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Old 04-09-2012, 09:19   #16
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Re: Binocular vs Monocular

If your Playing Pirate, then a monocular is Great !! but for normal boating 7/50 binoculars are best ! it's nice to have all the new stuff on them, but we have been useing a pair of OLD german binocs for over 30 yrs, and theres nothing like them out there today for just seeing with clarity! these are Smits, from before the 2nd world war! LOL we have looked at all the new ones and can't find any as clear! but the Nicons were not to bad for the price. just our 2 cent's try some till ya find what ya like !!
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Old 04-09-2012, 15:14   #17
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Re: Binocular vs Monocular

Say GD...
I'm new to considering a good set of binoculars. Are your Vanguard Mariner binoculars "stabilized" and what exactly does that mean? Is that just the ability to focus each eye separately, or something else? I would appreciate learning more about this subject.
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Old 04-09-2012, 15:33   #18
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Re: Binocular vs Monocular

We had a KVH mono which failed. They refused to stand by their product. They offered to replace at higher than retail. We are very happy with our Fujinons (regular & stabil).
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Old 04-09-2012, 18:14   #19
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Re: Binocular vs Monocular

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Originally Posted by BozSail View Post
Say GD...
I'm new to considering a good set of binoculars. Are your Vanguard Mariner binoculars "stabilized" and what exactly does that mean? Is that just the ability to focus each eye separately, or something else? I would appreciate learning more about this subject.
The image you see in "stabilized" binoculars is modified so that it appears more uh...stable. There are a variety of techniques for doing this, but the end result is that, on a small pitching boat, you see a more stable image. Handy when you are trying to pick out a navigation aid in sloppy conditions.

Stablized binocs are generally more expensive and will typically be described as such in the product listing.

Some early units actually had small gyroscopes built into them to physically stabalize the binocs....and your hands along with it...that felt rather strange and was way expensive. Many newer stabilized binocs correct the image by optical and/or digital methods and are much less expensive.
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Old 04-09-2012, 18:39   #20
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Re: Binocular vs Monocular

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Originally Posted by BozSail View Post
Say GD...
I'm new to considering a good set of binoculars. Are your Vanguard Mariner binoculars "stabilized" and what exactly does that mean? Is that just the ability to focus each eye separately, or something else? I would appreciate learning more about this subject.
They are basically using a voice coil actuator (imagine a speaker, but instead of being designed to make sound by moving a big flat piece of cardboard, they are moving an optic very slightly but very quickly and preciesely) and some MEMS (micro electromechanical system, little tiny physical things that fit into chips, there are a lot of devices with them nowadays) accellerometers and gyroscopes to sense how the binoculars are shaking around in your hands. Basically, so long as the system can respond faster than you can jitter with your hands it can move around one of the lenses to re-direct the light path back into where it should be (the same spot in the eyepiece) for small motions. Since your hands are relatively slow it doesn't take too much bandwidth (hands 10Hz motion, compensating system can do 100Hz pretty easily, way more than that for other applications like machine vibration compensation) to correct it out, so long as you stay within a certain range that the voice coil can actuate over.

Vibration reduction lenses use the same setup, so long as you can hold the camera in low light at a target to a small enough cone of angles the system can compensate and let you take way longer exposures than if you just high the shutter without any compensation.

There might be digital versions (like a camcorder, where the binoculars have a sensor and a tiny screen in the eyepiece) that would use a different methodology to stabilize the image but I haven't seen these myself.
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Old 04-09-2012, 19:22   #21
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Re: Binocular vs Monocular

My apologies for the tardy response, BozSail, I completely missed the notification for your question. Did you make your choice already or do you still need some feedback?


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Say GD...
I'm new to considering a good set of binoculars. Are your Vanguard Mariner binoculars "stabilized" and what exactly does that mean? Is that just the ability to focus each eye separately, or something else? I would appreciate learning more about this subject.
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Old 05-09-2012, 07:17   #22
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Re: Binocular vs Monocular

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The difference is night and day between stabilized and not...
You mean the price difference? I've used both and really do not see stabilized binoculars being worth the extraordinary additional cost. Yeah, the picture you see looks a lot "prettier" with the stabilized binoculars, but I can see everything that I need to, plenty well enough, for a fraction of the cost with the non-stabilized type.
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Old 05-09-2012, 07:20   #23
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Re: Binocular vs Monocular

SayGudday...
I have not yet chosen a good set of binoculars. I'm still using a cheap set and am frustrated with the "bouncing" image that I get when the seas are the least bit choppy. Are your Vanguard binocs "stabilizing" and, if not, how well do they function in choppy seas? When I found the Vanguards on line, the specs made no mention of "stabilizing" image.
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Old 05-09-2012, 07:59   #24
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Re: Binocular vs Monocular

Is anyone familiar with Barska binoculars? I found this online:
Barska 7x50 WP Deep Sea Floating Binocular AB10798 B&H Photo
The specs say it has the same functions as the Mariner Vanguard, but it would be helpful if someone had actual experience with this brand. The price for this Barska model is $110, so it may be worth investigating, since the Mariner Vanguard sells for $257 on Amazon.
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Old 05-09-2012, 13:11   #25
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Re: Binocular vs Monocular

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Originally Posted by denverd0n View Post
You mean the price difference? I've used both and really do not see stabilized binoculars being worth the extraordinary additional cost. Yeah, the picture you see looks a lot "prettier" with the stabilized binoculars, but I can see everything that I need to, plenty well enough, for a fraction of the cost with the non-stabilized type.
Agreed.
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