Inverse porro design sharper than most compact roofs.

I originally considered the little Legends because of the Rain Guard protection--I wanted them for those early morning hunting opportunities when a drizzle made it tough to see out of my regular Nikon porros. What I hadn't expected was that this compact little binocular would provide such a bright picture that I could replace the Nikon's altogether when hunting.

The Rain Guard protection works perfectly--no amount of moisture, whether it's a steady rain or a just a foggy, misty morning, or even my own exhalations on a cold, cold morning can cause these binocs to fog. The optics, though, go just beyond that improvement: the fully multi-coated lenses provide a crisp, contrasty image that captures all the color that my larger 7x35 Nikon's do--even in the gray, half-light 20-30 minutes before dawn.

Beyond that, I wasn't expecting these 26 mm objectives to remain crisp in their detail out to 100 yards or more. I figured that they'd be sharp and well defined from 25 yards in, but thought that like most compacts the image would soften outside of 30 yards. I truly don't believe that I've seen a sharper image than these Legends provide out of any phase-coated, compact roof prism binocular I've ever looked through.

While I'm out hunting, if it's a slow day, I've found that the short focus distance on the Legends let's me get great detail on even the smallest Warblers that I can spot. Getting within 10 feet of a bird to examine the texture of it's wings and the depths of it's colors are a function of my stalking skills--I know that I can count on these 8x26's to get me the best possible view if I do my part.

I'd put these little wonders up against any of the myriad of phase coated compact roofs that cost three and four times as much.