Carver Owners Forum

A good set of binoculars on board is a must IMHO. I have had a set of 18 x 50 stabilized Canon binos on board for about a decade. https://www.canon.ca/en/product?name=18 ... Binoculars They are the reference stabilized units which all want to surpass. They are rather big and heavy but they do work well. Why stabilized? A boat moves way too much and if you want any decent magnification, non stabilized will be rather useless on most occasions especially while under way.

New kid on the block, Kite Optics. High quality, made in Japan. Oddly enough not available in the USA and very limited suppliers in Canada. Quite prevalent in the rest of the world though. Got my set a few weeks ago and oh my, these are the ones Canon needs to beat now. Much smaller lighter and the stabilization is amazing. Fully waterproof, 30 year warranty however electronics are only 2 years. Can be had for $1565 CDN which is a steal as I paid $2,000 US for the Canons about 10 years ago although prices have come down on these as they age.

https://www.kiteoptics.com/en/nature/pr ... ilized-42/

This is where I got mine. https://khanscope.com/collections/kite- ... s-kost1642

Yeah I've got some Canon binos with image stabilization and there great, won't go back. I'm getting older too which isn't helping did you just want a early Christmas present or a smaller pair or where you having issues with your canons?.

The Canons work like they did day 1 however after about 10 years the rubber outside finish has started to deteriorate. Not an issue for usability though. My wife finds them heavy and bulky which they are and the new Kite solved all those issues + some. My daughter will appreciate the Canons for bird watching at home.

My experience with canon is so good.

I also thought back and forth about whether I should buy the big version 18 x 50 but decided on the 2421U50 12 x 36 IS III model. Once because it was well 400€ cheaper comma, the second reason the weight and volume are about half. If you take a closer look at the magnification on the website of Canon, then you notice that the magnification between 12 and 18 times is no longer so huge.

I used the glass more often to watch planes or to look around in Denmark in peace on the beach. There you can see what a significant added value stability means. If you look with the binoculars in the distance, it wobbles uncannily and you don't concentrate, but if you press on the stabilization with these binoculars it does where “flupp,,” and the picture is so to speak, and you can look around in peace... it's just indescribable that you have to have experienced. Only through the stabilization, you can look at yourself in a distant distance in peace, and even license plates from about 1 km away with moving cars recognize it, it is simply incredible.