I'd be wary of taking a pilot's subjective impressions as superior to a technical analysis of the optical system. Pilots may be competent users of these system

I'd be wary of taking a pilot's subjective impressions as superior to a technical analysis of the optical system. Pilots may be competent users of these systems, but they are not experts at anything beyond flying their missions, in general. Experience as users is not the same as expertise under unusual conditions.