Ha! I wouldn't. Just because one extraordinarily high priced (relative to past alpha, relative to the mid priced and low priced competition) product doesn't cost much more than another extraordinarily high priced product, it doesn't equate to being a good deal. If the pricing were based solely on cost of production and development, a more advanced item _might_ be expected to cost more than the model it replaces. More often, the cost of production goes down so the new one can keep a similar price despite increased capability (as is the case with new digital SLR models with ever more sophisticated sensors). But I doubt this has much of anything to do with how Swarovski bins are priced. They are priced according to what buyers are willing to pay, and relative to other prestige/alpha competitors.
I've been living on an essentially fixed (raw dollar figure, so declining value) income since ~1996 when one could purchase a Leica 8x32 BA for ~$710 or a Zeiss 7x42 Classic for ~$800. A few years later, I bought my first Swarovski 8.5x42 EL, new, and not long after the model was introduced, for $1250, which was a full $300 more than any of the other alphas were selling for at the time (Nikon earlier failed to convince anyone to buy the LX/HG for $1200 and so the prices quickly fell to ~$900). The other alpha makers eventually followed suit, and things have never been the same in the world of alpha bin pricing. I know the value of the dollar has fallen a lot since 1996, but the cost of alpha bins has increased by a much larger percentage than have any of the other consumer goods that I pay attention to, including non-alpha bins and other optics. So I can't say that I'm impressed.
--AP
:clap: Well, said. In fact, what you wrote is so spot on, it deserves another round of applause. :clap:
I sometimes think the Wizards of Absam live in world where the streets are paved with gold and money grows on silver maple trees.
The added surcharge from the increased gas prices will push the prices up even more.
I've tried both a 2009 8x30 SLCneu and a 2009 8x32 EL (WB), and while the EL was a bit sharper and had a slightly wider FOV, mainly what I liked about it was the open bridge design and the focuser near the EPs instead of near the objectives like the SLC. Oh, and unlike the other EL I tried and the SLC, the focuser turned smoothly in both directions.
Neither the SLC nor the EL was as sharp as the 8x32 SE I compared them with, but the EL did have more comparable 3-D effect than the SLC, and this impressed me since every other midsized roof I've tried has given Flatland views.
This isn't to say both bins weren't VG in their own right, but not good enough, IMO, to justify the high costs.
At the time, the SLC was selling for $899, the EL for btwn $1,799 and $1,899. Was the EL $900-$1,000 better than the SLC? In a word, nope.
Granted, Austria has the third highest wages in Europe and alphas use the best materials, but as Alexis said, the cost of alpha bins has increased by a much larger percentage than have any of the other consumer goods that I pay attention to (or buy), and I'll add "while the increase in performance hasn't kept pace with pricing."
Even with field flatteners? Isn't that a major breakthrough? The Nikon HG had those 12 years ago. The SE, 17 years ago. That's not a breakthrough in technology, that's catching up. Nikon's HG coatings were also a decade ahead of Swaro's, which also needed catching up.
So I don't think it's a "pretty good deal" either. I'm really rooting for the Prime ED. Hoping that pressure from below will get Swaro to price its bins more realistically instead of throwing us a bone with the CL. Even if they have to offshore production, which may already be the case with some components.
In case all this seems like two old farts on fixed incomes blowing hot air, check out the Optics Consumer Index Thread where a wider variety of consumers including alpha owners weigh in on how much they are willing to spend for new alphas. My take is that support for higher prices is dwindling.
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=217062
Brock