Sitkaspruce
12-14-2007, 02:09 PM
I have being using a pair of 8x42 HD through a season of hunting and fishing and have finally found time to post a review.
I am not an expert by any means, but have used binos for hunting, fishing and bird ID for the last 25 years. I have gone from the cheap busnells to the semi expensive Swarovski SLC. As a hunting guide, I get to look through clients glass and do a lot of comparisons. I have now found my (hopefully) last pair of bino's. The Leupold 8x42 HD are the best to my eyes I have ever used. They fit me great, the weight is great for me , the optics are super clear and very precise and they are Leupold.
Here is a list of the pro's and con's that I found.
I compared them to Leica Ultravids 8x42, swarovski 7x42 SLC, bushnell elites 8x43 and a few cheaper bino's.
Pro's
- Brightness- simply amazing, at the last half an hour of dark, the only other glass that was close was the SLC's. The leica's were good as well, but not as clear in the dim light. Was watching a moose at about 200 yards away and the HD and SLC could count tines, the Leica's and Elite's were close but really needed to concentrate to see the tines.
- Clarity- we had lots of "flat" light days for glassing, hard to see in a distance. This is were the HD's really shined. The others were left behind as far as I was concerned. I could see elk at 800-1000 yards and actually see antlers. The others were hard pressed to see if they were bulls or cows. The spotting scope was the only thing that could see better.
- Weight- as I have hand temour and they help a little on the shakes, they helped me as the weight helps steady the hand a little better.
- shape- Fit me just as well as the Leica's did. The big round focus wheel was easy to use with or with out gloves. The twist up eye cups are much better than the old ones and fit my face better. The colour kind of grows on you and after the season I like the colour. The armouring is tough and although I did not drop them, I feel they would take the fall no problem.
- warranty- Leupold enough said
- extras- The bino's come with the usual neck strap and case, but also come with a shoulder harness and a set of eye and objective lens covers. You do not get those with any other bino. I use the harness and it is a good, easily adjustable one. I lost one of the objective lens covers while elk hunting, so will need to replace it.
Cons
- the locking ring- the bino's come with a locking diopter ring so that they stay the same and you can glass one handed. This is a waste of time as far as I am concerned. I have big hands and it was a PITA to even get my fingers in there to lock it. Then when I did and wanted to unlock it, the same thing again. The locking ring was very stiff and hard to turn. Once I had it losened up, it would unlock every once and a while. I can see it being a benifit to some but for me, it was a no go.
- twist up eye cups- This is a problem I had with all twist up eye cups. Keeping them clean, these were especially a pain as they are bigger than some others and very heavily greased so eveything in the bush seemed to gather in the eye cups. I eventually carried Q-tips and cleaned then out all the time.
- Price- I think that all bino's are over priced and do not reflect the actuall cost of the bino's. I got these for a steal, so I am not complaining to much. I believe they reatil for around 1300 in the US. Not sure if they have come down to that price here in Canada.
Over all I am very impressed the the HD's and believe it will take a very different change to make me buy anything else. I am not taking anything away from the others and in fact was going to buy the Leica's from Doug, until i looked through the HD's. Like I said before, this is a laymans review of the bino's and by no means a professional description.
I would recomment this glass to anyone who wants a great a pair of bino's.
Cheers
I am not an expert by any means, but have used binos for hunting, fishing and bird ID for the last 25 years. I have gone from the cheap busnells to the semi expensive Swarovski SLC. As a hunting guide, I get to look through clients glass and do a lot of comparisons. I have now found my (hopefully) last pair of bino's. The Leupold 8x42 HD are the best to my eyes I have ever used. They fit me great, the weight is great for me , the optics are super clear and very precise and they are Leupold.
Here is a list of the pro's and con's that I found.
I compared them to Leica Ultravids 8x42, swarovski 7x42 SLC, bushnell elites 8x43 and a few cheaper bino's.
Pro's
- Brightness- simply amazing, at the last half an hour of dark, the only other glass that was close was the SLC's. The leica's were good as well, but not as clear in the dim light. Was watching a moose at about 200 yards away and the HD and SLC could count tines, the Leica's and Elite's were close but really needed to concentrate to see the tines.
- Clarity- we had lots of "flat" light days for glassing, hard to see in a distance. This is were the HD's really shined. The others were left behind as far as I was concerned. I could see elk at 800-1000 yards and actually see antlers. The others were hard pressed to see if they were bulls or cows. The spotting scope was the only thing that could see better.
- Weight- as I have hand temour and they help a little on the shakes, they helped me as the weight helps steady the hand a little better.
- shape- Fit me just as well as the Leica's did. The big round focus wheel was easy to use with or with out gloves. The twist up eye cups are much better than the old ones and fit my face better. The colour kind of grows on you and after the season I like the colour. The armouring is tough and although I did not drop them, I feel they would take the fall no problem.
- warranty- Leupold enough said
- extras- The bino's come with the usual neck strap and case, but also come with a shoulder harness and a set of eye and objective lens covers. You do not get those with any other bino. I use the harness and it is a good, easily adjustable one. I lost one of the objective lens covers while elk hunting, so will need to replace it.
Cons
- the locking ring- the bino's come with a locking diopter ring so that they stay the same and you can glass one handed. This is a waste of time as far as I am concerned. I have big hands and it was a PITA to even get my fingers in there to lock it. Then when I did and wanted to unlock it, the same thing again. The locking ring was very stiff and hard to turn. Once I had it losened up, it would unlock every once and a while. I can see it being a benifit to some but for me, it was a no go.
- twist up eye cups- This is a problem I had with all twist up eye cups. Keeping them clean, these were especially a pain as they are bigger than some others and very heavily greased so eveything in the bush seemed to gather in the eye cups. I eventually carried Q-tips and cleaned then out all the time.
- Price- I think that all bino's are over priced and do not reflect the actuall cost of the bino's. I got these for a steal, so I am not complaining to much. I believe they reatil for around 1300 in the US. Not sure if they have come down to that price here in Canada.
Over all I am very impressed the the HD's and believe it will take a very different change to make me buy anything else. I am not taking anything away from the others and in fact was going to buy the Leica's from Doug, until i looked through the HD's. Like I said before, this is a laymans review of the bino's and by no means a professional description.
I would recomment this glass to anyone who wants a great a pair of bino's.
Cheers