We report the results of recent measurements of the spectroscopic quadrupole moments of high-spin isomers. For the K^\pi = 35^- \over 2 five-quasiparticle isomer in ¹⁷⁹W we measured Q_s=4.00(^+0.83_-1.06) eb. It corresponds to a smaller deformation compared to the ground states of the W isotopes and is in disagreement with the current theoretical predictions. We also measured the quadrupole moment of the I^\pi =11^- isomer in ¹⁹⁶Pb, Q_s=(-)3.41(66) eb. It has the same proton (s^-2_1/2h_9/2i_13/2) configuration as the one suggested for the I^\pi =16^(-) magnetic bandhead which allows to deduce the quadrupole moment of the 16^- state as Q_s=-0.316(97) eb. This small value proves the near sphericity of the bandhead.

PACS numbers: 21.10.Ky, 21.10.Re, 23.20.Lv, 27.60.+q