Condition / Quality
The binocular is made in Japan. It's fully rubber smooth but rough, very clean finish. Threaded connector (metal) for tripod release plate on the underside, thus no adapter necessary, also top processed.
Strap made of nylon, very thick and solid, silver Canon lettering outside, 31 mm wide, non-upholstered, with anti-slip coating, also made in Japan, processed excellent. Comfortable enough for 1.3 kg Binocular (with batteries).
Soft carrying case has no rubber feet / pad for parking, 1 flat inside pocket for sufficient cleaning cloth or flat objects max. 10 cm wide, but not eg for brush.
Decorative metal clip with sharp outer Clinch inside which is collected from the inside pocket (but slight risk of damage to objects that are housed there).
Sufficiently large binoculars rustsch good in / out but chops sideways slightly at the Kördelverschluß. Lid does not cover completely from above, lets the side 2x 1.2 cm wide gap (rainwater).
Protective function but completely fulfilled when cord is tightened.
2 eyepiece protective caps made of plastic, close very accurately and perfectly, particularly on zurückgestulpten eyepiece rubber shells.
No lens covers. Objective lenses are only 6 mm from the outer edge away, therefore high risk of contamination, possibly damaged.
Thread available on lenses for filtering, not mentioned in Operating Instructions, thread diameter 58 mm (have tried different filters of Hama, Hoya, Kenko: Fits).
Operating instructions easy to understand, many software images, legible, complete, also includes troubleshooting in tabular form.
HANDLING
FG is good in the hands (both hands necessary), good equilibrium to but mighty thick, just for female hands OK
Eye distance setting by vigorously moving the Okularteile, very stiff, but functional: Adjust accidentally virtually impossible.
Fokusierwalze extreme (anything) smoothly, evenly and silently over the entire range. 25 x 25 mm, Vollgummiert, strong teeth, very accessible.
Precise adjustment of the optimum focus in the entire distance range without any problems.
Diopter adjustment right, just enough for me of (L: -3.5 / R: +1.25), stiff and uniformly.
Stabi-mode button (waterproof) instinctively easy to reach (too good, is often made accidentally). Power indicator with green LED on the upper part, highly visible even during the day, very discreet (can not be noticed at night by wild animals.
Replacing Batteries solved very well, at the bottom, even without money possible by 1/4 turn, the compartment can be opened.
Marking the correct inserting the batteries barely legible. With little experience Batteries change can take place even in complete darkness.
Eye Relief
Pleasant watching, not strenuous, more comfortable, no noise, even for beginners and wearing glasses. However requires precise adjustment of the eye distance in the 1/10 mm so that both pupils are in optical axes. Otherwise multiple, wide-area, moving black spots on the edge of the field of view.
Sidelight disturbing at night when present, is not sufficiently shielded from Augenmuschlen, requires use of the hand, otherwise glares sideways in sight.
No ghosting, glare, internal reflections under normal conditions during daylight hours (when viewing distance set exactly).
Convenience in Bobachtungszeit 30 sec. = 10/10 after 60 sec. Reduction to 8/10 by pushing Orbital.
From 90 sec. In addition muscle fatigue (upper arm, wrist). Through high weight to large diameter of the two tons, painful pressure of rigid eyecups
Instinctive observation break after about 2 minutes, instinctive Erhohlungszeit: 15-30 seconds.
With zurückgestulpten eyecups total field of view but exhausting, uncomfortable eye relief: Optimal distance ocular pupil (eye relief) tolerates no anchor / contact of binoculars at or about eye socket. This pleasant one hand observation but for the price of a higher muscle contraction (hands-free holding) and premature fatigue (by approximately a factor 1.5-2).
No particular concentration required (eg breath control).
EYECUPS
Eyecups in the extended state reduce the field of vision considerably. This becomes clear if one lets a page so and the other folds, then observed alternatively with both eyes.
If the Augenmuschlen zurückgestulpt is the field of view without restriction, but the ocular lenses must be cleaned more often then the eyelids touch the lens and leave marks. In detail:
Eyecups bit too long, unusually thick, thereby very rigid, giving only after at a pressure of about 0.8 Kg / piece. No pre folded position, no thinning of the material at the outer edge.
With pressure from the eye sockets against the eyecups, the field is expanded, however, caused the high pressure of this (about 1.5 kg, and higher) of the stiff / thick rubber rapidly painful pressure points.
Stability and fro, 1,3 kg and thick tons and the eyecups allow only carefree short observation times. Minutes long duration observations are freehand, in my experience, physically exhausting than average. On the other hand, the quality of the image aussergewöhhnliche leads to a significant increase in the fun factor and shifts the threshold of tolerability depending on your mood and conditions.
STABILIZATION
No comparison with binoculars this performance class with constant dance of the figure, caused by muscle tremors, breathing and heartbeat. This relaxed observation (by a factor of 3 to 4). Support to the window frame with both elbows brings additional improvement in steadiness by about 5-15%. Then almost complete Bildrühe is reached, hardly distinguishable from tripod use. Occasionally extremely fast, very low visible adapting optics.
The system is not only efficient but fast:
Stabilization of the image by 80% within 0.5 seconds. after that slight increase. 100% power the system for approximately 1.5 sec.
No confusion of the system in light panning, very good coordination with human behavior.
MOBILITY
The binoculars also takes a lot of space and brings a lot of weight in your luggage. For strenuous hikes binoculars with 30 mm lens is much better suited.
The optical performance is, however, enormous.
For a day trip a set of AA batteries should substitute (eg Eneloop 1900 mAh) are taken as a precaution.
Alkaline batteries at low temperatures hardly bring benefits and can lead to exposure of the system after a few minutes.
Optical power
Very high resolution throughout the field of view, exceptionally high edge definition to only 5-10% from the edge. Flying on roof tiles in about 100 m distance well visible.
Screw a TV antenna can be barely recognized as Hex (confirmation 20x80 on tripod but necessary because on the border with subjectively).
Excellent depth of field in the upper range, eg 350-600 m with little loss of detail, marine binocular-like.
In the central region requires a sharp image accurate focusing (without any problems + pleasant).
Very significant geometric distortions (cushion effect) already from approx. 30% from the center.
Color distortion (purple / yellow) in normal daylight, even at extreme contrasts (dark branches against the sky) is not noticeable, scattered light also unnoticeable.
Neutral color reproduction with high contrast clouds in rainy weather with countless nuances, very realistic and spatially.
In direct comparison with Zeiss Victory 8x56 eingengtes field of view (clear: 8x to 15x), otherwise rather generous.
In direct comparison with the top Nikon 18x70 IF WP WF on heavy tripod, significantly fewer details but wider field of view, a subjective one track less contrast
In direct comparison with Fujinon 15x70 FMT-SX (without a tripod but with support) much wider field of view of the Canon, grandiose in both cases, figures are also differences in the subjective realm.
In all cases, in daylight, even under difficult circumstances (100% cloud cover, rain) excellent, very bright, high-contrast imaging at the highest level.
Light, average vignetting under the binoculars the top and top class.
The purple-compensation of lenses reflect very little light, you have to be no expert to suspect that here very high light transmission values are achieved.
OPTICS-TUNING
The optical performance can be affected by the fitting of filters to the 58mm thread of the lenses.
I have tried HAMA SKY 1A, HOYA HD UV, HOYA Pol circular HD. To protect the lens I ordered ZETA PROTECTOR HD and HOYA PROTECTOR HD. These filters are also used as UV filters, have a good temper, Zero reflection and a nano-coating. Of this I expect an optimal light absorption and may improve the brightness at night.
On the filter but also on the thread of the entry lens, you can install Snap-on Lens caps (lens cap with retainer springs) Canon (designation E-58). They fit perfectly and maintain and cost around 6 Euro at Amazon (Model Number: 2726A001AA).
Of course you can also yellow and contrast filter screws on the binoculars and thus achieve flexibility, which is quite unique.
Currently I'm looking for swiveling closures as they are mounted on telescopic tube.
DAWN PROPERTIES
50 mm is the lowest threshold for a twilight binoculars. Here collect binoculars with 56, 63 and 70 mm lenses oodles more photons, a 50 mm binoculars, even with the best compensation, never make amends. It is to organize in practice hardly possible objective comparisons because the time this would be immense and the conditions are changing by the minute.
Theoritisch would be the 15x50 IS the darkness not the non plus ultra.
However, the stabilization funktionniert so well that the fumbling at the Fokusierwalze in the dark about a somehow meaningful figure to get hold largely eliminated.
Apart from the quality of the glass and the compensation seems to be very high. This makes the binoculars in practice an entire class is better than in theory.
As a result, I can at night just seen the pan structure of a roof still in 100m distance where the eye looks absolutely nothing.
Personally, I would for such situations subjectively rather my Zeiss Victory 8x56 or 15x80 Steiner prefer, but that also depends on the situation (support possibility, fitness ...) and everyone must decide for themselves. A general recommendation does not exist for this purpose. In any case one is already really served really well with this binocular.
CONCLUSION
The Canon 15x50 IS has a very good appearance, also considering binoculars top class.
Sensational, it is only when the stabilizer is turned on, approximately 80-90% of the movement disorders are neutralized and it's really a great thing, really startling when one experiences it for the first time. This binoculars is a class of its own and a powerful tool!
So much sharpness without a tripod there's nowhere (except perhaps of other Stabi-FG as the 10x42 L IS WP).
Due to the bulky design, the weight and unhappy constructed eyecups arise over classic Porro binoculars more or less small disadvantages which make the handling a bit unnecessary and restrict use. The overall enjoyment of the sensational image stabilization and the mighty power is in effect, with some getting touched only on the edge of it.
So the binoculars speaks to The ones who know less, not a good shooter or motorized Topfit not have, but even experienced observers like me will appreciate the amazing properties of stabilization.
A pair of binoculars for all cases is not 15x50 IS course.
For the collector but no way around it. A must have!
