Before purchasing these binoculars I tried out several high end (>500pounds sterling)models and the sharpness and contrast of the image compared very favourably.
I have an keen interest in astronomy (although I have a Newtonian telescope for fainter objects and higher magnifications)but also use my binoculars for birdwatching and go on the sea in my boat.
If you have never tried image stabilisation binoculars I highly recommend that you do.
If you are on the sea it is invaluable when being moved around by waves and allows another level of detail to be revealed.
In birdwatching I use the Canon 10x30's to watch the garden birds who come to my birdtable. They very usefully focus to about 15 feet or so and reveal beautiful detail in the plumage of small birds at this close range, most binolulars minimum focus distance ia around 30 feet.
In the field they feel lightweight and work very well, even in low light levels of dusk and dawn the multicoatings on eyepiece and objectives along with the high qulaity prisms used transmit light extremely well. I also have a pair of Chinon 10X50 multicoated binoculars and despite the larger objective the Canon 10x30's seem to yield a brighter image, quite remarkable.
They have rubberised coating on the body which makes them comfortable to hold on frosty nights without gloves and they come with rubber eyecups if you are a spectacle wearer. The case that comes with them is bit flimsy for protection and the button that activates the image stabilisation has to be held down all the time instead of on/off settings. I also tried the Canon 18x50 IS binoculars and while they were excellent and remarkable to hand hold them at x18 and get a rock steady image they are considerbly more expensive, bigger and heavier than this model.Allround value for more at around 300 pounds sterling and another level of detail is revealed in anything viewed due to the rock steady image.Highly recommended. [email protected]