I have used lots of stabilized optics from the gigantic $8,000 Zeiss's for truck based desert hunts to Fuji's for offshore fishing, including the Sig spotter (which suck as much as Sig's customer service). Image stabilized optics have always had a substantial give and take. They all compromise in some area to a degree that most people stop using them including me. I was offered 2 STBs in early December that had been used as demos and I reluctantly agreed to purchase them, I designed and cut a new set of rings to attach them to a big eye plate and immediately left for a 10 day hunt in the desert. I swapped back and forth with a buddy who was using my non stabilized STCs and for the most part could not tell a difference in image quality. Where they shined over the STCS most was the ease of use, they took less mental focus to use for hours at a time. I felt this same way when I switched from the Kiowa's to the BTC and the BTC to the STCs. This sounds small but behind image clarity it is the second most important criteria for me. To address JVs durability concerns, I would agree that most consumer-oriented image stabilized optics are not very durable, I have found the Fujis to be the exception to this. Over the course of the trip I would guess that they were attached to a window mount while driving over rough roads at 10-30mph for around 200 miles. The rest of the trip they sat still attached to a folded up tripod in the back seat. We cover quite a bit of country so it is not uncommon to drive 30-60mph on very rough roads for sustained period. 10 days is not enough time to determine durability but so far no complaints. I love these and will be using them regularly, however, these do not replace to a full size spotter and you are still going to want a nice tripod to accompany them. They have a fairly niche use case in my opinion and if you are not spending several hours a day, several days a year looking through big eyes or doing an intense backcountry trip (or guiding) where weight is a critical factor then these probably are not the best option. If you are driving around and see something you are still going to reach for your binoculars over one of these, if you are glassing more than 600 yards away you are still going to want to have a 90mm+ spotter. BUT if you have those already and want to spend $8,000 on what is definitively the best big eye setup that is possible right now, a pair of STBs is the move.
