How are you integrating Image stabilized binoculars into your system?

[thegoosano]

The Zeiss 20 x 60S are still available to purchase, just exceptionally and stupidly expensive. The Kowa 20x in the 660s is a better view

$10k holy crap


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[Fireflyfishing]

I’m not. The end.

 

[Ajsomp]

Is it asking too much to have alpha glass, IS, and RF in a single bino?

I have been wanting to add a pair into my game. RF Binos with ballistic solution shorten the kill chain significantly. But image through RF binos is always worse than the counter part size without the RF. I’d rather sit and glass with binos than a spotter, and if I’m sitting with a tripod I don’t see a need for IS.

I feel like the IS would be great on my chest, but then if I see something I either have to pull out a hand held rangefinder, or my RF binos. Maybe I could go back to IS binos and a revic rangefinder, but I feel like I’m going backwards in my set up.

 

[Cervid]

had the 16x42 Sig binos, but I sold them because I couldn’t figure out how to incorporate them into my system.

I did go on a weeklong western spot and stalk style hunt with them before giving up on them though. I also use the Maven B2 in 9x and a small, lower end Leica 10x rangefinder. My thought before the trip was that the Sigs were replacing a set of ~15x normal binos I might have gotten. But the optical quality is so bad that I found myself finding objects with the 16x Sigs and then switching to the 9x Mavens to figure out what they were. I do love the ease of use, handholding, etc for quick looks, but this all just ends up being a gimmick if the 9x Mavens work better than the 16x Sigs for resolving what you’re looking at. So they aren’t really a replacement for higher powered binos. And they also aren’t really a replacement for 8-10x powered binos because the FOV is so narrow and the optical quality is mediocre even compared with not quite alpha glass. (Haven’t looked through the 10x Sigs, but while their FOV is better than the 16x it’s still not as good as most 8-10x binos and I’m assuming this version shared the optical quality issues of the higher magnification versions.)

I would concede that there are maybe more specialized use cases - like glassing from a boat/car in motion (in which case you’d want the 10x probably). Also, I found they were great for shotspotting/seeing bullet trace while handholding. I don’t spend a ton of time doing either though.

There was an earlier comment about the apparent optical quality/focus issues as being more related to the image stabilization technology rather than the glass quality. I don’t think this is the case because if you mount the Sigs on a tripod and turn off image stabilization the image is not going to improve and will still be showing what in my view is an unacceptably low optical quality.

 

[swavescatter]

had the 16x42 Sig binos, but I sold them because I couldn’t figure out how to incorporate them into my system.

I did go on a weeklong western spot and stalk style hunt with them before giving up on them though. I also use the Maven B2 in 9x and a small, lower end Leica 10x rangefinder. My thought before the trip was that the Sigs were replacing a set of ~15x normal binos I might have gotten. But the optical quality is so bad that I found myself finding objects with the 16x Sigs and then switching to the 9x Mavens to figure out what they were. I do love the ease of use, handholding, etc for quick looks, but this all just ends up being a gimmick if the 9x Mavens work better than the 16x Sigs for resolving what you’re looking at. So they aren’t really a replacement for higher powered binos. And they also aren’t really a replacement for 8-10x powered binos because the FOV is so narrow and the optical quality is mediocre even compared with not quite alpha glass. (Haven’t looked through the 10x Sigs, but while their FOV is better than the 16x it’s still not as good as most 8-10x binos and I’m assuming this version shared the optical quality issues of the higher magnification versions.)

I would concede that there are maybe more specialized use cases - like glassing from a boat/car in motion (in which case you’d want the 10x probably). Also, I found they were great for shotspotting/seeing bullet trace while handholding. I don’t spend a ton of time doing either though.

There was an earlier comment about the apparent optical quality/focus issues as being more related to the image stabilization technology rather than the glass quality. I don’t think this is the case because if you mount the Sigs on a tripod and turn off image stabilization the image is not going to improve and will still be showing what in my view is an unacceptably low optical quality.

I wonder if you just got a bad pair of the 16’s?

I made a huge stink about the new Sig Pro stabilized binos because the clarity was awful in two out of the three pairs I bought.

Maybe I got a good pair of Gen 2 16’s because I gain nothing (center of image - edge clarity sucks) by switching to better binos except light transmission.

I think the Sig QC standards are just a mile wide and you may get a trash pair or solid ones. I still recommend buying from a place with a good return policy since Sig told me to go pound sand.

 

[Bowhunter1740]

Building an optics kit depends so much on species and weapon type. For archery elk and mule deer hunting the IS bino’s can be amazing when trying to finish a stalk. To pick out an ear or antler through the timber or brush while handholding with a single hand is amazing. The 10x30’s are probably the sweet spot for this, but the 16x42’s I have used were a poor use case.

The lowlight performance and FOV while glassing in my experience limits their use. As many stated a 10x30 for archery elk, early/late archery deer or quick chest bino may great. Most elk hunts I have been on are in timber so a spotter and tripod can be skipped with just a set of IS bino’s.

For mule deer a set of IS chest, 12-15 bino’s in the pack, tripod, and 65mm spotter seem to be a perfect mountain balance. For a rifle deer hunt I might skip the IS to focus on thorough glassing with better clarity/low light performance.

 

[Andyram_18]

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.

I think your comment just solidified it for me. 16x magnification with poor glass could be fixed by 8 power GOOD glass.

 

[Eastonsgrandpa]

I think your comment just solidified it for me. 16x magnification with poor glass could be fixed by 8 power GOOD glass.

I wouldn’t call the Zulu6 glass “poor” by any means. It’s not Swarovski, but very little stack up. It’s noticeably lesser, but when that IS is flipped on, it makes them quite nice to look through.

Edge to edge is where they fall off, but that’s never been my deciding factor. They aren’t unusable at the edges, just a bit fuzzy. Still good enough to see what’s there and nobody looks at the target on the edges. When you notice something, you always move the center to it.

I think if folks see that they shouldn’t be compared to alpha glass, and then compare them with IS turned on, it’s remarkable how more usable they are compared to the absolute best when hand holding.

 

[Andyram_18]

I came looking for this exact discussion. Thank you to everyone who shared experience.
Current setup:
NL 10s
ATS 65mm spotter
The use would be archery/rifle mule deer. I’m looking at 16’s IS BINOS, due to the magnification. I like the idea of walking all day and pounding the ridges, checking every nook and cranny. The reality is: the work is often done early and late in the day, and moving too much can be detrimental To finding that critter.
Here’s where they seem to fit:

1. Truck/sxs binos
2. Shed hunting. Lots more hiking, less stopping, can leave the spotter and tripod, and 16s make sense for the distances I’m searching.
3. Go all in and Make them your only pair of binos. Gotta Sacrifice low light performance, chromatic aberration, resolution, and FOV
4. Backpack archery elk hunting. No tripod, no spotter. One optic, just need to verify it’s a 6 point across canyon.

Takeaways:
-If I have to work this hard to find a way to fit it into my kit, then it probably doesn’t fit.

-They aren’t right for a 3 optic system. It doesn’t seem to make sense to lug 2 EA binos on your chest/hip just to look at the same hillside with both.

-Time to start researching good quality glass in an 8x.

 

[Cervid]

I wouldn’t call the Zulu6 glass “poor” by any means. It’s not Swarovski, but very little stack up. It’s noticeably lesser, but when that IS is flipped on, it makes them quite nice to look through.

Edge to edge is where they fall off, but that’s never been my deciding factor. They aren’t unusable at the edges, just a bit fuzzy. Still good enough to see what’s there and nobody looks at the target on the edges. When you notice something, you always move the center to it.

I think if folks see that they shouldn’t be compared to alpha glass, and then compare them with IS turned on, it’s remarkable how more usable they are compared to the absolute best when hand holding.

The Sig zulu glass doesn’t compare well with mid tier glass either.

Not a hater though, if you don’t need very good resolution and absolutely can’t or don’t want to use a tripod, or are on some sort of moving vehicle, they might work for you. One example - if you’re spotting long distance shots for others, you probably don’t need a ton of resolution to see steel targets but being able to handhold and see the bullet trace is really great (and not monkeying around with a tripod means you can be ready to watch faster).

That being said, I got rid of mine because that’s not a very important use case for me and I couldn’t figure out what role they’d play in my system because I could see more detail with my 9x Maven B2s than I could with my 16x Zulus.

 

[TitsMcGee]

Just thought I'd give an update. I ended up buying the 12x Zulu 6's. My only pair of binoculars before this were Vortex 10x42's. I also have the Vortex 4000 series rangefinder. After having looked through the zulu6 I immediately posted my Vortex 10x42's for sale.

Frankly, with how well these work I'm never buying another pair of binoculars that doesn't have the image stabilization technology. It's that good. Having ballistic rangefinding in a pair of binos would be nice, and in some cases could certainly save some time. But I'll deal with whatever tradeoffs they have. Any optical downfalls they have, which don't matter much to me because I've never looked through Alpha glass, aren't even close to being enough of a tradeoff for losing the IS tech.

In my opinion, image stabilization is the absolute future of optics. Justifying purchasing glass that doesn't have it would be a VERY hard sell for me, if not impossible. I'll use these with my tripod utilizing the Tricer z6 adapter, and handheld vortex rangefinder at an attempt of a 2 optic solution.

 

[CMcCormick1805]

Looks like some guys beat me to it but I eliminated a spotter and tripod from my Archery kit. I think I could do the same on an elk only hunt. I went all in and decided to run the Zulu 6 12x42 my only binos. That doesn’t mean I don’t have my trusty Maven 12x50s as a back up if something were to go wrong.

I can say I did get a bit motion sick initially but thankfully I could spend time during work glassing. I just would look though the binos in short sessions and slowly increased my time behind the glass over the span of a week and was over the motion sick feeling.

I’ll never say the glass quality is the greatest or the low light performance but find they are serviceable on early morning just prior to first light.

Needless to say I’ll be using some sort of image stabilized binos for a very long time. As glass gets better I can see my self upgrading in the future.

 

[Rizzy]

For me part of the challenge with these is abandoning the traditional spot and stock mindset and tactics. I think my use for these IS binos are going to be more for hunting, and less for scouting.

It would be nice to have IS binos in variable magnification, maybe 8-20 or so. I could see a better use case for a 1 optic system with that. I know there are IS spotters, but only looking through one eyes till sucks...
I want to be able to timber pound and also scan across the canyon with one optic.

 

[Andyram_18]

@Rizzy, that’s a good point. I’d rather see an IS bino in variable mag. Then it makes sense. we’re headed in that general direction. I mean they are making spotters that are stabilized, and they are tiny. At some point in the future maybe they’ll combine the tiny spotter nature and put two together.

Maybe Adam’s adapters with the new Swaro stabilized?

I’m not knocking them entirely either/nor am I a hater.
I’ve heard Swarovski is working on them, but they are years out due to the ergonomics. They don’t see a way around the battery boxes and making them look like some sort of spaceship. But when they get them figured out, you know they will do it right and who knows what kind of features they may have.