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John, I hope you don't mind if I make a few comments here. (PM me if you do.)
I think a lot of people are put off by the < 50mm aperture. Needing a minimum of 50mm aperture for astronomy is a misconception IMO. I use Fujinon BFL 8x42 and Pentax PCF 8x40 binos for star hopping and hand-held binocular astronomy and find them to be the ideal size. Here is why:
* I find 10x50s too shaky for hand held use, and 8x power is a lot more usable.
* 7x50s have over 7mm exit pupil so in practice they function more like 7x40s. An 8x40 will show more stars than a 7x50, except for young observers under dark skies.
* 40mm binos are lighter and more comfortable.
At the sale price these binos are a steal. If I did not have two pairs of the same size already I'd jump on them.
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