Hi all --

My husband Barry also has a pair of the Canon 10x42 image-stabilized bins.
He uses one of those shoulder halter/strap arrangements and does not find
them too heavy -- so that may be worth trying. I've also used them and found
them very good, maybe not up to top-end Swarovski or Zeiss but sharp and
bright. I have very steady hands but can still see the difference with the
IS on vs. when it is off. They take a little getting used to, as they have a
different feel in the hand but after a couple of hours they were fine.
Weight was fine with the shoulder harness, would not want them on a
neck-only strap. Barry took them to Bhutan and he said they made all the
difference in his enjoyment (he has benign essential tremor in his hands
which makes holding regular 10x bins very frustrating) -- the IS eliminated
85-90% of the shakiness. One downside is that the IS features uses AA
batteries and if you are travelling, need to have a good supply of
rechargeables. One up side is that the are 100% waterproof -- I think they
were developed originally for boaters.

Barry also tried out one of the less-expensive models that a another birder
had and he didn't think they gave a particularly good image, but being
10x30s would expect them to be a lot less bright.

Gail Mackiernan
Colesville, MD


on 06/20/2010 3:30 PM, George M. Jett at  wrote:

> Karen, et. al.
> 
> A couple years ago I had (and still do) substantial lose of vision.  I went
> to the Canon Stabilizer binoculars.  They are very heavy 10 X 42 L IS WP.
> They cost about $1500 but are bright and shape, and keep me in the game of
> birding.  They are also great for pelagics.  Canon now makes a much lighter
> pair of 10 X 30 for around $400 (Canon list them for $590).  I suspect the
> cheaper pair is not as shape, but are very serviceable.  I am planning on
> purchasing a pair to take to Argentina because of the weight factor.  The 10
> X 42 might also be too big for your hands.  Since I only need binoculars to
> find the bird so I can put the camera lens on it, sharpness is not as
> important as it use to be.  I think stabilizer binos will become more
> popular as we age.
> 
> George
>