Fujifilm Fujinon Techno-Stabiscope Binoculars TS12x28

Perfect compact stabilised binoculars – I was looking for a replacement for my 15 year old Canon 10X30 IS binoculars. They had been around the world & have served me very well, especially in the wildlife parks of Africa. Unfortunately, the rubber body was deteriorating & getting sticky. I scoured the internet & came across a number of stabilised binoculars from Canon, Nikon, Fujinon etc. The prices were scary! I had almost given up when I saw that Digital Camera Warehouse had a special on the Fujinon TS1228, stabilised binoculars. These had an Australian RRP of $1099 but the special price was $671 with a further cash back of $100 from Fujinon! I simply couldn't resist.

Comparing the Fujinon against the old Canon showed the advances that have benefitted the newer binoculars. The image stabilisation is much better on the new binoculars, with a much more stable image (despite the higher magnification of the Fujinon's 12X vs 10X for the Canon). Further helping this is the fact that you have to press & hold a 'stabilisation' button down on the top of the Canon binoculars to activate the stabilisation, where the Fujinon has a switch which you only have to rotate on or off. If you forget to switch it off, it will automatically shut off the stabilisation after 10 minutes of inactivity. Having to constantly hold the button down on the Canon made it hard to hold the binoculars steady, which further reduced the effectiveness of the stabilisation. The most obvious advantage of the Fujinon over the Canon is the clarity & contrast. I live on the 23rd floor of an apartment building, overlooking a busy waterway & I can clearly read the writing on some boat hulls with the Fujinons, where the Canon is not clear enough to read. Colour is also more vibrant on the Fujinon, probably due to newer, superior lens coatings.

The light weight & compact size make the Fujinon TS1228 binoculars ideal for carrying on holidays or when out walking in daylight. The relatively small lens diameter means that they don't gather as much light as larger lensed binoculars, though you sacrifice size, weight & cost to get the better low light performance.

I would thoroughly recommend the Fujinon TS1228 binoculars, for travel & general outdoor walking activities.