When it's time for buying 10x42's, I'm going to take the hour's drive and go to their shop to do comparisions right there.
...and probably much less expensive too...
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I have yet to buy from any of those New York "distributors". Most of my purchases are either from local optic shops, Cabelas or one or two reputable online stores but good point about the potential risk.
Great picture shots as well. I am going to see if I can add a few, if you don't mind, pics of some of the models I mentioned as well.