Lastweek we got in the 8x32 and 10x42 Merlins. I picked up the 10xs and WOW I believe I have a new favorite all around pair of binocs (was the 10x Monarchs). Perfect weight, size and the clarity and detail were SUPERB!!! Our store is atop a hill and overlooks a busy area of town. About 1k yards down the street is a bank with 4 drive thru lanes. With the 10s I could read the small white lit "OPEN" signs above each lane. A Lowes is over a mile away and completely on the opposite side of I-40 from us. We could read the entire sign and all the letters below the logo (lol does anyone actually even know there WAS such wording?). The 8s were nothing to get excited about, just a "decent" pair. But man the 10s were to die for.

I havepair of 9x40 Bighorn Steiners that I use in the woods. They are great binos (they are porros) but they are in danger of being retired for these Merlins. I wouldn't worry about the lifetime warranty vs a 25year from Steiner. Steiner is THE largest European binocular maker in the industry and isn't about to let a customer down. As for the Doctor, I just can't say that I was impressed with ANYTHING of theirs. Sure they may be in an old Zeiss factory. But that doesn't mean they are Zeiss quality. I could build Yugos in a former Lexus facility but that wouldn't mean anything unless some quality labor and machining was used. The optical quality of Doctor is below VX1 and Prostaff IMHO. The images were fuzzy anywhere other than DEADCENTER of the view. That's another thing I liked about the Merlins, the image quality out on the side of the view was just as crystal clear and sharp as the center. THAT is the true measure of great optics. I honestly think that Meopta is MUCH BETTER with respect too mid-level priced optics than Doctor. I was playing with a R1 3x12x56 Meopta the other day and it was hands down better than the equal sized Doctor I was shown by a rep lastyear.

Good luck,
RA