I started this post and it began as a question regarding power but has turned into a discussion of quality and low light--all interesting dialogue. Though I wasn't sure about which power I wanted, I do know quite a lot about the quality of optics.

VC1111, I don't know where you found the information on the dialation, but you are correct, 9mm is the maximum, though not everyone can dialate to 9mm. Still, the more power you get the larger the objective needs to be if you care about low light, which is very important to me. I purchased a Swarovski scope and can hunt a full five to six minutes beyond legal hunting time (this may start an argument) which I occassionally do when hog hunting. So, I also want similiar optical quality from my binocs.

I disagree with your comment that most people could not tell the difference between a Zeiss and a good quality Nikon, b/c you absolutely can. I don't disagree, you pay big money for a small amount of improvement, but the improvement is definately noticable. Admittedly, it often requires you have the two binocs side by side, but I guarantee, if you did a test like this, in low light conditions, the difference is amazing.

I have performed many side by side comparisons, with both scopes and binocs, which is how I really know. I do not have the budget for Swarovski or Zeiss, but if i can prove to myself one is that much better than the next, I will save my money and get one. With that said, I have the Swar scope but 8x42 Simmons Presidential binocs, with fully multi coated optics and bak4 lenses that cost $300 (a lot for Simmons products). They are awesome, probably like your Nikons, but they are not Swar/zeiss.