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Message: <blockquote data-quote="spitfiretriple" data-source="post: 1726516" data-attributes="member: 78740">Good point about the monopod/~ location.  Though small low-power bins like these will spend little if any of their time on a monopod/~.Agree that the open bridge design is becoming steadily more popular.  And for good reasons.  But whilst an open bridge clearly affects the look of the bin, I was thinking beyond that, to the colour, texture, and shaping of the bin as a whole.  I myself, for example, don't care for the way that Swarovski, and Zen-Ray, tries to make the double bridge look like a "whole".   I prefer the "two separate sections" look of the Viking and Minox. It seems more honest somehow.Also agree that when the optics are as good as they are, we are sometimes reduced to discussing relative trivialities, such as spaceman names or styling.  Nevertheless, in the world of consumer electronics, Apple is just one of many competing manufacturers, most with innovative and clever products that work well. But Apple goes further than most of its competitors, it demands that all its products don't just work well, but look good and feel good. Apple's success may have more than a little to do with that philosophy...Zen-Ray's situation is rather special, though hardly unique.  It is a new entrant in a mature market.  It has decided, with the ED2s at least, to go for the high end of the market - which is difficult without an established brand name to support the premium prices needed to pay for the premium quality.  Rather than try to establish itself straight away, it has effectively copied the styling of one of the market leaders - Swarovski.  I can understand why Charles has done this.  But now, as the Zen-Ray name becomes increasingly well-known among the cognoscenti, it would be nice to see Zen-Ray's next move be to distance its styling from that of a wannabee.</blockquote>

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