Of all the 42mm binos I've owned (and there have been an embarrassing amount), I think the one I liked most was the Nikon EDG 8x42 (the second incarnation, not the open-bridge version). I wasn't crazy about the 32mm EDG, though, and preferred the Leica Ultravid 8x32.
A BF contributor recently posted a link to a psychological phenomenon whereby an owner of an item will perceive his/her belongings to be superior to others, no matter how similar, i.e. the mere fact of ownership makes the owner value them more. I can't find that post now, though, and can't remember what the phenomenon is called.
But I suffer (or suffered) from an opposite affliction, i.e. I constantly felt anxious that what I "owned" in binocular terms wasn't sufficient, that I was somehow missing out and needed to achieve improvements, no matter how marginal, in order to "see" birds better. I suppose this is how Marketing/Capitalism works, by making us constantly feel that if only we could shell out a bit more moolah, we could approach perfection and "happiness" through ownership of more efficient products. (I suppose the problem with Socialism would be that as birders, we'd all have the same purchasing power, and the same products....the Ladas or Trabants of optics? And we might have to go on a 20-year waiting list to get them
).
The variety of binos out there is nice, and there certainly is more available now at every price-point to please most people. Not that the prognosis for humanity, or any other species on the planet, is particularly rosy, though. But at least we can watch it all collapse through nice binos.
