How are you integrating Image stabilized binoculars into your system?

[guitarpreston]

First point is absolutely right, the two are not really analogous except in the fact that optical stabilization technology has only ever been driven by camera lenses and observation optics stabilization are simply derivative from that pursuit.

I would skip the Canons and try the Fuji TS-L 1640 if you can get hands on them. They're made in Japan with ED glass and Fuji's EBC multicoating and they're like 31 oz with batteries.

What canon binos did you have?

 

[thegoosano]

Yeah I keep them in the lid of my Exo right now. What Marsupial bag are you using? The actual bino pouch? Just seeing how to attach it via molle with the clips and all that.

I’d recommend a kifaru belt pouch or something similar with mole webbing to easily attach to the belt. I have one of their ultralight belt pouches for my NL 14s with some cut up thermarest foam pad for cushion attached to the inside. Weighs like 4oz


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[alexnelon]

What canon binos did you have?

15x50 IS

 

[guitarpreston]

15x50 IS

Ah ok. I have been kicking around the idea of their 10x42s vs sig 12s because the fov is nearly double and it’s their better glass.

 

[alexnelon]

Ah ok. I have been kicking around the idea of their 10x42s vs sig 12s because the fov is nearly double and it’s their better glass.

IMO, the Sigs are the worst IS binos available. They're dark, narrow, focus poorly, and eat batteries like crazy.

The Canons, Fujis, even Kite, Sirius, Opticron, Cateye are all better. They just don't market to hunters and buy influencers so they're not as popular in these circles.

 

[Alpine4x4]

I’d recommend a kifaru belt pouch or something similar with mole webbing to easily attach to the belt. I have one of their ultralight belt pouches for my NL 14s with some cut up thermarest foam pad for cushion attached to the inside. Weighs like 4oz


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah I was looking at the Marsupial Padded Belt Pouch. I'll look at the Kifaru one too.

Padded Belt Pouch

Add padded storage to your Marsupial Gear Modular Belt System, Rifle Case, Bow Case, Shotgun Case or any 3rd party MOLLE system. Our Padded Belt Pouch is designed to be low profile with ample storage. The pouch has a main compartment with webbing loops in the bottom corners to tether important...

www.marsupialgear.com

 

[SikaSeeker]

Anyone use the Zeiss 20 x 60S?

Pretty expensive but cool kit. Mechanically stabilised, optics a bit dated compared to modern zeiss. [Slight yellow tinge, curved field]

Theres a German prince who uses them [Franz Albrecht]

 

[Bugger]

Anyone use the Zeiss 20 x 60S?

Pretty expensive but cool kit. Mechanically stabilised, optics a bit dated compared to modern zeiss. [Slight yellow tinge, curved field]

Theres a German prince who uses them [Franz Albrecht]

I watched his roebuck series, super interesting hunting and his gun rack is insane. Looks like he switched over to some smaller stabilized after the first few episodes lugging those around. The pouch to carry those things looked like a damn baby carrier

 

[SikaSeeker]

Yeah I was wondering what make the case was. They are excellent for my needs, that doesn't include boar hunting.

Oh to have hereditary titles and massive wealth! Seems to have a great rep amongst people who know their hunting

 

[alexnelon]

Anyone use the Zeiss 20 x 60S?

Pretty expensive but cool kit. Mechanically stabilised, optics a bit dated compared to modern zeiss. [Slight yellow tinge, curved field]

Theres a German prince who uses them [Franz Albrecht]

I held a pair for a few seconds before my arms gave out.

What's funny to me though is they came out before I was born and were manufactured under the same main patent as the "new" "state of the art" Sig binos.

 

[nphunter]

I ended up picking up a set of 20X Zulu's for work. I took them on a few hunts this fall, most recently Idaho late deer. IMO the stabilization doesn't even come close to making up for the poor glass. We were watching a group of bulls at maybe a mile in late Oct. we couldn't tell if he was a 5 or six point at that range, only a branch bull. I pulled out the NL14's and tripod to glass and could see exactly what the bull was at that distance even though they had 6X less zoom.

I found the same on my Idaho deer hunt, unless I was on my motorcycle or driving the pickup and wanted to take a quick look the sigs didn't get used. I still very much prefer my NL8's and 14's. The stabilization is need and I may eventually pick up something else like the Swaro spotter, but for now, the NL's are staying and the Zulu's will stay on the dash of my work pickup. I do think they are cool binos; however, the poor FOV and poor-quality glass just don't cut it for me. Even in the wind I was able to sit down and glass with the 14's and tripod and see so much more than with the Zulu, for sitting and glassing they are not even comparable.

I did like the ability to cut weight on short hikes or riding the motorcycle, I still kept my NL8's on my chest and tossed the Zulu's in the lid of my pack. It was nice to be able to not carry the tripod and still be able to take a little closer look with the Zulu's.

There were many times on the trip when I had to grab either the spotter or 14's to tell if a buck was a shooter or not after looking at them with the Zulu's, if I was just after any deer they would have been fine.

IMO a person is struggling glassing while walking they probably don’t have the right bino in the first place. Unless a person is packing a tripod or has a good method to stabilize their bino they should be running 8’s. I couldn’t believe how much more i could see and pickup with the 8’s vs 10’s on my chest.

The IS spotter swaro just came out with might be the ticket. The tech is cool but the glass makes them almost unbearable for me if sitting and glassing. They absolutely don’t compare to even a cheap spotter, like mentioned above, i can identify way more stuff due to the clarity of a 14 power bino over a 20 power sig.

 

[elsb0048]

I’d recommend a kifaru belt pouch or something similar with mole webbing to easily attach to the belt. I have one of their ultralight belt pouches for my NL 14s with some cut up thermarest foam pad for cushion attached to the inside. Weighs like 4oz


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I wonder if it'd be worth running them on a peak designs capture plate like a camera on the hip belt. Seems like those belt pouches might be a little fiddly to pop them in and out regularly

 

[Alpine4x4]

I wonder if it'd be worth running them on a peak designs capture plate like a camera on the hip belt. Seems like those belt pouches might be a little fiddly to pop them in and out regularly

Only issue with that is then your lenses are exposed to the elements and terrain all the time. Not to mention having to add some sort of mount to the binos to attach the plate. I have a capture plate I could try it with, just not sure it would be any better than a pouch.

Has anyone got the Marsupial pouch and will a set of binos like the sig 16x fit in it? I may just have to buy and try.

 

[Kurts86]

Just a fair warning PSA... I got to use/try a pair during first season. Although awesome they made me motion sick after about 20 seconds of use. Tried multiple times on multiple days. I may be the only one that this will ever happen to but ya might wanna look through some before you drop major coin to find out you can't use em either.

I noticed this using them at Scheels and I was wondering if this was just me.

I’m not taking Dramamine on my hunting vacation to use these, I already have to do that for my wife’s hunting trip payback vacations to Disney.

 

[elsb0048]

Only issue with that is then your lenses are exposed to the elements and terrain all the time. Not to mention having to add some sort of mount to the binos to attach the plate. I have a capture plate I could try it with, just not sure it would be any better than a pouch.

Has anyone got the Marsupial pouch and will a set of binos like the sig 16x fit in it? I may just have to buy and try.

I suppose I had assumed the mount for capture plate would be the same as the mount for tripod.
As far as lenses I had figured they probably come with front and rear lens protectors, at least most other pairs of binos I've owned have done so.
Definitely a risk of bouncing them off of stuff though or dragging in the dirt if you sat down with them on there.

I could see having the image stabilizers bounce back and forth between pack top pocket and capture clip on hip belt depending on the weather and terrain in a situation where you run two pairs of binos. At least that's what I typically do with a mirrorless camera when I bring one on a hunt.

 

[cwitt]

Only issue with that is then your lenses are exposed to the elements and terrain all the time. Not to mention having to add some sort of mount to the binos to attach the plate. I have a capture plate I could try it with, just not sure it would be any better than a pouch.

Has anyone got the Marsupial pouch and will a set of binos like the sig 16x fit in it? I may just have to buy and try.

I suppose I had assumed the mount for capture plate would be the same as the mount for tripod.
As far as lenses I had figured they probably come with front and rear lens protectors, at least most other pairs of binos I've owned have done so.
Definitely a risk of bouncing them off of stuff though or dragging in the dirt if you sat down with them on there.

I could see having the image stabilizers bounce back and forth between pack top pocket and capture clip on hip belt depending on the weather and terrain in a situation where you run two pairs of binos. At least that's what I typically do with a mirrorless camera when I bring one on a hunt.

I keep my 16x42 in a medium Marsupial harness on my chest and my 14s in a Marsupial BTX/15s case in the lid of my K4. Works fantastic.

 

[Alpine4x4]

I suppose I had assumed the mount for capture plate would be the same as the mount for tripod.
As far as lenses I had figured they probably come with front and rear lens protectors, at least most other pairs of binos I've owned have done so.
Definitely a risk of bouncing them off of stuff though or dragging in the dirt if you sat down with them on there.

I could see having the image stabilizers bounce back and forth between pack top pocket and capture clip on hip belt depending on the weather and terrain in a situation where you run two pairs of binos. At least that's what I typically do with a mirrorless camera when I bring one on a hunt.

The sig doesnt have a tripod mount from the factory so you'd have to add one. I dont see a need for general use as if I'm using a tripod my swaros are on it. Tripod kinda negates the usefulness of the sigs. They dont come with any lens covers, just a velcro pouch.

 

[Alpine4x4]

I keep my 16x42 in a medium Marsupial harness on my chest and my 14s in a Marsupial BTX/15s case in the lid of my K4. Works fantastic.

I keep my 16s in a vortex chest pack with no straps in the lid of my k4. Wanting to get them more accesible without having to fiddle with my pack.

 

[elsb0048]

The sig doesnt have a tripod mount from the factory so you'd have to add one. I dont see a need for general use as if I'm using a tripod my swaros are on it. Tripod kinda negates the usefulness of the sigs. They dont come with any lens covers, just a velcro pouch.

I put the 16 zulus in a marsupial rig on my hip belt, and still run the 8x32 RFs in the chest. They really do shine quick scanning little openings/ridgelines/meadows while walking through new country and scouting new areas from the vehicle and particularly during the crepuscular periods when animals are on their feet. Glass quality isnt there to dig into the shadow realm for mid day bedded bucks but for checking off big swaths of antelope and elk country they are excellent.

Fair enough. I had assumed when paired with an 8x rangefinding bino that you may still run the sigs off a tripod a little bit and that while glassing on the move you may use the sigs and the 8x's both with some regularity.

But I also have a little bit of a pre-disposition against pouches for things I use a lot

 

[thegoosano]

I wonder if it'd be worth running them on a peak designs capture plate like a camera on the hip belt. Seems like those belt pouches might be a little fiddly to pop them in and out regularly

The thermarest foam makes it have a rigid structure. Very easy to slide in and out. I dont attach it to my hip belt, I keep them in my lid or main bag and pull them out when the tripod comes out. But I think they would definitely work well on the hip if you wanted that


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk