Not to be contrary, but Kevin is entirely correct imho, Nikon indeed has suffered because of a fickle product policy.
Note the Swaro Habicht porro, comparable to the Nikon E and EII models, dates back to 1948. The Zeiss Jena Deltrintem lasted from the 1920s till the dissolution of that enterprise in the 1990s.
Binoculars change only gradually, as the engineering space is well mapped.
So 16 years with 3 name changes seems more frantic than deliberate.
Admittedly, neither Zeiss nor Leica either showed anything comparable to Swarovski's consistent model policy, so Nikon had good company.
Still, the EDG stands out as a top tier line, including some superbly built and technically innovative stabilized scopes, which was terminated before it had really built any substantial market following or presence.
I think you should have been more "deliberate" when you chose the word "frantic" to describe the
two name changes (not three) of the Nikon LX over 16 years. The main purpose of the name changes was to convey information about changes and status of the binoculars. The first was done because Nikon made the LX binoculars lighter in weight. It helps potential 2nd hand purchasers in aging the binocular.
(You will recall that Leica did the same thing when they made some changes in their Trinovid BA binoculars and changed their name to Trinovid BN.)
The 2nd name change to "Premier" came about to inform the public that the LXL's were now Nikon's 2nd line of binoculars.
The EDGs lasted about 10 years which is about average in this day for top of the line binoculars. We will see what happens in the next 2 years about Nikon bringing out a new flagship binocular.
That aside, some binoculars hardly change at all over the years like the 70 year old Swaro Habicht Porros you mentioned. We do read enthusiastic comments about how they were made much brighter with new coatings over those years in the near Ultra-Violet range of the light spectrum and that is a good thing but nothing appears to have been done in making them more user friendly.
Perhaps that is Swaro's intention? I wouldn't call it good business policy though.
I believe that Dennis called their 8x30 version "Glare Monsters" and the name seems to have stuck with them.
Bob
