New Fujinon 12x28 IS binocular

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I love my 14x40. Have a 7x50 non stabilized as Well. Both great and fit for purpose.
 
Follow-up, some initial impressions...

I normally use Steiner Commander XP 7x50, weight 42 oz, field of view 438', eye relief 18mm, constant focus.

Wifey normally uses Steiner Navigator Pro 7x30, weight 18 oz, FOV 370', eye relief 17mm, constant focus.

The Funijon Techno-Stabi 12x28 COMPACT [my emphasis] IS binocular, weight 15 oz, FOV 240', eye relief 17.5, center focus.

The Fuji unit arrived and seems slightly smaller in width, slightly longer in length than the Steiner 7x30s. I couldn't tell any difference in weight between the 7x30 and the Fuji. My impressions about FOV mirror the specs; best with the 7x50, smallest with the Fuji. My thought at first was that the latter was from a combination of magnification, smaller objective lenses, and eye relief... but after checking Steiner specs I see the Fuji eye relief is right about in the middle... although for me, eye relief on the 7x50 is noticeably better than anything else I've tried. In fact, we each wear eyeglasses, and ripping our own glasses off our face to use a binoc 20 or 30 or 200 times per day isn't gonna happen, so eye relief is one of the most important specs we check.

The center focus feature sucks. Not because of Fuji or implementation, but because I always think center focus sucks. Pain in the a$$$ to fiddle with the thing... I'll either get over it, or deal with it, or whatever, but I will never be convinced it doesn't suck.

I capitalized the word COMPACT partly because I hadn't seen that emphasized before... but it's right on the box. And these are certainly MUCH smaller and MUCH lighter than I was expecting. In a good way, I think, given wifey will likely be our primary user most of the time.

Our use cases are normally about identifying navigator aids (usually that's her) and sometimes identifying other boat names. The latter falls into two categories: while cruising (her) and while fishing (me).

Fishing isn't a major objective for us, but we do usually troll during the Chesapeake's "trophy rockfish" (striped bass) season, and when I need a boat name it's almost always about negotiating some kind of orderly crossing when we're both pulling planer boards with a bazillion lines out... and we're each with a virtual beam of 100-200' wide... and even though the charter boats must display a name somewhere forward, the combination of fancy fonts and bouncing/rolling boats (some distance away as we ideally plan ahead) doesn't make identification easy... so the 7x50 is only adequate sometimes.

The larger Fuji IS 14x40 is not only much more expensive (a minor factor) but also bulkier, heavier, and with shorter eye relief. I haven't had a chance to use the smaller Fuji compact yet -- just arrived yesterday -- but 'm hoping it's adequate. I might get a feel for that later this week...

-Chris
 
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Chris thanks for your detailed review
 
The center focus feature sucks.

Our use cases are normally about identifying navigator aids (usually that's her) and sometimes identifying other boat names. The latter falls into two categories: while cruising (her) and while fishing (me).

Fishing isn't a major objective for us, but we do usually troll during the Chesapeake's "trophy rockfish" (striped bass) season, and when I need a boat name it's almost always about negotiating some kind of orderly crossing when we're both pulling planer boards with a bazillion lines out... and we're each with a virtual beam of 100-200' wide... and even though the charter boats must display a name somewhere forward, the combination of fancy fonts and bouncing/rolling boats (some distance away as we ideally plan ahead) doesn't make identification easy... so the 7x50 is only adequate sometimes.


Some initial observations.

Center focus still sucks.

The field of view is tiny, compared to what I'm used to. Partly that's because the eye relief isn't perfect for eyeglass wearers; partly it's a consequence of magnification and lens sizes. One outcome is that it takes me longer to point the binoc at the target, and longer to get at least an impression of what I'm after. With the 7x50s, a quick glance in many cases is all that's necessary (or possible), whereas with the 12x28s some time passes before I can figure out what I'm seeing. (Did I mention that center focus sucks?) OTOH, for our purposes, usually the target object is eventually findable, and once found, the field of view almost becomes a non-issue.

(If I took my eyeglasses off to use this binoc, the field of view gets better; I'm not likely to do that, 99.9% of the time...)

Focus seems a bit less clear, to me, than with the Steiners. Not just the center focus part, but actual focus quality after I've yutzed around with the focus knob sufficiently. That might be a matter of light transmission (smaller lenses and higher magnification), versus actual lens quality. I'll have to keep evaluating this part, but my initial impression is that objects in the lenses just aren't as clear as with the 7x50s, though.

Magnification is marginal for my use case. I could sometimes identify boat names ON THE STERN and in larger type at up to a half-mile away. OTOH, if the typeface was some sort of fancy script, that goes south. Bow-displayed names are a crap shoot; if a standard/bold sans serif font, maybe, depending on the angle of letters to sheer and relative to my viewing angle. Fancy fonts, not too great. Usually better than the 7x50s, though. Can't say whether the 14x40s would be enough better to justify the extra cost, weight, and even dhoster eye relief.

Stabilization seemed adequate, and I could usually make out nav marker details easily enough because of that. I can't compare with the 14x40s and their +/- 5° of stabilization, but these seemed useful enough for our purposes.

Wifey hasn't used these yet, so her impressions won't happen until later...

-Chris
 
For what it’s worth I just got the Canon 12x36 IS IIIs and love them, very light, great image stability and easy focus. Used them more than my Steiner 7x50s last two trips.
Paid about 650 on amazon.
 
My wife bought me a pair of Canon 15x50 Image Stabilization All Weather Binoculars eighteen years ago. When we were approaching the Golden Gate Bridge from the north I could read the buoy numbers when the sailboat captain using 7X35’s could determine only the color of the buoy. They are a real asset to safely navigating unfamiliar waters.
 
For what it’s worth I just got the Canon 12x36 IS IIIs and love them, very light, great image stability and easy focus.

My wife bought me a pair of Canon 15x50 Image Stabilization All Weather Binoculars eighteen years ago.


Are those both giving +/- 1° of stabilization? Thought I saw that's what Canons are in the thread about binocs late last year sometime...

FWIW, these compact Fujis are +/- 3°, compared to their larger 14x40s which are +/- 5°. I haven't used either Canons or the larger Fujis to compare...

-Chris
 
Chris: can you share your real feelings about center focus.
 
Chris: can you share your real feelings about center focus.

Ya know, I was going to... but then I thought maybe most folks wouldn't be all that interested.

:)

Since you ask, though...

They suck.

:)

I don't know why they exist, actually, although I'd guess it's a cost thing.

-Chris
 
Wifey got her first dose of the 12x28s yesterday. Adjusting interpupillary distance is very awkward... aince it's not the actual barrels that move, but rather the eyepiece assembly. It's very difficult to be looking through them and trying to make that adjustment at the same time.

I noticed that too, earlier, but got it squared away eventually. Took her almost forever to get semi-comfortable... and in fact, I think she's still not completely there yet.

Once adjusted, they're hers.

-Chris
 
Wifey has pronounced these "pretty good" now that she's had some time to use them... once she was able to adjust the interpupillary distance to suit her... and once she got the hang of the focus system.

Neither of those are all that easy; the distance adjustment isn't in the barrels, so it's a bit awkward to hang on to the things and make that adjustment at the same time. And getting one eyepiece properly adjusted and then remembering to yutz with the center focus thing -- after 40 years of constant focus -- takes some getting used to.

Anyway, she says they're better than her 7x30 Steiners for identifying navigation aids. Consequently I can't use them much any more; changing her adjustments would be too much trouble.

That's not a bad outcome; she's better at positively identifying nav aids now, and at longer distances... and I don't have to fool around with a center focus thing (which still sucks).

-Chris
 
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