Rick,
Jerry knows optics and how measurements are made, etc., and probably agrees with most of what you said in general about optical measurements since I've said the same things myself (though less technically) in my many debates with Henry.
I think Jerry reacts as I do when Dennis starts pushing his 8x32 FL (or whatever the bin de jour is at the time) anytime someone asks about a choice btwn certain bins and instead of responding to the choices in question offers his fav as an alternative. Even fishinmonkey seemed to pick up on this.
I must confess that I've done this myself at times. Popped in with a porro alternatives I thought were better than the roof choices given and it was usually an SE or EII.
I agree with your assessments of boosted resolution numbers and hints and hues being interpreted as brightness. I wouldn't use the word "confused" since color contrast affects the perception of brightness and "brightness" in itself is a subjective word, as Ed pointed out on a thread where Henry and I debated this issue.
Plus there is sample variation to consider. Most reviewers only test one sample, and as most of us know who have tried or owned a number of bins know that sample variation can ran rampart, particularly in Chinese-made bins.
Your might have a "cherry" sample Ultra with the edge sharpness of an SE, others may not. Or you might be able to accommodate field curvature better than others who reported lesser edge performance in their samples.
I know the edge sharpness percentages that others state for their 8x30 EIIs are usually less than I find mine to be.
Having said all that, I do like when reviewers provide numbers to back up their claims, not because they are necessarily definitive, but because it gives me a baseline to work from to at least decide if a bin is worth checking out further.
For example, if you use eyeglasses with bins and a reviewer measures the useable ER as 12mm when the optics company states 18mm, that's useful information.
However, when it comes to some measurements (light transmission comes to mind!) even the experts don't always agree on the numbers let alone the weight they assign them in their subjective values.
So I've learned not to take numbers as gospel, but use them as base to start my own inquiries.
In the spirit of the Thanksgiving Holiday, I think we should give thanks for what we have instead of hotly debating who's bins are better. One man's turkey is another man's sweet potatoes.
Even though you don't celebrate the holiday in Japan, you own property in the US and I'm sure are familiar with the holiday tradition. The Pilgrims and the American natives sat down to dinner and enjoyed a feast and gave thanks for their bounty(or so they tell us!).
To all a Happy Thanksgiving! I cleaned the oven tonight and the da&*^% "Oven-Off" can clogged so I had to run out to Walmart and pick up another can at midnight. I'm thankful for Sam Walton! -
Brock
