Home > Consumer Reviews > Canon 8x32 Waterproof Binoculars w/Case & Neck Strap

We bought this to bring to Everglades for birding and alligator watching and what a world of difference it is from my cheap compact one! The scope is so big and bright it makes looking into the binocular a pleasure and no longer strains the eyes. Sometimes I feel it's even brighter than seen with naked eye. The only drawback is it's larger and heavier than my compact one but I wouldn't mind this little inconvenience for the quality. I'm ready to toss out my old cheapie compact one...

I bought these last year after a great deal of shopping around and comparing features and prices. Coated optics, high eye relief (to use with glasses), good light gathering, reasonable portability were important factors. I used them first on a trip to Canyon de Chelly and was constantly loaning them to others who found them better than their binoculars. The waterproofing lets me sit in the hot tub and stargaze without fear of moisture damage. I used them this summer while cruising on a boat in Puget Sound in preference to the boat's 7x50s because of their lighter weight. I just ordered a second pair for my wife to keep her from borrowing mine!

I am a beginner birder but have had the good luck to use zeiss and leica binos. A friend was shopping for a set and he gave these pair a whirl, he was impressed and me valuing his opinion ordered them from ... After limited use I'm very happy with them. The negatives: heavy, large for 32's, minimum focusing distance of 19 ft could be a problem, my set focused as close as 15 ft. A minor annoyance is the putrid smell of rubber, a necessity due to the waterproof nature, hopefully it will go away. The eye cups are a bit too long, I prefer rolling them down even though I don't wear glasses. All in all, very nicely made and a lot of value for the money.

There are better 8x32 water proof binoculars, but you would have to spend $XXX to get them (ie. Pentax DCF WP 8x32) or more. These binoculars are a great value at the price.

I bought these binoculars 4 1/2 years ago because they seemed like a good value for the money. I can definitely confirm that. The image is quite clear and very wide. 8x is a satisfying magnification for sports, birdwatching, sight-seeing and astronomy. Too much more and you really need either a tripod or image stabilization. Compared to cheaper lenses, these are noticeably better and compared to more expensive pairs from Nikon not any worse.

Now there are some problems that I had. They are deceptively heavy for their size. The original strap hurt my neck so I bought a padded strap that worked better. The case has a strap too, but I couldn't replace or remove that one since it was sewn not clipped to the case. Canon really should provide caps for the objective lens. It was annoying to roll the rubber eyepieces down to use them with sunglasses during the day.

Expect for the weight, I think the other problems are fixable. I suspect these are heavy because of the glass needed produce an excellent image in a very compact pair of binoculars. Also, the waterproofing and rubber armor that protect them add to their heft. I don't think I'd want to compromise any of the other qualities of these binoculars for the sake of a few ounces.