Nice story! Hearing your perspective on these is very useful. Wow, as an astronomer I'm am massively envious of your location, I hope you are able to turn those binos skyward from time to time to enjoy the clear skies.
I really liked the 8x32 SF's versus the 8x42's when I tried them out. The 8x32's don't have the false color at the edge like the 42's and I saw less distortion at the edge too. But I wanted a 42mm bino so I got the 8x42 SF's. I think it makes sense to keep both pairs you like. One of them will probably rise to the top with long-term use. There's a big drop-off in depreciation with new binoculars so you might as well enjoy them for a while and not make any rash decisions!
I currently have 3 pairs of 42mm binos but I expect that will eventually go down to one or two. I'm actually thinking of adding a second pair of 8x42's to evaluate for a year or two.
I really liked the 8x32 SF's versus the 8x42's when I tried them out. The 8x32's don't have the false color at the edge like the 42's and I saw less distortion at the edge too. But I wanted a 42mm bino so I got the 8x42 SF's. I think it makes sense to keep both pairs you like. One of them will probably rise to the top with long-term use. There's a big drop-off in depreciation with new binoculars so you might as well enjoy them for a while and not make any rash decisions!
I currently have 3 pairs of 42mm binos but I expect that will eventually go down to one or two. I'm actually thinking of adding a second pair of 8x42's to evaluate for a year or two.