Spotting scopes and zoom binoculars

[banjaxed]

I am asking purely out of curiosity why zoom binoculars are regarded as inferior but most spotting scopes have  zoom lenses. Am I right in thinking that zoom binoculars are more difficult to focus than a single zoom lens? 

[Cosmic Geoff]

Binoculars in general have a tendency to go out of collimation with time, usage or knocks (mine did.) Combine this with a zoom mechanism, expect it to stay collimated at all zoom levels, and you have a recipe for trouble. Also note that zoom eyepieces have a smaller field of view at low powers than the equivalent fixed eyepiece.

In short, cheap zoom binoculars should be avoided like Covid-19.

[banjaxed]

46 minutes ago, Cosmic Geoff said:

Binoculars in general have a tendency to go out of collimation with time, usage or knocks (mine did.) Combine this with a zoom mechanism, expect it to stay collimated at all zoom levels, and you have a recipe for trouble. Also note that zoom eyepieces have a smaller field of view at low powers than the equivalent fixed eyepiece.

In short, cheap zoom binoculars should be avoided like Covid-19.

Thank you very much for your explanation and satisfying my curiosity.