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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Sancho" data-source="post: 1370849" data-attributes="member: 27039">Postscript to my hunt for 8x42 binos in 2009: today I went into Dublin to the only 3 camera stores that have even half-decent bins, to try what was on offer. Remember that the euro is now equal to about 0.97 sterling, as near to parity as makes no odds. So...I won´t mention the stores but I´ll say what streets they´re on so Irish birders will guess:On Grafton Street, I tried a very nice pair of Leica Ultravid HD 8x42 and was impressed. Especially by the price, which was 1,699 euro. Not joking. About 55% higher than the current best price from the UK. Then I went to Clarendon Street. There I tried the Swarovski 8.5x42. And was impressed. And was quoted a price of 1,350 euro. About 230 euro more than the current best price from the UK. They didn´t have Zeiss FL 8x42, but can get them...for 1,399. (998 sterling is best UK price).Then I went to Talbot Street, because there´s a shop there that sells Steiner Skyhawk, which currently cost 369 sterling from the UK. The store in Dublin wants 449 euro for them. And when I asked if they could get me a pair of Steiner Discovery XP to test, they said yes, only if I ordered first and agreed to buy, but they couldn´t get me a price until I´d ordered. And they weren´t very pleasant about it. Now these guys, if they get put out of business in 2009, will moan that Irish consumers have been spending their cash in Northern Ireland or online, and that´s why their businesses are failing. Or that they had to order earlier in the year at stiffer UK prices. Well tough luck, guys, welcome to the Global Economy. I´ve taken a pay cut, and will have to take more, and I´m paying  a levy on my salary for the bank bail-out....it´s time the retailers here took a hit as well. Honestly, the Recession was sent by God to wreak vengeance on these chancers. So some lucky Northern Irish or British optics seller is going to get my euro grand´s worth of custom.:t: Rant over.One other thing. Eye-relief. I wore my "dedicated" birding-specs for the trip, and I was able to get full FOV with the Leica 8x42, the Swaro 8x32, and the Swaro 8.5x42. The most comfortable of the three with specs on was for me the EL 8.5x42. And in comparison with my 8x32 (which I´d brought), I liked the extra half-degree of magnification. (My humble opinion only).</blockquote>

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