I still have those old Pentax and all of my new bins are much better, including my little 6x30 Yoseimite porros. Were those pre WP Pentax not phase coated?
The Pentax DCF WP were the first phase compensated bins series that Pentax made (startin gin the mid 1990s). Having recently got a cheap NOS WP 8x32 I noticed recently when I was out in an overcast late afternoon with a Promaster ED and Bushnell Elite and an Audubon porro (all 40mm-ish bins) that the WPs were noticeably darker than the others. I think that's due to more than a decade's worth of advances in AR coatings rather than my exit pupil being larger than 4mm and the 40mm-ish bins delivering more light into my eye (it wasn't dark, sun still at the horizon).
Interesting series of slurs, Conville.
These bins are all made by ordinary optical company and by robots. Yes, the people get paid a much higher wage than they would get in the countryside. Have you checked your pre-FL/HD/ED Alpha bins for toxicological properties? They have pretty toxic materials (As and Pb) in the lenses. I try not to suck on the outside of my bins. How would you compare bins with other than optical and ergonomic performance? Country of origin? Badge on the outside? I just look through them and see how well they look? They're optical devices after all.
Do the Chinese EDs knock the Alphas into a cocked hat? They're just as sharp. Almost as bright. But unfortunatly, no. Not yet. The biggest issue is stray (off-axis) light. The Hawkes do a bit worse than the Promasters for stray light: reducing the FOV helps. And the Promasters do a bit worse than my Bushnell Elites (not Alphas but an example of a little more careful optical design and implementation). And the ergonomics could be improved a little too. But they're surprisingly close.
The win of these (and other Chinese ED bins) is they bring good performance at a much lower price. And depending on the design motivation they could fix some of those stray light problems.
I'd say that this round of Chinese bins is equal in build quality to the LOOM and similar Japanese OEM/ODMs. It's a notch above the previous generation. Even the "non-optical" bits (like the straps) have a more solid, ticker, more nicely made, "Japanese quality" to them.
Durability, service, and warranty are three remaining differentiators. I suspect the former isn't one. The way all bins are built today (UV-cured adhesive holding the prisms and lenses into plastic sub-assemblies that are then located in precisely made metal or composite enclosures lead to the same level of damage resistance for all of these bins. The latter two are good differentiators (and the Alpha bin warranties are getting short at least in the EU) and any maker can use these. Vortex is a good example of a non-Alpha bin maker that uses it's no-fault/no-hassle warranty as a selling point. On the other hand the Alpha bin makers can (and do) actually fix and repair their bins. You are more likely to get a replacement than a repair with a Chinese ED bin.
Do the Alphas have something to worry about? Perhaps. These and future designs (with improvements) will make people ask the questions you are asking: just what am I paying the extra 300% for in an Alpha bin? The Alpha makers might not care just like Ferrari and the like don't care. They make supercars. For a lot of money. For a very small number of people.
Do Alpha owners care? I doubt it. The Euro 3 (or even the Axis 4) badges still carry a lot of chic. And even the old bins. But people still ask silly money for the pre-owned bins especially those without PC. I think those prices might drop. A little. But as always if people want the badge then hey might even maintain prices.
The big turning point will be when the ODMs in China start to make their own brands and sell direct. Bosma, Xi'an Vision, United Optical any of them could do it.
In the meantime people with not much money to spend will get a much better view.