The 10 x 50's arrived today; here are my impressions: Surprisingly heavier and sturdier than I expected. Solid feel, the hinge is not sloppy in the least, and has a smooth motion. It stays where you put it, yet adjusts fairly easily. Standard anti-reflection coatings on the exterior objective and eyepiece surfaces (at least; I didn't disassemble them), appears to be Magnesium Flouride judging from the blue tint. The image is sharp and contrasty. "WA" is imprinted on them, which I assume to mean "wide angle". FOV is stated as 367' at 1000 yards, which translates into about 8-degrees; perhaps a little more. Not bad! (My 7x50s have a noticeably smaller AFOV at around 7-degrees or slightly less.) Eye relief is just barely adequate for me to use them with my glasses on, but thanks to fold-down eye-guards, I can just see the entire field of view with glasses. Without my glasses, there is eye relief to spare. These are a cut above what you'd normally find on the "outdoors" aisle at K-mart or Shopko. They come with a neck strap, soft carrying case with strap, dust covers for objectives and eyepieces, and a cleaning cloth for the optical surfaces. Collimation was dead-on; I could detect no tendency for my eyes to pull one way or the other. After a five-minute session, my eyes didn't feel strained, as they would with a bino slightly out-of-collimation. BK7 prisms. Textured, soft "leatherette" exterior, easy to grip, not a hard-plastic molded texture. Large center-focus wheel, with right-diopter adjustment. Again, the right eyepiece was solid in adjustment and feel, with no slop. The 10X magnification is slightly better than lower powers, in my opinion, for astronomical use, and low enough to hand-hold for an extended period without fatigue. Anything higher and you would need a tripod, but shouldn't with these. Perhaps the only shortcoming I can find is that there is not a tripod-mounting hole on the front of the hinge. These are not binoculars for group-viewing. An intrepid "do-it-yourselfer" could come up with a "cradle" holder for them, using Velcro straps. Alternatively, if you have access to a small lathe and threading taps, you could make a tripod adapter that threads-on the front hinge stud. If I get a pair for myself, this would probably be the route I'd personally take. This pair is destined for donation to SPOC-2. The price can't be beat. At only $19.97 plus a small shipping charge, they compare well to what you'd find in a retail shop for up to $100. If you want to outfit the entire family with their own pair of astronomical binoculars, without breaking the bank, this is the unit you've been looking for. If you want a binocular for a tripod or parallelogram mount, keep looking, or be prepared to kluge-up a homemade holder. Stock #WX2-59237 $19.97 10x50 binoculars http://www.sportsmansguide.com Toll-free order line: 1-800-888-3006 (24/7) Chucks rating: 4 stars (out of 5 possible) Big bonus for price, docked for lack of tripod socket. And as always with Sportsman's Guide, they won't last forever. If you want a pair, order quickly. 15-45x70mm "zoom" review soon! __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - your guide to health and wellness http://health.yahoo.com