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Message: <blockquote data-quote="brocknroller" data-source="post: 1499054" data-attributes="member: 665">I don't follow you here, Kevin. Minox bins are designed in Germany, and Germany has the highest wages in Europe, so if they had to design another model, it would increase costs compared to using the same EP design throughout a series such as Nikon did in its SE series. But granted, certainly not as much as it would the production costs if they had to make two different EPs, two different prisms, and two different objectives with different FLs.  That's what Nikon did in the SE series, but as you point out below, unlike the Minoxes, the ER is the same in the EPs in all three SE models.  Odd, yes, but there's got to be some logic to it. The only thing I can figure is that if they pumped up the FOV in the 8.5x model, they would need larger prisms and different FL objectives. By redesigning the 8.5x EP, perhaps they got away with using the same prisms, housings, and objectives, and that's where they realized the cost savings?</blockquote>The same appears to be true of the Pentax SP/ED series. They didn't change the specs, only added an ED element, and considering that the cost to upgrade from the SP to the Pentax ED version is more than $400, you could buy a Hawke, Zen Ray, or Promaster ED for that difference and get a larger FOV to boot! I don't see the value/cost benefit to the Pentax ED. Seems like a ripoff, considering the alternatives available. But just like with automobiles, there's "brand loyalty" in binocular purchases. Someone who owns an SP or more likely an older WP might upgrade to a Pentax ED rather than buy an ED bin from another manufacturer. The other factor might be that there's a stigma attached to Chinese binoculars or anything made in China, for that matter. When I was a child, "Made is Japan" was linked in people's minds as "cheap junk". It took W. Edwards Deming and 10 years of learning quality control to turn that image around in the public's eye (well, the gas crisis in the 70s helped too). China is going through their learning curve, but they have more help from foreign investment than Japan did, and they also have an almost unlimited workforce. So they should be able to come up to speed quicker, particularly if they start applying internationally recognized standards. Poor safety standards have certainly influenced my purchases. I bought a Toshiba laptop last year, and the power cord came with a warning that the rubber might contain lead, and the warning advised that I wash my hands every time after I touched the cord or transformer. I didn't see that until after I bought the laptop and opened the box at home. Had I seen that warning at the store on the display model, I would have looked for another computer (if I could find one without a lead contaminated cord and transformer!). It made me wonder if there might be lead or melamine in Chinese binoculars? Brock[/QUOTE]

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