Leupold Glass Discoloration

[NrthFrk16]

Lightly used VX3i, have always kept covers on but noticed this today. Is it a scratch? Or manufacturers issue?

 

[RockAndSage]

That looks like hell man...but it's hard to tell what's going on from that photo. At first glance it looks like a coating's coming off in small spots, but that could just be an artifact of the image, not the reality. Can you get a closer shot?

 

[NrthFrk16]

Yeah. There are two distinct areas of funkiness. Circled in red.

 

[RockAndSage]

Yeah...that's pretty rough. Hopefully Leupold will cover that under warranty. What are you using when you clean your optics?

 

[NrthFrk16]

Cool. I’ll drop them a note. I tend to use what I use for my glasses, and that is just a microfiber cloth.

 

[hereinaz]

At least some of it looks like you need to clean it with an appropriate liquid lens cleaner to me. Not sure about the other part of it.

 

[NevadaMike]

I looks like it just needs a good cleaning with the right stuff. I assume you have done that so I would get it sent off to Leupold. They have awesome customer service and will get you fixed up either way.

 

[Macintosh]

it looks like some residue from getting it wet and then drying, ie there were dissolved solids in the water that solidified ont he lens when it dried.

 

[PiperFM]

Try cleaning it before you send it in…

 

[TaperPin]

Cleaning with lens cleaner is a good first step. If that lower haze isn’t removed, it kinda looks like a lens fungus. If stored in high humidity a fungus can grow on the glass and actually etch the surface - that’s the haze often seen in really old optics. Unfortunately, the lens would have to be replaced. Googling “lens fungus” will tell you all about it.