Atomic Chicken
Registered with the D.O.E.
iambirding,
OK... the gauntlets are off. I'm not in a very good mood this evening, and your post has given me just the little "push" I need to do some serious venting in your direction.
First off, I've been very polite and civil with you on this board, and asked you meaningful questions about why you seem to be such an opinionated @$$ about binoculars. Whatever... I don't like having my words twisted on me, any more than the next guy. I'm through being polite.
Yes... in a way I did accuse someone (John Traynor, who I happen to think of as a perfect gentleman who probably has FAR more class than you ever will...) of working for Swarovski. Actually, I said something to the effect of "it wouldn't surprise me" if he worked for them - it wasn't an outright accusation or the big "conspiracy" theory you propose. The situation has since been clarified and I publicly apologized for an unwarranted and biased attack based on my own incomplete understanding of his postings. Don't expect the same treatment yourself - I'm quite tired of your crap and won't be apologizing for anything I'm saying in this reply.
First off, YOU YOURSELF proclaim that you "live in the middle of nowhere" and don't have an opportunity to test the binoculars you purchase. Yet you come on this board over and over again making all sorts of claims that Swarovski and B&L Elites are the best binoculars that "the guys that take this seriously" are all using them. You post a top-5 poll, then declare a "winner" of all binoculars (once again, the EL) after only 24 replies. Then, a few weeks later, you come on telling us all that "Nikon is the best and Leica is 2nd best", based on "reviews" you've read and what "people you've talked to" have said.
You buy a pair of Nikons, ignoring everyones advise on this forum that you FIRST LOOK THROUGH THEM YOURSELF to make sure they are right for you, and come back whining about how they are miscollimated for a certain distance. You continue to ignore everyone who says that you should take Nikon up on their excellent lifetime warranty and get them fixed, and instead badmouth Nikon for lack of quality control and how anyone like me who rightly says they are exceptional optics is wrong... you will be "wary" of my website because I just happen to like my Nikon HG's and tell the world so. You know what? You're right... Nikon HG's suck and their warranty and service sucks and all the people on this forum who like them are liars... you are right to be "wary" of the dozens of glowing reviews of them.
I spend probably 1/4 of my life at this point birding with my many pairs of binoculars, evaluating new optics whenever I get the chance, and reading everything I can get my hands on regarding binoculars and optical science. I have personally looked through every pair of binoculars discussed on this board with the exception of the Celestron and Swift models (which are unfortunately without a dealer in my area). I have never met a high-end binocular that I didn't like, I just like some more than others for MY OWN specific purposes. I have striven with every opportunity I have to present accurate information and impressions about the optics that I have evaluated and purchased, and have never posted an opinion that wasn't my own based on solid, first-hand experience. Furthermore, I have spent approx. 2 hours per day for the last 5 weeks putting together a website on binocular optics, which will include as much information about every binocular available that I can obtain... along with links to as many internet reviews and sites as I have been able to find. This is a work in progress and will probably take several more weeks of work until it is ready to release, but when it is out it will be the premier website on the internet for objective binocular data.
What have you done? Posted a bunch of 2nd hand opinions from other birders, whined about your problems with your discount Nikons that you didn't bother examining before buying, continually extolled the virtues of the VERY AVERAGE optics of the Pentax SP, and attacked me for having a good opinion about a pair of binoculars that you are having problems with. Furthermore, you attack my review of the B&L Discoverers by posting a several years old review of an old version of them before they even had phase coating, and call them "marginal at best". I'll bet you haven't even looked through a pair, and if you did I doubt you even know what to look for without one of your knowlegeable "guys that take this seriously" standing next to your shoulder guiding you. Well... you know what? I'm one of those "guys that take this seriously", and I haven't agreed with anything you have posted on this forum yet. You can't make up your own mind which binocular brand is "the best"... or "2nd best", as if such a ranking is possible. Newsflash... there is no "Best". Only the best for YOU... based on your OWN needs and preferences.
As for the naturalists I brought up in the original post and your comment about "no one should ever review bins by watching what you see scientists on PBS hang around their necks", I take STRONG exception to this. I was NOT attempting to review anything, only commenting on your very skewed post and showing you that not everyone who "takes this seriously" falls neatly into your little "Swarovski EL/B&L Elite" categories.
I close all my posts with "Best Wishes", even when I had a disagreement with John Traynor. However, in your case I'll end this post with:
Get a life,
Bawko
OK... the gauntlets are off. I'm not in a very good mood this evening, and your post has given me just the little "push" I need to do some serious venting in your direction.
First off, I've been very polite and civil with you on this board, and asked you meaningful questions about why you seem to be such an opinionated @$$ about binoculars. Whatever... I don't like having my words twisted on me, any more than the next guy. I'm through being polite.
Yes... in a way I did accuse someone (John Traynor, who I happen to think of as a perfect gentleman who probably has FAR more class than you ever will...) of working for Swarovski. Actually, I said something to the effect of "it wouldn't surprise me" if he worked for them - it wasn't an outright accusation or the big "conspiracy" theory you propose. The situation has since been clarified and I publicly apologized for an unwarranted and biased attack based on my own incomplete understanding of his postings. Don't expect the same treatment yourself - I'm quite tired of your crap and won't be apologizing for anything I'm saying in this reply.
First off, YOU YOURSELF proclaim that you "live in the middle of nowhere" and don't have an opportunity to test the binoculars you purchase. Yet you come on this board over and over again making all sorts of claims that Swarovski and B&L Elites are the best binoculars that "the guys that take this seriously" are all using them. You post a top-5 poll, then declare a "winner" of all binoculars (once again, the EL) after only 24 replies. Then, a few weeks later, you come on telling us all that "Nikon is the best and Leica is 2nd best", based on "reviews" you've read and what "people you've talked to" have said.
You buy a pair of Nikons, ignoring everyones advise on this forum that you FIRST LOOK THROUGH THEM YOURSELF to make sure they are right for you, and come back whining about how they are miscollimated for a certain distance. You continue to ignore everyone who says that you should take Nikon up on their excellent lifetime warranty and get them fixed, and instead badmouth Nikon for lack of quality control and how anyone like me who rightly says they are exceptional optics is wrong... you will be "wary" of my website because I just happen to like my Nikon HG's and tell the world so. You know what? You're right... Nikon HG's suck and their warranty and service sucks and all the people on this forum who like them are liars... you are right to be "wary" of the dozens of glowing reviews of them.
I spend probably 1/4 of my life at this point birding with my many pairs of binoculars, evaluating new optics whenever I get the chance, and reading everything I can get my hands on regarding binoculars and optical science. I have personally looked through every pair of binoculars discussed on this board with the exception of the Celestron and Swift models (which are unfortunately without a dealer in my area). I have never met a high-end binocular that I didn't like, I just like some more than others for MY OWN specific purposes. I have striven with every opportunity I have to present accurate information and impressions about the optics that I have evaluated and purchased, and have never posted an opinion that wasn't my own based on solid, first-hand experience. Furthermore, I have spent approx. 2 hours per day for the last 5 weeks putting together a website on binocular optics, which will include as much information about every binocular available that I can obtain... along with links to as many internet reviews and sites as I have been able to find. This is a work in progress and will probably take several more weeks of work until it is ready to release, but when it is out it will be the premier website on the internet for objective binocular data.
What have you done? Posted a bunch of 2nd hand opinions from other birders, whined about your problems with your discount Nikons that you didn't bother examining before buying, continually extolled the virtues of the VERY AVERAGE optics of the Pentax SP, and attacked me for having a good opinion about a pair of binoculars that you are having problems with. Furthermore, you attack my review of the B&L Discoverers by posting a several years old review of an old version of them before they even had phase coating, and call them "marginal at best". I'll bet you haven't even looked through a pair, and if you did I doubt you even know what to look for without one of your knowlegeable "guys that take this seriously" standing next to your shoulder guiding you. Well... you know what? I'm one of those "guys that take this seriously", and I haven't agreed with anything you have posted on this forum yet. You can't make up your own mind which binocular brand is "the best"... or "2nd best", as if such a ranking is possible. Newsflash... there is no "Best". Only the best for YOU... based on your OWN needs and preferences.
As for the naturalists I brought up in the original post and your comment about "no one should ever review bins by watching what you see scientists on PBS hang around their necks", I take STRONG exception to this. I was NOT attempting to review anything, only commenting on your very skewed post and showing you that not everyone who "takes this seriously" falls neatly into your little "Swarovski EL/B&L Elite" categories.
I close all my posts with "Best Wishes", even when I had a disagreement with John Traynor. However, in your case I'll end this post with:
Get a life,
Bawko
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