I have owned B & L Elite 8 X 42s, Pentax 8 X 42 SPs and Zeiss Dialyt 10 X 40 BGAs. About 4 months ago I decided to replace my ageing Zeiss with something new, with 10X power, and after extensive research on the web I decided that the Zeiss 10 X 40 Victory IIs had the widest f.o.v., lightest weight, and at least equal to the best optics, of all the high end roofs - so I bought a pair as my everyday binocs. I use them all the time, I have compared them to other birders' Pentaxs, Nikons, Leicas, and my own binocs. as listed above, and they knock the socks off all of them. They developed a problem with a loose focussing wheel, so I sent them back to Zeiss, and they fixed it perfectly, under their lifetime warranty, no questions asked, and I was only without them 9 days. (Although I agree, that shouldn't have happened in the first place).