Minox binoculars, declining quality

I am a great believer in budget optics because I think it’s possible to get
a good quality image from binoculars without paying too much, and it would
be heart-breaking to have binoculars worth $1000s stolen/lost/damaged.

I had a pair of Minox 10 x 44 binoculars I was very happy with, they got a
problem and Minox replaced them. They got another problem and this time
they were out of warranty, but Minox said to me I could have a pair of the
successor model (BV 10 x 44) at a wholesale price, so I took them up on
this.

However, when they arrived I found the optics were markedly inferior to my
old Minox binoculars. I couldn’t get a sharp image, and I guess that Minox
has been cutting corners with lens quality &c. So I am having to return
them.

I’ll have to cross Minox off my list of quality budget optics.

—
John Leonard