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Message: <blockquote data-quote="brocknroller" data-source="post: 1645803" data-attributes="member: 665">Ron,This is true with Holger, he usually says the same thing about every bin, and that's in large part, because as an amateur astronomer, as evidenced by the fact that when he ranks "image sharpness" at the end of his reviews what he's actually ranking is the sharpness of the image at the bin's edges. To the best of my recollection, the Kowa was the first ED birding bin he has reviewed. I remember how impressed I was with the first ED bin I bought. I've tried about half a dozen now, and while I'm still impressed with the view, it's not the same "Wow! moment" as the first time. As more and more bins employ the use of extra low dispersion glasses, something else (field flatteners?) will be what impresses people. "Wow! Look at the sharp edges on this EL". "I guess you never looked through an SE before, eh?" <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" />With the Zen Ray 7x36 Holger said: "The contrast and sharpness are excellent in the central region of the image, a tad superior even to the Docter's, and on a same level with the Nikon EII."I have the EIIs and a good specimen is about as sharp as a bin can get, on par with my SE, so that's high praises for the Zens, concluding in his summary that: "This is a quality binocular, perhaps being the best one among those 'Made in China' glasses which I have tested so far..." Of course, a lot of the article was about the much talked about stray light issue, which has now been fixed with a baffle. Considering the Genesis costs $1,200 and the 7x36 he had cost $400 - a difference of $800 - you could buy three Zen Rays for the price of a Kowa, so it darn well better be impressive!  For me, the "rolling ball effect" is the deal breaker with the Kowa. If you see it (not all people see "rolling ball" or are bothered by it), but if you can see and it doesn't "disappear" after a few days, it can be very distracting and take away from the natural view that most birders seem to desire in a birding bins (see the thread about what attributes you value the most in a birding bin). Some manufacturers go to the other extreme and add too much pincushion. IMO, a birding bin manufacturer's goal should be to strike a good balance between pincushion and rolling ball and aim for the most natural view possible. When I look at a bird with a premium 8x32 or 8x42 birding bin, I want to feel like I'm 8 times closer to the bird and not be aware that I'm looking through binoculars because of distracting CA, fuzzy edges, rolling ball, pincushion, flaring, stray light, etc.</blockquote>

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