Thanks again folks. When you say the 'new EL's' - were the original ones cheaper? £1750.00 is rather steep. The 'Hawks' sound a better comprimise. Having never owned a decent pair of bino's it's easy to get carried away. The niggling thing is that, I'll probably never be in a position to afford the expensive ones again. I'm such a spend thrift!! Ok, deep breath....(note to self) sleep on this one.