"Unless you pitted standard and Stage II STP-SE against each other, you'd never suspect that the first obscured anything at all…. As it turned out, it didn't take a silly-money über system to hear that the standard SE's lens still was of lesser magnifying power than Stage Deux’s…. It meant that EJ's parts swaps were most strategic and with it, surprisingly effective…. It all seemed to be about removing minor barriers in whose absence recorded urgency, intensity and directness communicated themselves more strongly…. this is a machine of quiet but true reference calibre!" Blue Moon Award: STP-SE with Stage 2 modification