... Wisdom No. 11:
Make sure to figure out what you really need - and save money
In recent years I observe a development among the premium range binoculars that somehow resembles that of digital cameras: There is an increasing number of questionable features showing up that are not always required for serious observation work. And obviously not everything that is new and costly is necessarily superior. Do we really need 'flat' transmission curves, i.e. maximum transmission even of the shortest wavelengths, to achieve a fully neutral image tone, and then having to wear sun glasses when observing on bright sunny days? If yes, why not at least adding filter threads to dampen/tune the light whenever necessary? Do we need a super fast and low tension focuser, perhaps at the cost of precision? Do we really want to pay a fortune just to have the circle of maximum image sharpness extended all the way to the edge of field, rather than moving the object of interest a little bit toward the center? Many people are using binoculars in order to observe distant objects. Should these people have to pay extra, or compromise performance, because there are some who would like to watch butterflies at 1.5m distance? And is a binocular incomplete if it is not waterproof? Top binoculars of the 1980s like the Zeiss Dialyt and the Leica Trinovid have not been waterproof either, and did a great job nonetheless. Should not those users who are willing to take good care of their gear have the chance to purchase high-end optics without paying extra for water sealing and shock resistance? Let us hope that the manufacturers will find the right answers to these questions and a proper balance between useful improvements and an overload of features that yield little more than a further increase of costs. But I doubt that this will happen, the race is on, and everybody wants to take the lead with his feature-overloaded and overpriced premium line. The consumer may contribute to stop that price hike, by carefully selecting products that exactly do what he needs them to do, thereby saving his own money, instead of blindly following the trend set by the manufacturers and buying their most expensive gear including their unnecessary bells and whistles.