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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Pinewood" data-source="post: 3544233" data-attributes="member: 10255">Hello,I believe that today's budget binoculars are not a match for the alphas of a decade or two ago, but the mid-priced binoculars surely are.  The future is an unknown territory but I think improvements may be rather marginal.  Much of the improvements of the past three decades, including dielectric coatings and phase coatings only brought contrast and transmission levels of roof prism glasses up to the level of Porro binoculars.  ED glass is not the only way to limit chromatic aberrations [CA] but it allows suppression of CA in a more compact binocular.Most optical improvements have started with the alphas and after a few years, the middle priced binoculars incorporate those improvements.  As others have written mechanical reliability and long term customer service seem to remain with the top tier companies.The biggest improvements in binoculars in the last 80 years were:Coated optics, circa 1940Introduction of "B" binoculars with long eye relief for eyeglass wearers, circa 1956.  However, the technology was available but not marketed years earlier.Marketing of roof prism binoculars featuring internal focussing with closer focussing and easy waterproofing, often at the expense of field of view and originally with poorer contrast, poorer resolution and poorer light transmission.Multi-coating, circa 1980.Phase coating, circa 1983 for roof prism binoculars.Dielectric coating for Schmidt-Pechan roof prism binoculars.  N.B. neither A-K prism roof binoculars nor Porro binoculars need such coating.Happy bird watching,Arthur Pinewood :hi:</blockquote>

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