Originally Posted by
Murdy
"If you are going to buy a pair of binoculars that is made in the same factory with the same glass and a comparable warranty, do you want to pay double the price for the name that's on the box?"
No, but, you say "comparable warranty" -- can an upstart really have a comparable warranty to an established company with the resources to stand behind their product and the likelihood that they'll be around to back it up? Probably not worth double, but it's worth something.
Absolutely. One thing you get from those upstarts that you may not get from big companies is personalized support. Even as a dealer, it can be difficult at times to get through to somebody at some of the larger companies and have an issue taken care of quickly. Not naming any names, but the corporate structure can be very frustrating.
The companies in the US that are considered upstarts, like Bresser, Minox, Vixen, etc., are really just US divisions of parent companies that have been around for a while. Bresser, for example, has one distributor in the US. But they've been operating in Germany since 1957. Minox has been making cameras since the '40s. Vixen started in 1954, but was only known as Vixen as early as 1970. So I wouldn't say they're fledgling upstarts, rather they are just new to us.
Don't get me wrong, there's definitely some companies out there that scream "STAY AWAY!"
