Review on Midas Binoculars: Waterproof and Durable for Bird Watching - Athlon Optics Gauges by Joe Patterson

I was skeptical of all the rave reviews; This is a real review, I paid with my money. Also, within 10 minutes of placing my order, I found an amazing deal on the best Athlon baskets for not much more money. And they are made in Japan. So I wanted to send Midas back and tell them I made a mistake. Then I made the mistake of opening the package and taking a look. My god, the clarity was something else! I've always had mediocre binoculars at best and felt my naked eye worked better. Why bother with a little zoom when it looks like junk and tires your eyes? I also didn't believe that Chinese production could match the quality of Japanese optics. Well, things have really changed in the last 5 years. I was willing to spend $500 on trash cans that weren't toys, and I reluctantly started doing this because I figured I was being extremely picky and would just send them back if they didn't live up to lore. I am shocked at the optical quality. not just"price", but in general. How do these things get better? I am struggling to find something wrong with the picture. Colors are exactly the same, no fringing, ridiculous detail and focus. The build quality is also first class. I tried Monarch 5 a few years ago and it didn't impress me, especially the matte colors. I think the Athlon doesn't do itself any favors with the low price - it makes people think they're "toy level". They should probably be more in the $400-$500 range. I'm not sending them back but I'm looking at another pair of higher powered tanks now and I'll look at Athlon first as they can now be trusted.