oldelkhunter

Yes and No is the answer. If you hunt open areas and use your binoculars all day long they will be marginally better then the other two. For the person who just uses the binos for occasionally scanning his/her area the other 2 brands will be plenty of bino for the occasion.
The gap between the high end euros and the rest is getting closer by the day though. A few years back when I bought the Leica 8x42BA's after looking at all brands they were the best I had ever looked through, their build is simply untouchable no other bino will passes the submersion test like they do. Currently if you read reviews and look thru binos and not take a manufacturers advertising to heart there are plenty of good brands out there and one Japanese brand that surpasses even the best Euros. That would be the Nikon Venture . These are truly great glass just a little bulky for my tastes. Pentax has introduced the WP Sp's which are super binos not quite in the euro class but close enough that the difference will be extremely minimal. Zeiss is about to release a new full size bino that will be in the Japanese price range and should be a winner(summer introduction) . There are a lot of choices out there and the gap is narrowing big time. Personally I am waiting on the new Fullsize Zeiss to come out. Swarovskis are way overpriced for a bino that is built on a Polycarbonate chassis I have not been impressed by their SLC line and their claims about swarobright are baseless. Their El's are nice glass but too long for my tastes and I wonder about their build quality.

thndrchiken

I can remember when there was only one name to say, Steiner. Like Oldelkhunter said the market is really narrowing.

crazydd4

I think its definately worth the price, I have swavorski el 10x42 and they are incredible I think they are better than the leica 8x 42 I have as well. As the people before have said it is an investment that will last a lifetime.

Sharp Shooter

I like Bushnell

Carpmaster

I am extremely happy with my Nikon Monarchs, they are hard to beat for the $$$$. If I was gonna spend more I would buy the docter roof prism's they are absolutely awesome, I was really impressed with them there is a difference in clarity and quality as good or better than the Swarovskis I think!!

cherokee_outfitters

I don't carry big bino's in the field. I like compact nikons. With all the stuff I carry guiding it's just too much. When I'm taking out a mule deer hunter I will take the big Swaro's. Those little ones will give you a headache looking through them hours on end at bucks.

eck

I recently bought a pair of the Weaver Grand Slams in 8.5x45... and I have been VERY pleased with them. Unforfunately I can't compare them to any of the high end stuff... as I've never owned or used them in the field. My guess is... they would compare pretty well.

What attracted me to them is they won the NRA Best New Gear Introduced in 2002 award in the Optics category. I haven't regretted my purchase one bit. The extra half of power over a standard 8x is nice... as is the extra 3mm over a standard 42mm objective... equates to better twilight performance as I understand it.

I paid $347 for 'em last year... which I believe is still a good price for a VERY fine pair of binoculars. I just checked... and they currently sell for $349.50 at the same place I bought mine.

FWIW, the suggested retail is $600... and Cabela's sells 'em for $430... as a barometer.