brocknroller
porromaniac
This is for Brock.
Not the best picture.
My love is not only for the el but, SLC!
Bryce...
Bryce,
After I thought about it a bit more, and knowing what a generous person you are, I suspected that "bashed" might have been just a poorly chosen word since the rest of your post was reasonable. But there have been other members who have jumped on first time posters for saying something negative about a bin, because they suspected that they had a hidden agenda. For sure, there are certain members who pump up or put down bins who have ulterior motives, but by and large, I've never found that to be true with first time posters. They are usually just wondering why a bin that others have touted as "the best" or as "highly recommended" turned out to be such a bad fit for them.
The reason is that binoculars are very personal instruments and require a lot of human interface. If the ergonomics, eyegonomics, eyecups, or focuser doesn't mesh well with your body, the bin is not going to work for you right off the bat, even before personal preferences in optical qualities are considered. When you add the optics, and all the different factors such as level of distortion, edge sharpness, apparent brightness, color bias, depth of field, depth of focus, etc., there are so many variables that can cause one to like or dislike any particular bin even if that bin is very popular with others.
Btw. I wasn't thinking of you when referring to diehard Swaro fanboys. We all know who they are!
Swarovski is my second favorite brand, but I have no blind loyalty to any brand. I calls him like I sees him. No one brand or one one bin is "the best" for everyone, but there are certain people who, for whatever reason, are hellbent on trying convince others that is the case with Swaros, and in particular, the SV ELs. I'm as mystified by this as much as Proud Papa, and he's a Swaro dealer!
There's also a bit of chauvinism on the part of some Zeiss fanboys, but by and large, I think that even though we all have our own preferences for brands and models, most BF members realize that what's best for the goose isn't always best for the gander.
The funny thing is, I always thought if any owner was going to be snobby, it would be a Leica owner, but except for that one guy, who posted years back that he chose a Leica UV over a Swaro EL, even though he thought the EL's optics were better, because "the red dot held more cache in the field," most Leica owners seem to be level headed. The irony is that today, I'm not sure that the "red dot" still holds more cachet in the field than the Peregrine falcon.
There is that diehard original Trinnie contingent, but they are less about their bin being better than other brands than them being better or at least a better bang for the buck than the UVs.
Leica is one of the few major brands of binoculars that I haven't tried. From all I've read about them, I probably would like them, maybe even more than Swaros, but given that I would need to buy used and pay out of pocket for potentially costly repairs, I've always shied away from them. I much prefer brands with No Fault warranties and/or transferable warranties for this reason. But at least now we have an explanation from a Leia rep on why the company doesn't offer such warranties.
Snobs will be snobs, regardless if its optics, cameras, cars... you name it. There are always people who buy things more for their prestige than for their practicality. I don't give a hoot that the 10x42 SLC-HD is "Made in Austria" or that it retails for $1,700 while the Nikon 8x30 M7 is "Made in China" and costs only $300. I like both bins. I'm much more likely to buy the M7 than the Swaro because it better fits my budget, but I admit that the SLC is the better of the two, and heck, for the price, it should be!
I think that any worthwhile discussion of sports optics should be free from chauvinism and those who have an agenda in pumping up or putting down a brand or a certain model. It ruins it for the rest of us who have genuine reasons for liking or disliking a brand or particular bins or certain features of those bins. It's also misleading to new members who join the forums for advice on which bins to consider purchasing.
End of long-winded righteous indignation rant.
Brock
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