Recently returned from a hunting trip and the guide I had was carrying a different brand of binocular. I had a chance to try them out and I was super excited that I owned some Nikon's instead of the brand he carried. He tried mine as well and I think he wished he'd had Nikon's too. What a huge difference there was in clarity. It wasn't noticable up close but once you got about 100 yards away there was a huge difference and at longer ranges it was even more evident that my Nikon's were the cream of the crop. I know there are some great bino's out there that aren't Nikon but you have to empty the wallet to get them