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Message: <blockquote data-quote="brocknroller" data-source="post: 3246065" data-attributes="member: 665">Troubledor,Dr. Dobler was with Swaro back in 2003, too. Everybody makes mistakes. I'm sure he won't hold it against you.  <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" />I agree with James that its nuts that an assessment of a bins' optics boils down to the sharpness of the last x% of the field of view. But as you know from reading these forums, for some birders that's exactly what it boils down to, even more so for amateur astronomers. Read some of EdZ's technical reports on Cloudy Nights where he measures edge performance in thousandths of arc seconds out at various points from the center using double stars to test resolution. Of course, I would I expect that with stargazers, but it surprised me that this spilled over into birders. I wrote a post recently that recalled when I first came on BF and mentioned edge performance, I got jumped on and one member said something to the effect, "You simply center the bird, my boy." As mentioned, my "big assumption" about most SV EL owners not changing brands over the SF (or from SLC to HT) is based on comments from Swaro owners on these forums and on Optics Talk and 24hrcampfire bin forums. Swaro, more than any other brand, attracts very loyal fans (some might even say fanatical). You've been around long enough to have witnessed the battles I've fought with the Defenders of Absam. You got caught in a skirmish on the Leica forum when someone who shall not be named (Fox Mulder will name that man) made what you failed to see as exaggerated claims about Swaro bins. An elephant never forgets. Until you can get "insider information" that suggests otherwise, I think it's fair to say that most Swaro owners are not fickle, and that's probably even more true of hunters than birders. Of course, there are some Swaro owners who go whichever way the wind blows, but those are the exceptions, not the rule. You and James are the main "cheerleaders" for Zeiss on these forums, but there are many more cheering for Swaros than Zeiss (although in thread count, Nikon is the "Egyptian cotton" of the bin forums, with 1,093 threads vs. 811 for Swaro and 886 for Zeiss). Even though I find some Swaro fans annoying because they refuse to admit to any flaw, I have to admire Swarovski for creating that kind of blind loyalty in buyers. That's exactly what every company's marketing dept. wants, but Swaro manages to do it better than others. This has nothing to do with whether or not the SF is "better" than the SV EL, since that is subjective, as you, yourself, admit, but a matter of how advertising and marketing can get inside buyers' heads. When Mike was still posting on here, he admitted that Zeiss had some improvements to make in the way they marketed their products (remember the number of days late clock on Zeiss's website?). Maybe since they have, but it might be too little, too late. Brock</blockquote>

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