To each his own, but when you look at the birding sites (which is one of the best places to go for binocular reviews) Vortex is always one of the top recommendations when ~ $1,000 binoculars are the topic of discussion. We own Swarovski, Leica, Zeiss, Nikon - including EDG II binoculars, Leupold & Unertl optical instruments and we also own and use Vortex products and recommend Vortex products as being among the best performers in each market niche (e.g. price point) they offer products in.