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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Troubador" data-source="post: 3324378" data-attributes="member: 109211">Brock got it bang right here. Everyone has their own level of what they are prepared to spend on stuff. Some folks spend their wad on a big house, or an expensive car or holidays or hi-fi or whatever or just putting food on the table and paying the rent. This includes optics and everyone will have their own personal limit on what they are prepared or able to spend on them. That is reason enough for bins at different price levels to exist.But there are other reasons too. I have seen plenty of folks toting  telescope and tripod around (which they use as their primary optics for critical identification of birds) carrying 32 mm bins and using them mainly as spotting instruments and making good use of the wider FOV that such instruments often have. Carrying a scope and tripod and perhaps even an alternative eyepiece (and lunch and drinks) they perhaps chose a mid size to save weight and bulk. Same with photographers carrying a camera and several lenses. I carry 32s when I plan to do lots of photography of flowers and marine life in rock pools as laying down on top of a 42 is not fun whereas a 32 is tolerable. And don't tell me I should take the bins off and put them down somewhere safe. I know. But I don't because when I get down there something interesting always seems to fly or swim into view and the bins that I put down safely are always a dozen yards away because I have moved around to find better subjects or better views.And then there are outdoor activities folks like hikers, kayakers and cyclists who all seem to carry their bins in their packs and who like smaller and lighter bins (not folding) that come with rainguards and objective covers to protect both ends inside a pack full of stuff. Mid size is the choice I have seen them make.Don't forget also that many ladies and some men too just prefer mid-sized because they just feel more comfortable with something smaller and lighter.There must be many more reasons too: me, I love my 42s to bits but I love my 32s just as much.Lee</blockquote>

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