I was familiar with Kimmo's review before I got my 82ED, so I was expecting to see a big difference between it and my 78ED. I didn't and I still don't. I respect Kimmo's reviews very much and they generally match my own impressions, but in this case I just don't see it. Yes, I can see a small difference in brightness, but very small, and I don't see that the 82ED has markedly better contrast either. Both my 78ED and 82ED star test as excellent units. I had them out fairly recently side-by-side, the 78ED with the old 30x WF and the 82ED with the 30x DS, looking up into the canopy of some trees against the light. Although the 82ED had slightly better brightness due to higher transmission, I found no practical difference between them. Color is the same. I prefer the handling of the 78ED, so I use it more.
By comparison, when I compare a Leica 8x42 Ultra BA/BN binocular to any of the Ultravid 8x42 series, I see a very noticeable step up in brightness and color fidelity, as well as somewhat better contrast. I know (from current threads in the binocular subforum that others are not impressed with those differences between those bins, but I am. Again, I cannot say the same when comparing these scopes.
--AP