Canon 12x36 IS III Binoculars with Image Stabilization Technology

William T. Pope: Given the low weight, low price and relatively smaller objective, the quality of these IS binoculars is quite good. They are much easier to handle than the much more expensive and HEAVY10x42 L IS binoculars that Canon also sells. However, I ended up returning them for 3 reasons (listed in order of importance to me):

1. The only way to keep the IS activated is to continue to press the “on” button, which means you also can’t focus at the same time;
2. The focus ring is very small and is not in a logical place for my hands.
3. These binoculars are not waterproof.

Reasons 1 and 3 would have been solved by purchasing the expensive Canon 10x12 L IS binoculars, but they are almost a pound heavier plus the focus ring is also hard to find. Instead, I found these great 12x42 IS binoculars made by KITE Optics, a Belgian company that I was not familiar with until recently. They are just a bit heavier than the Canon 12x36’s but with the brightness of the Canon 10x42’s, great stabilization, excellent image quality, and comfortable to handle with a long focus ring that is easy to find. They also claim a much longer battery life than the Canons and...

United States on Dec 10, 2023

Amazon Customer: J'ai testé mes jumelles et je suis satisfait de la stabilité de l'image et de sa clarté. La jumelle est plus noir que vert et ne sera pas réfléchissant réduisant la détection. Le fini est de qualité mais pour m'assurer de la dureté du revêtement je vais appliquer une fois par année du protecteur 303. Le sac inclus est pas trop convaincant et ne protège pas beaucoup contre les impacts d'un voyage internationale. J'espère pouvoir utiliser cette jumelle pour de nombreuse année

Canada on Dec 07, 2023

Professor Davenport: I own the 12X36's which are excellent but wanted to try the 18x50's. I'm very impressed! They are a little heavier but the image improvement is very obvious, even to my 85 year old friend. The only thing to know, and I knew this from reviews, is that the image stabilization is slower to stabilize than the IS III's. By about, I don't know, maybe three seconds slower. But it still stabilizes with a crystal clear image. I'm very happy with mine and will be keeping both pair, though I can't imagine grabbing the 12x over the 18x. I have compared these to the most expensive Leicas I have and I would grab either of these over the Leicas without hesitation, and I'm talking about Leicas that cost more than both of these combined. Time to watch the whales!

United States on Dec 06, 2023

W. Gutman: Canon has a wide variety of stabilized binoculars. I chose the 12 x 36 for the light weight, relatively high magnification, the price . Image quality and brightness are excellent, but pushing the button to activate stabilization is pure magic. I’ve had high quality “regular” binoculars for many years and I cannot imagine ever buying an unstabilized model again.

United States on Nov 30, 2023

dror: The binos are very useful due to the image stabilization and their light weight. They do have some CA on high contrast subjects, if you get these only for birding consider the heavier and expensive 10x42 which have ed lenses. For general use and astronomy they are a win.

United States on Nov 13, 2023

Jopinana: Kind of make non image-stabilized binoculars obsolete! Compared to my Celestron Ultima 8x32 & my Carton Adlerblick 7x50 binoculars, these allow me to see more detail, (and more stars at night) than with the others, unless I mount the others onto a tripod, which isn't very convenient. Keepers!

Canada on Jul 27, 2023

Paul Kalmykow: I've used these 12x36 iii IS binos and found them to be great optically and the Image Stabilization works as advertised -they are real magic to these 60 year old shaky hands. I've mostly used for astronomy (although plan to take them on cruises and other holidays). Easy to use and light weight

Stars look pinpoint across the FOV, I'm able to split fairly close doubles easily, and the image stability really helps see a whole bunch more stuff, including those white ghostly planetaries. The moon looks very sharp, with good definition of surface features throughout all the phases.

However, what I like best about them is they are grab and go. If the sky clears, there is not need for fussy tripods, just plop down on a lounger and look up, and commune with the heavens.

Canada on Oct 23, 2019

David Lindbergh: Review of: Canon 10x30 Image Stabilization II Binoculars (but see the end for my comment on the 12x36 IS III model).

(I say that because somehow reviews show up on the wrong product sometimes.)

TLDR: If you want daytime-use handheld binoculars, and are willing to spend this much, STOP READING NOW AND JUST BUY THESE. There's nothing better - for that purpose - at any price anywhere. If you want to use them at night or on a tripod...read on.

I've owned at least 20 different pairs of binoculars.

And this is my 3rd pair of Canon stabilized binoculars. (I also had a pair of the Fujinon's - Canon is better and lighter.)

For GENERAL DAYTIME USE these are the best. Period. There are no better binoculars (for that purpose) on the market AT ANY PRICE. You can pay more, but you won't get better ones.

When buying binoculars, optical quality is important, but even more important is SHAKE. If you can't keep your hands steady, you can't see much no matter how good the optics!

If you've never tried stabilized binoculars and aren't sure if the improvement is worth paying for - it is. It's not a close thing - it's night and day. If...

United States on Jul 22, 2019

Quinn Smith: Excellent physically small, portable pair of binoculars. A perfect compromise for both daytime hiking and nighttime astronomy.
Very good Image quality and good image stabilization. At 12x magnification the IS is a necessity and it works well. Also even with only 36mm objective the image is bright and clear.
Couple of negative comments.
It would be better if one didn’t have to hold the IS button down to operate IS. Not difficult but annoying.
After spending so much on an otherwise excellent product - why are there no objective lens covers for the binoculars? Come on Canon you can do better than that. Now I have to search for covers (2.25” by the way).

Canada on Apr 16, 2019

Amazon Customer: These binoculars are awesome! The clarity and brightness are superb and the image stabilizing takes viewing to a new level. We enjoy our hikes along the coast and can now see everything much more clearly than we could with our old binoculars. An unexpected bonus is the Canon 10x30 IS 11 binoculars work equally as well in the night sky. We recently enjoyed seeing the Persied meteor showers and have been able to see the moon and stars like never before. We are thoroughly enjoying them and have had a lot of use of them in the short time we have had them. We would highly recommend them to others.

Canada on Aug 16, 2016