Manufacturers make a balance between contrast and resolution with every scopes. Contrast being the "pop" that you see when looking through really good glass, and resolution being the ability to resolve fine details. Contrast and resolution are constantly at odds with each other. To get one you give up the other to an extent. Nightforce historically has lacked the "pop" of other Alpha glass because they put more into resolution than into contrast. That's what you're hearing when people "complain" about NF glass. It's not that it's not excellent, it is, it's just that it doesn't have the visual "pop" that people look for when they don't know what they are looking at.
Outstanding information, which provides a lot of insight. The last NXS 5.5-22x56 I bought, a friend and I put side by side with his S&B. Both of us were surprised the NXS allowed us to read the writing on paper targets at 100 and 200 yards, which the S&B did not at identical magnifications.
To the OP, I've had both. The VXIII is lighter and less expensive. The NF is better in every other aspect and dramatically more so.
The only Leupold I still own is a fixed 4x on a 22.
