This is the first set of HD glass I have owned. I always stayed away from looking through quality glass since I knew as soon as I did my wallet was going to take a hit. I broke down one day and looked through my father-in-laws binoculars, they are one of the premier brands, needless to say I was in trouble. They were awesome! The problem was his daughter. When I presented her my case, that those premier binoculars were a necessity and the monitary aspect was worth it, that's where she shut me down. So with my head hung low and my bottom lip out I came to the realization those binoculars were probably not going to happen anytime soon. I was telling one of my hunters this story and he just happened to have the Vortex Viper HD 10x42's, he said try these, they are super clear and didn't cost me a small fortune. I was blown away, they were just as clear, comparable in weight and the price was something I figured might have a chance with, on the wife front, compared to the premier binoculars I wanted. Sure enough, 2 years later with hundreds of hours behind them, I am still convinced my Vortex Viper HD 10x42's are as good, for me, as a set of the premier brands would have been. I have put them through their pace's over the 2 years I have had them and they haven't made me regret my purchase one bit. I also know, if I run into any problems with my binoculars the Vortex VIP Warranty will have me covered. You can't ask for a better feeling knowing a company will have your back if you run into problems with your glass. As a guide, that's reassuring when you heavily depend on your glass to help your clients be successful. As a side note, I let my father-in-law look through my binoculars right after I got them, he said he would put them up against his premier brand any day of the week.