I have a pair of Canon 10x30 IS binoculars and am quite happy with them. As to whether 10 power magnification is enough, that depends on what you want to see. To give you some idea, from my backyard (terrible light polution), I can just cleanly split Albireo. The moons of Jupiter and sun spots (with a filter of course) are easy. I haven't had mine long enough to try them on Saturn. The 10x42 should give brighter images and has better optics but mine are lighter and more portable, although if it weren't for the great difference in price I would choose the 10x42. From what I have read, I would prefer the 15x50 to the 18x50 (the bigger ones seem to have some color issues). One tip, replace the batteries that come with the binoculars with Lithium batteries. They last longer and work MUCH BETTER in cold weather. One especially cold night in December, I though my binoculars needed to be aligned (I saw 2 images of everything). But after I put Lithium batteries in, the problem disappeared. One other point, none of the Canon binos come with caps for the objective lenses. There are caps specifically made, by Canon, for the 10x42s but not for the others. I found some 3rd party lens caps that work OK on mine but it isn't as good a fit as the ones on the 10x42. Finally, the 10x42 has the additional feature that only need to press the button down to activate the IS mechanism and then press it again to deactivate it. On mine (and I think on the others although I am not sure), you have to hold the button down. One final thought, prices on these binos vary widely from store to store and time to time. I got mine from Amazon whose price was $200. lower than elsewhere. Two days later, Amazon's price jumped up to where the other prices were. Fletch My husband and I will be spending 25 days in Ecuador and want to buy a good pair of image stabilizing binoculars so that we can enjoy the night sky. I've read lots of reviews, including Gary Seronik's review and Cloudy Nights plus others, and am still debating which ones to buy. I'm considering Canon 10x42L, 15x50 and 18x50. The 10x42 has a wider field of view at 6.5 degrees but I'm concerned that 10x may not be a high enough magnification. My concern about the 15x and 18x is the field of view (4.5 degrees and 3.7 degrees respectively) - will we be able to find what we're looking for which small field of view? I can't find anywhere in the Salt Lake City area to actually get my hands on any of these binoculars to actually try them so it looks like I'll be ordering and then returning ones I don't want. (Cabela's MIGHT have a pair but I can't get the binocular department to answer the phone....) BTW I'm a birder so I'm hoping to put these to use while birding but that's not a main decision point. Does anyone on this list own a pair of IS binoculars and would you recommend what you have? Any input would be greatly appreciated. Nancy Matro _______________________________________________