilized Binocular:

We use a variety of binoculars for casual birdwatching, travel, and astronomy and have generally used medium quality glasses in the past. An upcoming trip prompted buying these and we are extremely happy we did.The combination of higher power allowed by the IS and better lenses than our other glasses is really impressive. They handle differently from other glasses, but once we learned to press the IS button with one hand while focusing with the other it's OK. Also, while they are light enough, they are a bit bulky and we've found them unsatisfactory when used with eye glasses.I'd also like to add a bit of praise for B&H. [...]

Comments about Canon 12x36 IS II Image Stabilized Binocular:

We watch bald eagles from our windows and these are great for being able to view them very clearly and without any shaking. We marvel at the technology that allows the process to occur. They are a little heavy, which is the only reason we didn't give them 5 stars. We would highly recommend them.

Comments about Canon 12x36 IS II Image Stabilized Binocular:

Super image stabilizing system! I live just outside Yellowstone National Park and spend many hours in the park observing wildlife. Cannot say enough about the clarity and stability of the images. My only comment is that Cannon could include caps for the front end lenses, not just for the eyepieces.

Comments about Canon 12x36 IS II Image Stabilized Binocular:

[...] they are brilliant

Comments about Canon 12x36 IS II Image Stabilized Binocular:

I have owned a Private Investigation agency in the midwest for 34 years. My personnel and I have tested all kinds of binoculars and a major complaint has always been the difficulty in reading a vehicle tag from a distance. Not any more! Canon's Image Stabilizer has solved the problem. [...]Thank you. I'll be calling B&H again in the future.

Comments about Canon 12x36 IS II Image Stabilized Binocular:

For an Elk hunting trip to CO I was advised to bring along the best set of optics I could afford. I did some research and read some reviews. My previous experience with image stabilization was with a recently purchased Nikon 18-200 mm lens for my D90 that had Vibration Reduction capabilities. I was moderately impressed with that feature. Never having spent over $80 for a decent pair of binoculars and knowing my wife would enjoy a good set for bird watching I decided to purchase a mid range binocular that would hopefully give a quality image. Upon receiving the binoculars I was blown away with the ability of this binocular to take the shake out of viewing objects at a great distance. I just returned from a 5 day hunt in Colorado and these binoculars were spectacular. They allowed me to glass vast mountainsides with ease. The two primary lens covers were a minor hindrance. I utilized my tethered rifle scope covers temporarily as they fit the Canon binocular lenses fairly well and I intend to purchase a tethered cap system for the primary lens, and a couple of objective lens covers for principle. With the lenses usually hanging straight down it was not a problem with out objective lens covers. This despite 5 days of hunting in snow and rain. Dollar for dollar, stabilized or non stabilized, I would find it hard to believe that an individual comparing the two first hand would choose the non stabilized over the stabilized view.

Comments about Canon 12x36 IS II Image Stabilized Binocular:

Use watching football games, boating , birding, hunting and people watching. Had 10x30 much better ,now that i turned 60 and eyes aren't what they use to be ,well worth extra money!

Comments about Canon 12x36 IS II Image Stabilized Binocular:

The 12x36 IS II is an axcelent choice for boating.I do alot of boating in the great lakes and it is alot easier to see bouys and land marks.I have no problem with the eye cups like others have said. I would recomend someone to buy them.

Comments about Canon 12x36 IS II Image Stabilized Binocular:

Excellent in all respects. The kids could easily use them. Allowed us to see wildlife.

Comments about Canon 12x36 IS II Image Stabilized Binocular:

Ordered Nikon 12X, Canon 12X and Canon 10 WP Binocs - all with Image Stabilization.Planned on keeping the best one.

I really wanted to like the Nikon's - but the image jumps and lags - which makes me seasick - even on land (and I'm a professional mariner).

The expensive Canon 10x WP didn't work with my eyes - they had vignetting - black shadows around the outer edges, no matter how I adjusted them.

The Canon 12x II's were by far the best for me - and the best value. The image is sharp, the image barely jumps when you hit the IS button, they are very light, and they fit my eyes and face just right. These are replacing another set of Canon's "that couldn't swim".

Only minus is that they are only splash resistance - not waterproof like the others.