Did you consider / try the 10x50 model? BTW, diopters aren't really about eye "dominance", they're about compensating for focus range limitations (ex., maybe your left eye can't focus at more than 5 or 6 metres, even though it's "dominant" at arm's length, and your brain actually relies on it more for most kinds of work).
I watched Halley's Comet through an awesome Celestron telescope on Bald Eagle mountain in PA. I don’t think I’ll be able to make the next one..lol Celestron makes some of the best optical equipment out there for the money. It’s highly underrated, or maybe people just don’t know.
Celestron has a wide customer base and product range, on the bottom of that base there are allot of people who don't understand optics, jump on a product offering often mismatched or on the lower cost side, end up getting frustrated, and it creates some negative sentiment which you describe as "under appreciated". The same won't be common for Zeiss where the optics are more expansive and people who buy those products for that kind of money already know and understand what they are doing.
Can you handhold a 10x42 for garden birding or do you keep it on a tripod? I am trying to decide between 8x vs 10x for garden birding mostly. I would like to see more detail too but not sure if 10x will be too much magnification to have a pleasant viewing experience.
I personally have no problem with 10x42 they are small and light and bright and easy to hold. Now if you were to try and take pics and vids through them with an adapter then you would need a tripod for steadiness since you wouldn't be holding them against your head. BB
