[mou] Binoculars and pictures from afar...

[Chris Fagyal]

All,

My beloved Bausch&Lomb Elite 10x42's are gone forever.  I accidentally
left them in the rent-a-car I had when I was in Minneapolis on the 11th
and 12th of Sept and they were never turned in to the lost&found at
Avis.  Whomever cleaned the car or rented it after me apparently decided
900$ Binoculars would be a nice addition to their belongings.  Since I
have just spent 1500$ on a trip to Ecuador and another 1500$ on a new
Camera (Canon EOS 20D), I really don't want to drop 900$ to replace the
binocs.  My question is this.  Has anyone ever used Eagle Eye Optics
Platinum Class Ranger 10x42 binocs?  What are your thoughts?  I'm not
looking for suggestions on other binoculars.  I have looked through
plenty of different brands, and have done plenty of research in the
past, so I don't really need advice on what to buy.  I'm solely looking
for personal experience on this brand, as its roughly 400$ and is
something I can more easily justify.

By the way, 50 pictures from Ecuador are on my website now at
www.avianphotos.org if anyone is interested.  Didn't reach my
ultimate goal while I was there, but I did see some 50ish new birds (Not
bad considering I only really went birding full days twice, and only was
in a new area for two days, and only had a guide for 2 of the 9 days as
well.  Mostly a photography trip).  I think overall for the trip I ended
up with 220ish birds, 50ish life birds, putting me at 1374 for my life
list now.  Missed Rufous-bellied Seedsnipe at Papallacta, but got
Ocellated Tapaculo at Bellavista.


Chris Fagyal
Senior Software Engineer
United Defense, L.P. ASD (UDLP-GSD 'til Nov 1)
Fridley, MN (San Jose, CA 'til Nov 1)
(763) 572-5320
(408) 289-3840 ('til Nov 1)
chris.fagyal@udlp.com