CN FORUMS ARCHIVE Telescope Reviews: Junkfood optics

Did an optical expert spec your binos?

In Dornenburg & Page's excellent chef's primer "Culinary Artistry", they make the point that when it comes to defining the difference between mere cooking and true culinary artistry, less customer choice is often a good thing. At one end of the spectrum one has the fast food places that give the customer the illusion of "having it their way". A bit up on the spectrum are the cafeteria style restaurants that offer a bewildering smorgass board of combinations and choices. Most, consisting of stuff that's been out in a steam table for hours, and most of it offered more for it's homogenous acceptability than for it's actual taste or nutritional value. But, as one moves up into the category of really good restaurants, the amount of customer choice actually diminishes to the point that many of the highly sought after chef's offer only a very few choices of exquisitely select menu options. There's a reason for that. Often the customer isn't in the best position to know what's fresh, or what combinations work the best. There's an artform to combining what's available in the marketplace with what will result in the most pleasing product.

I see a direct corollary to the optics industry. Some of these import companies are simply relying on the Chinese factories to tell them what's available, and then they just pick and chose from an overly long list of combinations that they think people will buy from them. Often, this means that there is never an optical expert involved in making sure that all the specified components will actually perform at their best.

Some time ago, I had one such Chinese optics importer inquiring about what it would take to break into the birding market. He rattled off a dozen possible configurations before I could get a word in edgewise. I suggested that he only offer 3-4 size configurations, but really work to insure that each and every component in whatever he chose to offer was the best that was possible given the source. It's hard to tell whether that message was received or not, as that particular entity hasn't really done much by way of shaking up the birding optics world.

Often, I think offering the consumer too many choices really does little but to confuse the whole larger issue. People get into decision stalling hesistation mode when wondering if the 11x56 or the 12x60 is exactly right for them. Or they worry that 40mm won't quite be the equal of 43mm. Or they worry that the 4mm exit pupil might not suit them as well as the 5mm. When what they should be wondering about is whether the overall quality will live up to their expectations for the amount of money they're willing to spend. The best test of that, is simply to try several different lines to see which suits one's taste.

Make no mistake. I'm not at all against customer choices and customer input. But, too frequently, it seems that the choices offered are essentially meaningless distinctions that don't even address the more central issue of how suitable the individual components are to be used as a package. More and more, I'm coming to the conclusion that binoculars are too complex for the specifications to be left up to the consumer or the importer, or the factory assembly line worker. It takes a good bit of optical expertise to really come up with an award winning combination.

That's really a good bit of what one pays for when moving up the optical tier. Higher quality ingredients and more expertise usually result in a better product. At some level, the amount one pays has a great deal more to do with marketing, branding, snob appeal and advertising, same as with any product. But what's remarkable to me is how much better a product one generally gets if one moves up into the mid-range of expert involvement. That's as true of binoculars as it is of food. Often, the best meals can be found in small, local establishments with a good degree of longterm customer loyalty, and often at prices that aren't much more than fast food.

One doesn't have to pay through the nose for some haughty, critically aclaimed designer chef's approval to enjoy good food. Nor does one have to spend mega bucks on optics to find a satisfying binocular. But in both cases, it takes more than an assembly line worker or marketeer involvement to come up with a worthy product. I would suggest that the step up from the very bottom rungs on both the food and optics ladders are the most meaningful steps. Unlike with food, it's tough to make one's own binoculars, so it makes sense to make sure that there's some expert help involved in the process somewhere.

There's a reason that most of the highend and even many of the mid-range optics companies don't offer every concievable configuration and size. They're not all needed.

Mike Swaim

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18" Starsplitter II f/4.5
8" Hardin Dob f/6
C5 workhorse mini SCT f/10 or f/6.3
70mm TV Ranger dual purpose birding/astro
77mm Leica Televid APO
16x70 Fujinons on UA Deluxe Mt.
12x50 Nikon SE
8x30 Nikon E2s
and many others