....So it boils down to compromise. The absolute very best optics glass in the world unfortunately comes in some heavy packages. That's fine if you sit in a stand all day. I chose to sacrifice perhaps 1% on optical quality in order to not feel like I've carried a brick around my neck all day. There are some real sleepers out there if you shop and compare. That's the hardest part, because it is extremely hard to make a valid comparison....
I think it's a good summary Keith. Others have also mentioned that besides good quality, it also takes larger sizes, weight. In rifle scopes and related binocular and spotting scope optics, I also think that Japanese optics have made strong advances into the high end optics market.
Some of the value end Japanese optics are very good, but a big problem is consistency. Including european brands, on the high price end, I think a product can be purchased sight unseen with high confidence. The lower the price, the more I think it pays off to try before buying to attempt to weed out a mediocre one.
