I just got a new pair of the Fujinon Stabilized Binoculares off of Ebay and spent about 1150 after shipping. Before I bought them I couldn't find any current articles on here or anywhere else of people who had them so I thought we need to fix that!
I use them from the tower driving station while the boat is on Autopilot and they are crazy effective. In the past where I can just see a boat on the horizon, now I can identify who it is and if they're moving. Helps alot to know whether it is a long liner putting out line or if it is another sport-fisher on the fish. You can pick out birds really well on the horizon where it would be impossible otherwise. It's kind of fun, because I think my mate has the best eyes for spotting stuff of anyone I've been around and now it's no contest. The first day out, before I even left the dock, I could see Bonito jumping at 2 miles away while I was waiting on the customers. In addition, they don't burn batteries like I thought. I use them off and on so it's hard to say how long the batteries last, but I make it through the full day with good batteries and just recharge them at night for good measure. The first day out I brought 12 batteries thinking they would burn them fast and that isn't the case.
The case is freaking awesome. They come with a pelican hard case and it's awesome. Enough said.
I spent forever researching them before I bought them and I found these have 5 degrees of stabilization where the canons only had one degree. Obviously 1 degree wouldn't work in the tower in even flat weather. They take 48mm camera filters if you want a UV filter or polarized filter to save your eyes. The polarized filter is a little dark, and if you don't give everything time to heat up they fog really bad. i have to let the lenses heat up (after being at the house in the AC) or they instantly fog and you can't see anything. If you don't use a filter, fogging isn't too big of an issue after you figure out to keep your eyes a little off of the eyepieces.
They do make me a little bit seasick, but it's minimal. That says alot though as we fish 220+ days a year, and that doesn't include the days off which are usually spent in at least some part on the boat. I hasn't gone away yet, but I haven't had many trips with these yet so hopefully that will go away.
In short, if you want to find more fish, use these. On my last trip, they turned what could have been a 0 afternoon into a 13 Dorado and 5 Wahoo afternoon. I pretty much can always find something each trip with them, and won't be out on the water again without them. Two Thumbs Up!
Sorry i couldn't post a picture of something through them, I can't get the pictures to turn out.
