kuduae:
The reason I posted "In that context..." was because that advert was for a No.615, not a No.605K.
...and it seemed very unusual not to have listed the 8x57 there.

In agreement with everyone here, I too am having difficulty accepting the stupidly-high asking prices for what is after all pretty standard hardware. I object to paying what I call "Covid Tax"!

The high-end stuff will always command a premium though, usually well-deserved, covid or no covid.