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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Alexis Powell" data-source="post: 1304552" data-attributes="member: 5327">I take your general point, but just to set the record straight, Bushnell is the direct descendant of the portion of Bausch & Lomb that produced sports optics and related products, and as you know, Bushnell is very much still in the business of making (or at least designing and marketing) bins.  Furthermore, I don't think it's fair to argue that B&L/Bushnell were/are only concerned with optical excellence.  The original Elite was a standout for its birder optimized optics, but much of that optimization had to do with its specs for eye relief, close focus, and focus speed, not improvements in raw optical quality.  Moreover, the original Elite was also a standout for its superb ergonomics (I wish there were current models with similarly slim barrels and focus knob placement), which did not come about by accident.  The first generation waterproof Elite was also a standout for its radical body shape (too extreme in my opinion) that demonstrated much interest (even if misdirected) in the question of ergonomics and style.  I think you've misinterpreted Pete Dunne's point.  It's not that B&L was any less interested in ergonomics, or Swarovski any less interested in optics, but that by the time the ELs were being developed, top-end roof-prism optics had been so greatly improved (especially w/respect to specs that met the needs of birders) that to make a profoundly distinctive landmark product its designers had to make improvements in optics and ergonomics (with perhaps more room available for improvement/change in the areas of ergonomics/styling than optics, though the EL reached new maxima in both) by optimizing characteristics that previously received little attention because they were inconsequential in comparison to other specs that up until the 1990s were often not good for birders. --AP</blockquote>

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