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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Alexis Powell" data-source="post: 3609628" data-attributes="member: 5327">They have excellent optics--excellent contrast, better color neutrality than competition, good CA control (probably because of the external focus), and excellent brightness. Other top bins at that time look a little dim now because their silver coatings weren't as good as today's dielectric. With its AK prisms, the 7x42 didn't need and still doesn't need those reflective coatings, so it holds up well.They have excellent ergonomics. Fast precise focus. The slim but long barrels with ribbing and minimal center bridge allow folks with all different hand sizes and holding styles to get a good grip. Not equaled in my opinion until the Swarovski 8x32 EL and later Swarovski 8.5x42 EL Swarovision.At least in the USA, the Zeiss 7x42 BGATP was how elite birders rediscovered the joys of a wide FOV and DOF for birding, especially in forests and brushy habitats. Those birders had been using 10x40 bins (including the Zeiss 10x40 BGATP) for a long while, had forgotten about 7x, and maybe never looked through that new-fangled 8x magnification. It got a lot of love, without most users knowing why, for being a well executed 7x. The only competition early on was Swarovski 7x42 SLC, but that one was heavy, bulky, stiff focus, slightly smaller FOV, not as bright, and until late 1990s had strong yellowish color bias.Why don't the Leica The Zeiss 7x42 BGATP/Classic was not bested by the two later generations of Zeiss bins, only replaced finally by the 7x42 FL, so it was in some sense the pinnacle of its breed and thus is well remembered. Memory of its merits was reinforced by the fact that it hung on and resisted replacement by newer models. That memory only began to be diluted after release of a worthy replacement, the FL. The original EL were awesome, and still are, but they had slow and sometimes stiff focus, and ergonomically were not as good, especially for folks with narrow IPD because they didn't have enough room around the barrels for a wrap-around grip. If the original EL focused and handled like today's ELSV, I think it would be as well remembered. Instead, it is remembered only as a stepping stone to the later EL iterations that better realized perfection as birding tools. Likewise, the Leica 7x42 BN, though well regarded, were heavy and bulky and not as bright as the slimmer, lighter, and brighter Ultravids that were derived from them and that replaced them.Anyway, that's what I think.--AP</blockquote>

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