why doesnt Leupold binoculars have more of a presence in the wild?

[boom]

i see Leupold riflescopes everywhere. they dominate in my circles.

but i dont think i have ever seen a single pair of Leupold binoculars in the wilderness while hunting.

bad PR? are they not that great?
i hated the spotting scope. the shortie squat one.

 

[MThuntr]

I like their scopes but I just don't think their binos and spotters hold a candle to others in the same price range and once you hit $1K other brands are leaps and bounds above Leupold.

I have heard long range shooters poke fun at Leupold's higher end scopes and I have no experience with those scopes

 

[Mtnboy]

My Dad has a pair of 12x50. I'm not sure what model, couple years old, wanna say he paid maybe $800-1,000...they aren't that impressive, lots better options out there for what he spent.

 

[AGPank]

I've read good reviews about the Golden Ring line, but it was discontinued. From what I gathered they were several ounces heavier that deterred some.

The other comment was that the consumer market didn't support paying alpha level prices for the Leupold product vs the typical euro alphas.

 

[CorbLand]

Leupold makes great scopes, some of the best for the price range they are in. Their Binos are seriously lacking. Like most have stated there are better out there for the same price and/or even cheaper. That being said the new Mojave HD that came out a couple months ago are impressive and anyone looking for Binos in the 600 dollar range should really look at them. I am hoping to see a new line of Leupold Binos come from this. I have heard rumors that they are going to be releasing some new Binos, I haven't heard when.

 

[LostArra]

I've read good reviews about the Golden Ring line, but it was discontinued. From what I gathered they were several ounces heavier that deterred some.

The other comment was that the consumer market didn't support paying alpha level prices for the Leupold product vs the typical euro alphas.

I have the Golden Ring 10x42 HD model I purchased used for a great price (NIB condition). Rock solid build, great glass but could easily double duty as a boat anchor. Whew! they are heavy!
Great truck glass. Some folks (eye glass wearers maybe?) don't like the thick eye cups.

 

[WRO]

Leupold pretty much offshored all of their sport optic production. (spotters and Binoculars) So they are no different than the rest of the low to mid range market. Vortex has taken over the low to mid market through excellent marketing. Rumor has it though that the gold rings (american made) will be returning in 2018 as well as a RF binocular.

 

[mfllood3800]

Companies like Vortex came up to the plate with a much less cost and life time warranty.
Most pour money into the spotters and use a "decent" set of binos.
Of course the guns, are the holy grail and the attention needs to be on that set up for sure as it is the end result part of the hunt.

I have leupold scopes, Vortex scopes and I like the vortex turrets better
I have leuopold spotter and vortex spotter, and the leuopold is a bit better

I only have vortex binos as price dictated that for me

 

[GKPrice]

Leupold pretty much offshored all of their sport optic production. (spotters and Binoculars) So they are no different than the rest of the low to mid range market. Vortex has taken over the low to mid market through excellent marketing. Rumor has it though that the gold rings (american made) will be returning in 2018 as well as a RF binocular.

I have a little insider info from Leupold and I hear the same thing for 2018 - One thing about Leupold is they will not rush any of the R&D, never have and I suspect they never will - One other thing is for the past 8-10 years they have been focusing hard on the Military & LE market for more than marketing reasons too, from what I've been told - I've not been overly impressed with the binocs and I don't use spotters so can't comment much - IF there are long range shooters ridiculing Leupold products they must either be newbies or paid by a competitor - IMHO of course (my ass is red enough)

 

[huntsman22]

I have the Golden Ring 10x42 HD model I purchased used for a great price (NIB condition). Rock solid build, great glass but could easily double duty as a boat anchor. Whew! they are heavy!
Great truck glass. Some folks (eye glass wearers maybe?) don't like the thick eye cups.

I have 2 10x42's ans a 10x32 GR. I like the 10x42's better than my swaro EL's......

 

[wapitibob]

I was at a shoot a cpl years ago and a friend mentions he just got his new Gold Ring binos. I handed him my leicas, he looked thru them, turned around and said "thanks for ruining my day".
Their scopes are great for a 300 yard gun or someone that doesn't care about tracking. Their block tolerances are 5x that of Nightforce.

 

[Formidilosus]

IF there are long range shooters ridiculing Leupold products they must either be newbies or paid by a competitor - IMHO of course (my ass is red enough)

Really....? It couldn't be because Leupold variables have the highest failure rate of any modern US issued sniper optic? Their abysmal return to zero, errors in adjustments, failure to hold zero, or the off centered reticles in the Mk6's?


Nah.... must be newbies...

 

[mtwarden]

if Leupold brings back their Gold Ring line of binos I would certainly give them a look (I've owned a couple of pair of Gold Ring binos in the past); there is nothing in their current lineup I would even consider

Their last Gold Ring binos got some very (very) good reviews from a few birding centric sites (and they tend to be a little persnickety with their binos!! ), but they were very heavy (for hunters)- optics very good from everything I've read though

 

[WRO]

Of course the guns, are the holy grail and the attention needs to be on that set up for sure as it is the end result part of the hunt.

This makes no sense to me, I've killed my fair share of big game animals with a rifle, the vast majority of them I could have killed with a 30-30, but a fair portion of them I'd never found without quality glass.

 

[N2TRKYS]

I've had some 10x42 Cascade binos for over 10 years. I've never compared them to anything else side by side in the field, though. They've done what I needed them to do. However, I've always wanted to try Swarovski 10x42s.

 

[kodiakfly]

I used to be a die-hard Leupold guy. My first set was a GR 10x40. I still have them as my truck glass. But since their move offshore, and I don't own a hunting rifle to have a scope on and their CS really turned me off when I had an issue with one of their rangefinders...I'm no longer a Leupold guy.

 

[Blockcaver]

My take on a friends pair of nearly new Leupold 10x42 binos is that they were pretty darn good. It was an overcast day last fall in northern BC and they gave a decent view of a distant bull moose and were "very light and compact" compared to my Swaro 10-42ELs. I do not know the model nor the cost, but they were far from poor optically and undoubtably a pleasure to carry.

As per the 12-40x60 Gold Ring HD spotter, it was also decent optically and usable over the entire power range. The non-HD scope was not as good at higher powers to my eye. (Both are gone in favor of a Swaro spotter now as I like to be able to go up to 60X when you have to age rams and/or determine curl length to be over the bridge of the nose.

 

[8nbait]

I recently bought a set of the 8x42 Mojave BX3 binos. They were on sale at cabelas for $260 and I think it's the best $260 I have spent in a while.