scampo said:
Is there confusion here, I wonder? In the UK, the SE is a mid-priced porroprism design, whereas the HG are top-range roof prisms - and these latter have received uniformly favourable reviews on the web and in magazines. Versus the Swaro, I would say the Nikon HGs are pretty near optical equals except the Swaro offers a bit more FOV and quite different ergonomics; also they are somewhat heavier than the equivalent Swarovskis.
Steve: In the opinion of many people the Nikon 8x32 SE is the best 8xN binocular available where N < 50mm. When I compare it with my Swaro 8.5x42 EL, the little Nikon gives - in my opinion - the better image, especially in tricky lighting. It is a little gem. Don't get me wrong: the Swaros are lovely. It's just that the Nikons are that little bit better. Very sad people (hohum) could found a religion around the Nikon 8x32 SE. It's a pity that I don't live near you (or more likely it's your good fortune) as I could have let you try the Nikons.
In general roof prisms cost more to make than porro prisms due to:
1) Greater manufacturing tolerances are required: the roof angles are critical.
2) Phase (P) coatings must be applied. (Invented by Zeiss in ~1990!. I think Zeiss also invented multi-coating. 'Four sprung duck technique' as they say.)
3) On Pechan roof prisms a reflective layer must be applied to each surface where light is to reflect, as the angles are too steep for total internal reflection (TIR) to occur. The coatings are usually either silver, or dielectric (whatever that is). Note that Zeiss sell some instruments with Abbe Koenig roof prisms: these use TIR rather than coatings.
In addition, roof prism bins are usually waterproof and gas filled, which further adds to the manufacturing cost.
That's why the Nikon 8x30 EII (~£270) can match the optics of the Leica 8x32 BN (~£600) despite being cheaper. Of course it is not as rugged or compact.
Mind you, the clever Japanese are continually reducing the cost of roof prism bins due to clever Japanese manufacturing magic (errmm, or whatever).
Apologies for the hard core anorak content, assuming anyone is still awake ... ermm hello ... is anyone there ... damn ... they've run off again ...