Well...For What is Worth...
I ended ordering a pair of the Custom Elite....I have owned ALL the custom 7x26 Incarnations ...Older grey leatherette with bluish coatings,Old Black leatherette with greenish coatings,B&L newer body with multicoatings,Bushnell even Newer body with the Birding series logo and now the ELite Custom....To a degree I have liked them all,based in image quality and portability...the older body was a bit more classy and well made,With a more solid feeling.Optics were all the same,With a BIT of improvement in coatings every time it was an upgrade....The last pre-elite bushnell let me down in (very)bad weather last year,And i was very disappointed when I learn that the last upgrade WAS NOT Weatherproof..Specially because the first release of information out of Bushnell ,DID in fact state that this model was weatherproof..So,yes I was disappointed,And expressed this feeling calling the Upgraded model "loosers" in some thread out there..Bushnell told me that the optics were better( someone asked recently in which way could they be better)...one thing that I can tell today,is that THEy ARE better..!
These are very nice binoculars.The coatings have been improved,as traditionally Bushnell did with every model upgrade, And this time with a lot of efficacy against glare.Contrast is quite amazing now and the binocular is Amazingly bright for its aperture.They are also Sharper than ever...And the FOV is also narrower than ever..for only a minute amount,but narrower..363' ,just a hair short of 7˚..This on the other hand doesnt create much distortion AT ALL,and only in the 10% outer edge,So the image looks very sharp and crispy with no real apparent fallout.Eye relief is very Generous ,and I can see the Whole FOV ,while wearing glasses.Even with the Eyecups half Way expended(and Almost All the Way up) ..Depth of Field is also great and everything pops sharp in focus from infinity to 50 feet..CA has never been bad in any of the models,and the Elite still has very little of it in the periphery and none in the center of the image..They Focus from 7' to Infinity in a bit less that one turn of the precise ,smooth and perfectly damped focuser,and they have 1/3 more of a turn ,granting a generous 5/6 diopter,past infinity..
Now,the new Body design is COOL,japanese design AT ITS BEST...They are EVEN more compact than the last Customs body(Yes),but Two Oz. heavier(14.5 oz),So they feel VERY solid and amazing in the hand..Very tactile and a pleasure to look at!(they very good looking!).The front is All Clad in Rubber,with the nicest feeling,and a bit of the actual plastic body shows in the back.The material is very nice , warm gray in a satin finish and contrasts with the black rubber ...kind of a tactical looking ..The Eyepieces have screw-up eye cups,that stay up at the end of the motion,but have no intermediate positions or a very positive clicking action.They adjust to IPD ranging from 56mm to 77mm..The Diopter Adjustment is in the Right ocular ,and has no markings or stop positions,and is a bit TOO easy to move,(simple click-stop action would have been nice).It does adjust to 3.5 diopters each side...
The New Case is really Cool,sort of soft shell,very well padded,and besides the zipper,it has a STRONG magnet for faster access...The strap is the same that was provided with the previous model,and is not very good.The Strap lugs are the same style that older models,but this time they rotate 360˚ .They are a little bit in the Way,but a little bit of handling would train your hands to jump over them..
The Wheatherproofing...I am going to have to Live with whatever Is already there,and take a little extra care in harsh weather ..I Will comment further in the way they
perform in this regard..
I took them to the field,and put them to Dreadful test of the Peregrine nest Watch,where mighty contenders have failed to stay clear of glare,in the super-demanding conditions of this particular site (shady ,dark area underneath a bridge,100 feet straight Up,facing the setting Sun)...Seriously,These binoculars are very sharp,amazingly bright (26mm aperture!!!!)and they seem to have VERY serious coatings,by the way they stay free of glare.One think That I noticed Is a VERY slight Rolling Ball effect when panning..I can not even Call it a Rolling Ball effect,JUST a notion of it ,mostly noticeable in the VEry edge .It didnt bothered me at all..I actually think they are impressive optically ,specially For a Super Portable binocular
I understand Why, everything I read from people that actually owned or tried this binocular was very positive.And I retract my comment in other Thread,where I said that Bushnell created an instant looser by not waterproofing the Binos...I guess That can be called part of its personality (Where did I read something like that recently?).
If Bushnell Would Push the FOV ,even to 400 feet,and waterproof THIS binocular,I think with the Image and Size/ergo that this binocular provides,ANY birder would spend 350$ in this thing and be VERY happy ever After...well maybe next time...
AAND,,by the way..When shoping for these elite Custom 7x26,I found at least two dealers to be out of stock,and ONE of them,when checking for availability,was told that this Model is now DISCONTINUED..I need to call Bushnell about this...