The Swarovski Habicht's 7x42 are totally waterproof and fog proof unlike a lot of porro's, the eye relief is fine if you don't wear glasses, the FOV is narrower than some of the other 7x42's but it makes up for it by being amazing bright and sharp. As far as the price I think you would have to at least pay twice as much to get a roof prism of the same quality and the Habicht's will not lose value over the years from depreciation. There is not a roof prism available of the same quality for $700.00. The Habicht's are really alpha porro's with EL glass and coatings. Meaning some of the best. That is why their transmission is over 95%. There is no 42mm roof that will equal their brightness. They are as light as most 32mm roofs and you have the advantage of a 42mm aperture plus the much underrated and not talked about fact of a 3D view versus the poster board flatness of most roof's. I had the Nikon EDG II 7x42 and the Habicht 7x42 is a much more WOW binocular. I got rid of the EDG even though it has a bigger FOV it is not nearly as bright as the Habicht and it is way heavier. The Habicht's FOV is incredibly bright.Hi Dennis, thanks for your thoughts, I suspect those Habicht are really good binoculars. Unfortunately they fall down in 4 main areas as I see it: Waterproofing (depending on how much and what type of birding you do), eye relief (probably fine if you don't wear glasses) fov (seems a bit skimpy in comparison to most other roofs of the same specifications) and finally price! Yes, $700 for a well built binocular offering one of the best views available may be a bargain to some, but it is still a fairly significant outlay to those with less disposable income, or for whom it would be a secondary tool for the job. I suppose if you look at it as giving at least 25 years service it would only work out at $28 per year, which is excellent value!
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