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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Alexis Powell" data-source="post: 3495643" data-attributes="member: 5327">I know it wasn't your intention, but this reads to me like pretty damning criticism.And it seems, from your description, that you do!I'll give them a try, but it seems that the Noctivids aren't quite there when it comes to elegant, mature, considered design as a "whole package" birding binocular. Too bad. Surprising too, as I'd think that Leica would know these things. We've seen a lot of very good bins in the past that don't quite get it right. Some examples off the top of my head: Nikon 8x32 SE with its poor hang, low ratio and stiff-in-cold focus, eye placement issues for some users; Canon 10x42 L IS with its weight and odd ergonomics; original B&L 8x42 Elite with its too high focusing ratio and contrast issues; original Swarovski 8.5x42 EL with its painfully low ratio focus; original Zeiss 8x40 Victory with its poorly placed strap lugs, contrast issues, and plastic feeling focus/diopter; new Swift 8.5x44 Audubon with its too flexible ocular lens yoke. You might say that every bin has its failings for some users, which is true. What bother me are design flaws that could have been avoided without compromising the bin's utility for those who get on with it regardless. Some of the above models were fixed with mid-model updates. I'm looking forward to the next incarnation of the Noctivid.--AP</blockquote>