Fujinon Techno Stabi TS-X 1440
Watch the skies, and other things, without the shakes in these image-stabilised binoculars.
We were a stargazing family. When I was a kid and whenever there was a lunar eclipse, or the sky was particularly dark and the stars shining, my father and I would head outside with our trusty binoculars to lap up the celestial show.
On one occasion Dad told me he narrowly escaped being named Halley because he was born in May 1910, when Halley’s comet was visible and looked spectacular in the sky. On that occasion Earth passed through the comet’s tail. (I later named a cat Halley which I acquired during the comet’s 1986 visit.)
However, we’d struggle with our heavy 1960s binoculars.
We didn’t have tripods and everything I looked at quickly suffered from the shakes, holding the binoculars with my small, children’s hands. I’d see more with a naked eye.
Fast forward to 2020 and not only are binoculars lighter and with better optics, they also have image stabilisation aided by modern sensor technology.
At least the Fujinon Techno Stabi TS-X 1440 does.
Fujinon is the brand name Fujifilm uses for its optics products.
The company says the binoculars are designed for nature-watching, sports, concerts and gazing at the stars, and offer 14x magnification.
The binoculars use +/- 6 degree image stabilisation technology developed for the company’s digital and television cameras. It says a controlled prism in the optical beam path compensates for movements which are registered by a gyro sensor.
The optics are quite complex.
Fujifilm says a large lens element with a 40mm diameter preserves light intensity.
The eyepieces have six lens elements and lenses are arranged to minimise colour fringing, a failure of the lens system to focus all colours to the same point.
The lens coatings are designed to reduce reflection and ghosting. The binoculars have no corners or edges, have a non-slip rubber coating and are water resistant.
You need four AA batteries, which Fujifilm says will give you 18 hours of use.
Rechargeable AA NiMH batteries will last up to 22 hours. The recommended price is $2100, but look around.
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