Once I'm satisfied with the quality of view of a bino and spotter, I ask myself three things: Do I think the glass will hold up? Do I think the company will be around years from now?, And is the warranty and CS is as good in practice as is often claimed in the advertising?
Case(s) in point: My beloved 1st gen Bushnell Custom 7x26's are plumb wore out, the lens coatings are scratched and/or flaking, the faux leather is cracked, the damn medallion on the focus wheel even fell off. David Bushnell may not have started the outsourcing to Asia thing, but he probably perfected it. In the intervening 37 years since I bought the 7x26's, Bushnell has changed hands twice and when that happens any possibility of repairing my Customs are long gone. Luckily, I purchased a LNIB identical pair about 15 years ago.
On the flip side, when my 15 year old 2nd gen 7x30 SLC's began growing the Dreaded Crystals, a phone call to Swaro's repair facility--located right here in the USA--resulted in my 7x30's being entirely updated and landing on my front porch three weeks later.
When my 25+ year old 1st gen 8x30 SLC's focus became notchy, they were sent off to Swaro and three days after I put them in the mail I received an email from Swaro laying out two options; Swaro would restore the binocular back to original condition for free, but the email pointedly mentioned that the 1st gen SLC's "were not up to current Swarovski standards", or I could have a full update, including the latest prisms--for $500.
Now, I could have probably found a pair of Asian semi-alphas for $500, but the fact that Swaro has demonstrated to myself and friends the quality of their CS and warranty, and their business model that continues to include the ability to update previous optics makes the choice easy for me. Plus Swaro has gone to the effort of a fullhouse repair facility right here in the USA.
Most of the "new" optics companies are more of a re-seller of Asian optics than a company who makes optics (and yes I am aware the alphas make use of the other manufacturers also), but there is a lot more assurance that some of these optics companies will be around and servicing their optics when others may not be.
I'm decidedly middle class, even for the rural west, and it makes a difference for me to have a reasonable assurance for my investment (regardless if it's a $400 or a $2000 optic I buy) that companies will still be around and actually have somebody who speaks English to answer the phone.
My 30mm SLC's aren't as good as the 32mm Ultravids, Victorys, or ELs I've compared them to, but they are as good or better than the second tier "almost" alphas I've had a chance to look through. When it comes to optics, I have learned from personal experience and through experiences of friends the value of customer service and warranty. I think those things weigh significantly into the equation.
