Basic plumbing question

[dnd]

I'm planning on putting together a basic pot still head for my first build. A foot of 2" out of a sankey into a 1/2" ID liebig (more or less the same thing Kentucky Shiner sells @HBS). In layout out the parts list, and looking at other people's builds I've noticed something. A lot of people assemble their non-reflux still heads with the same basic pattern:

column up out of the boiler -> 90 degree elbow -> reducer -> blah blah blah

That's as a general theme that seems to hold true for a lot of the different builds I've looked at. Looks something like this (forgive my lame sketchup skills):

Elbow before Reducer.png

What I'm wondering is: why the larger elbow? But I can't help but notice that a 2" copper elbow is about 10x the cost of a 1/2" one. Wouldn't this layout be a lot more economical?

Reducer before Elbow.png

In both cases, the vapor turns a 90 degree corner and gets reduced from 2" -> 1/2".

Reason I ask is that a 2" elbow is about 10x the cost of a 1/2" one.