Neither does the Zeiss 7x42 EDF, but you don't see Star Farmer or Holger complaining.
Okay, that one may be an exception to the rule, for $1,000 it better be. But at the lower price level, phase coatings will make the image noticeably sharper.
Niel makes a good point, though, about the FOV. I could never understand why both Nikon and Pentax make lower priced, lower quality bins with wider FsOV than their more moderately priced roofs (or in the case of Pentax, even their top of the line roofs).
I looked through a Trailblazer in a sports store a while back, wasn't too pleased with the edges but it otherwise seemed okay. But edge sharpness has nothing to do with phase coatings, which are added because the light passing through Schmidt-Pecan roof prisms bounces off the surfaces of the mirror an uneven number of times and emerges out of phase. The p-coatings corrects this.
Very few roofs these days don't have phase coatings. Not sure why Nikon is holding out, the price difference isn't that great with the Prostaff.
The Prostaff 7 has a smaller FOV than the Trailblazer, but better edges. It's also 7" long! If you have small hands, you might find it unwieldy, but if you have big mitts like me, it might be just what you need to wrap you hands around and steady the image.
BF member Jerry (NDHunter) owns a pair and likes the Pro 7, and he's pretty picky (not as picky as me, but he owns top of the line roofs so that's a pretty good recommendation).
Also check out the Monarch 3. It's the new model, a step up with silver coatings (brighter) and in a smaller but not too small package. I don't care for the Monarch ATB. It's too short for my hands, but the image is the brightest (dielectric coatings).
If you are new to the bin buying game, here's what you need to know about coatings. There are three coatings to consider when purchasing a bin: Anti-reflection coatings - industry standard is Fully Multicoated but not all bins are FMC, some are multicoated (MC), some only fully coated. Old bins might say just "coated"; these increase light transmission
Then there's phase coatings, already discussed, and lastly prism reflective coatings.
Here's a tutorial on the differences in levels of anti-reflection coatings.
http://www.nightskyinfo.com/binoculars-optics/
Prism reflective coatings, unlike the AR coatings that increase light transmission, reflect light like a mirror and determine how much of the light gets reflected off the prisms.
The Prostaff has aluminum coatings (good, somewhat bright), the Monarch 3 has silver coatings (better, brighter), and the Monarch ATB has dielectric coatings (best, brightest).
If you wanted all the best coatings technology in a roof, you would look for FMC on the lenses, and phase coatings and dielectric coatings on the prisms.
But aluminum and silver coated prisms coatings will work fine (Nikon's mid-tier $1,000 Premier roofs still have sliver coatings), they just won't be as bright if you compared them side by side with a roof whose prisms are dielectric coated (might be noticeable on an overcast day).
In any case, if the Prostaff 7 is within your budget, for birding it would be preferable to the Trailblazer.
Brock
