Home > Consumer Reviews > Canon 15X50IS All Weather Image Stabilising Binoculars

As the proud recent owner of a pair of 15x50 Canon IS binoculars I can wholeheartedly endorse the two reviews above. What neither of them commented on was the wonderful, fringeless abberation free flat field of view. Contrast is high although with the higher magnification compared with a 10 x 50 binocular, the image brightness is reduced although this is almost unnoticeable because of the excellent light transmission of the optics.

The eyepieces are easy to use while wearing spectacles and the soft fold down rubber eyecups keep your spectacles from contacting the eyepiece lens. If used without spectacles the right hand eyepiece dioptre adjustment is stiff but - hey you only need to set it once! Turn on the image stabilisation and the unviewable becomes instantly viewable and detail that would be missed is there in crystal clarity. I use my binoculars for both terestrial and astronomical purposes and I must say that they are the finest binoculars I have ever owned bar none.

I was, like the previous reviewer, concerned about the soft case although the binoculars seem so robust that they would be unlikely to suffer damage. What I was more concerned about was the lack of objective lens caps (they are provided for the eyepieces) however a quick examination found that there was a standard 58mm thread on each lens and 2 x UV (multicoated) filters and 2 x internal clip lens caps later I am fully protected. These are fine for terrestial work and actually protect the lenses from dew when using them for astronomy.

My overall comment is that these binoculars are worth every penny of the price.

Like the other chap i spent alot of time pondering whether or not to purchase these bins, i do alot of walking and love watching aircraft fly over where i live, so, i took the plunge and bought them, all i can say is that they are fantastic, clarity is brilliant and optics sensational. My friends and work collegues all laughed when i told them i had bought them, what a waste of money they said! But, after they had had a go the feedback was excellent, it shut them up! I would not want any other binoculars, these are the nuts and worth every penny!!!

I recently purchased some Canon IS binoculars after a lot of thought about the price. I’m a regular binoculars user – doorstep astronomy, wildlife, birds feeding in the garden, hill walking where I live in Scotland and holidays abroad. I guess that I pick up my binoculars most days to look at something. If I were not a regular user I probably wouldn’t have considered this purchase. My first move was to visit a camera and photography shop that actually had some binoculars in stock and try them out. The results were superb with the high magnification models (15x50 and 18x50) and less effective, though still excellent, with the lower magnifications (8x25, 10x30 and 12x36). My advice is, if you’re going to take the plunge, go for the top of the range. Get the 15x50 or 18x50 model. It’s worth the extra expense. When considering this purchase, don’t forget the quality of Canon products, especially the optics. They’ve been making quality cameras for years, and lenses are their speciality.

When you weigh up the cost of these binoculars bear the following in mind. If you bought a new suit or outfit for a wedding, how much would it cost? How many times would you use it? What is the cost for every time you use it? How about the binoculars? How long should they last and what would be the cost every time you used them? By my reckoning they’re for life (I have a pair of binoculars that are 34 years old) and worth every penny for a regular user like me. There are some other points worth noting.

The binoculars come in a soft case and I’m nervous about anything that pricey taking a knock, so I purchased a camera style hard case, like a small briefcase, with sponge inside for just over £40.

If you want to use your binoculars predominantly in low light (evening or night) be careful of the model you buy. The effectiveness of binoculars to operate in low light is measured by the “exit pupil”, which is found by dividing the diameter of the objective lens by the magnification. So 18x50 has an exit pupil of 2.78, 15x50 an exit pupil of 3.33 and so on. The greater the figure the better, so this makes the 15x50 the best of the Canon IS range, though still not fantastic. The average binoculars you buy in a shop are 8x40, giving an exit pupil of 5.

The actual stabiliser takes a little getting used to. It switches on immediately the button is pressed but takes about 2 seconds to kick in fully. It’s important to understand what it achieves. There appear to be two movements to your body – the uncontrollable twitching of your hands, especially after a coffee (and just before sex!), and the regular (almost controllable) movements as you breath. The binoculars counteract the first one, and the image moves from being one of “having the shakes” to one of a slow, repetitive movement caused by breathing. Like a marksman gaining expertise with a rifle, this can be intentionally countered, and the image moves quickly to one of absolute perfection with a little practice. The proof of the pudding is looking at the sky at night. Try and identify one of the planets (Mars, Venus or Jupiter are favourite and one of them is normally around), or a prominent star, and observe them with the binoculars without using the stabiliser. After you try to hold the image still – it’s like a dancing star – press the button and settle your breathing. The result is worth every penny as all movement ceases. Fantastic! If I win the lottery I may give some out as Christmas presents!