Leupold Mojave 8x32 - 03/07/14
This is a new configuration from Leupold of their Mojave line. It is a new design, and is a forerunner of the facelift the entire Mojave line will get in 2015. This is a collaboration with Leupold and a Japanese OEM firm. The basic design is Leupold�s, the final product as mentioned, is a joint effort.
I won�t bother with such information as can be obtained from the Mojave�s page on Leupold�s website.
http://www.leupold.com/hunting-shooting/binoculars/bx-3-mojave-series/bx-3-mojave-8x32mm/
There are a couple of minor differences with the site description and the binocular I have. As a general matter, the site shows what appears to be a gray binocular with violet tinged lens coatings. The binocular is black, with gold trimmings and the lens coatings are dark green. The site lists the weight as 17.0 oz., these weigh in on my scale at 19.0, without lens covers or the strap. It weighs 23 oz. with covers and strap. The minimum IPD is listed as 58.0 mm, this one measures 56.0.
Leupold�s MSRP is $429, I see where CameralandNY has them for $349.
I will start off with a couple of objections. I pretty much have to start there, as they are the first two thing you notice unpacking the binocular. The first, and the less noticeable of the two is that the case is too short, something pretty typical in a lot of binocular accessories, and trends across multiple makers. The big thing is the rain guard. It is a stiff, very slick, plastic affair, and it gets pushed down as far as it can go when the Velcro fastener on the case flap is fastened. The slick surface of the rain guard makes a very tight friction seal with the softer textured rubber of the eye cup cover on the eye piece of the binocular. It does not come off easily. I use a case from a Yosemite, put the binocular in sideways, and there is room for the strap to be folded in the case. Any other standard style rain guard that is the right diameter and not made of stiff, very slick plastic will replace the one supplied.
Once the thing is unpacked and freed from the rain guard, you are very likely in for a surprise. While the accessories guys flubbed a little, the optics guys got it right. There are four things that were immediately obvious from first view. First is that for a binocular that does not employ field flattener technology, the field is apparently flatter than any other non-flat field glass. Second, is that the edge performance is as good as the apparent flatness of the field. The third thing is how bright the image is in light limited situations. It will stand in far better, far longer than I was prepared to see it do. Now, 32 mm objectives can�t catch as much light as a 42 mm, but it does pretty well. The other side is how well the image detail and brightness stands up in any condition to various 42 mm binoculars. The fourth thing is how well the binocular presents color and controls Chromatic aberration for a design that does not use ED glass.
To get this one set up, the user will note the right eye diopter is located on the front of the focus knob. It is easy to grasp and pulls outward. The focus is counterclockwise to infinity and moves through one and one half turns. There are three approximately equal in movement, �usage zones� in the travel. This one focuses to the advertised close focus distance maintaining a unified image. It will come about 18� closer if you use a single eye. It focuses from close to 30 meters (100�) or so in one third of travel, using up the first usage zone. The second usage zone takes you to infinity, with the third usage zone leaving ample room past infinity if needed. This will leave most use of the focus in the first whole rotation of the wheel. The focus seems well done, soft without being too soft, and is quite precise. There was some unevenness out of the box but that worked out pretty quickly. Several hours in the freezer do stiffen the focus travel a little, but it remains very usable.
L-Coat
This coating plays a reasonably visible part in the packaging and in general information about this glass. L-Coat is Leupold�s proprietary, new generation, cold fusion, multi-layer prism mirror coating. This is part of the tweaking that went on with this glass. While they certainly will not tell anyone what the secret sauce is, I was told that it is unique in that it uses a silver based compound in the formula at some point in the process. They make this point in their literature as well.
Optical performance
As mentioned above this is a bright glass. Not blindingly bright or standard setting bright, but more than amply bright to give a bright, sharp view. This binocular carries that sharp view very well at the outer limits of 8x usability. It stands up amazingly well in light limited situations and will not be embarrassed by its smaller objective by even a top quality 42 mm binocular. That is probably worth mentioning again, because the difference is less than what we have come to expect. The color balance looks pretty neutral when viewing brightly lit white surfaces through the objectives. In field use, I�d judge it to be ever so slightly warm. There is a suggestion of an adaptive color balance going on here that is worth a mention. The brighter the conditions get, the warmer the balance gets. Personally when the conditions are really bright I think that is a good deal. Be that as it may, the colors are bright, vivid, and appear completely natural. Contrast levels are good enough to snap the colors right out, and varying shades of color appear sharply defined. Stray light issues and glare is very well controlled, practically non-existent. So are reflections from the ocular lens.
The sweet spot appears at right around 90%, and in and reasonably wide 8* degree filed the view is nice and wide. There is little eye strain and it is pretty easy to use for long periods of time.
I've been working this one pretty hard trying to come up with some cons to report, but there really are none. At least with optics and construction, particularly at the sub $500 price level. The optics are good enough they will show it to you if you can expect to get the detail with an 8x instrument. With any of today�s better sub $500 binoculars, the difference with more expensive stuff is more with construction than image detail. Brand panache and recognition play here as well. The technical resolution specs are at least on the level of the high end stuff of very few years ago, and come so close to as precise as the eye can use. The image may well be seen as not as bright as some of the more expensive stuff, but I�m sort of tired about discussing the optics equivalents of��if a binocular is lost in the wilderness, does it still work?� Kind of like arguing over the benefit of 50 fps in your favorite handload.
The new Mojave is of apparently good build construction, certainly on par with anything else in the mid-level range. There is nothing in the build quality I would worry about much. If needed Leupold service and warranty is still top notch.
The stuff I have immediately on hand to compare are in, 8x 32 mm; Theron Wapiti LT, Leupold Acadia, ZRS, Opticron Traveler, and a bunch of older porros, the best of which is the B&L Zephyr 8x30. The Mojave is the best of that lot, with the Theron being closest. The chief difference is the width of the field, and edge performance. I�d say the Mojave is worth the difference.
My personal 8x42 stuff is the Leupold Gold Ring HD, the McKinley, the ZEN Prime HD, the Kruger Caldera, and the Promaster Infiniti Elite ELX ED. I had chances to compare it to the new Zeiss Terra HD, and the Nikon Monarch 7. For me I�d take the 8x32 Mojave over either of the 42 mm versions of the Terra or the Monarch 7.
If you need a really good, sharp, compact binocular with ample resolution ability that performs at a high level in light limited situations for its class size, like dealing with good warranty and service and don�t want to spend a lot, I advise anybody to put this on their short list. At the price it is hard to find something not to like about this binocular.
I won�t bother with such information as can be obtained from the Mojave�s page on Leupold�s website.
http:/
There are a couple of minor differences with the site description and the binocular I have. As a general matter, the site shows what appears to be a gray binocular with violet tinged lens coatings. The binocular is black, with gold trimmings and the lens coatings are dark green. The site lists the weight as 17.0 oz., these weigh in on my scale at 19.0, without lens covers or the strap. It weighs 23 oz. with covers and strap. The minimum IPD is listed as 58.0 mm, this one measures 56.0.
Leupold�s MSRP is $429, I see where CameralandNY has them for $349.
I will start off with a couple of objections. I pretty much have to start there, as they are the first two thing you notice unpacking the binocular. The first, and the less noticeable of the two is that the case is too short, something pretty typical in a lot of binocular accessories, and trends across multiple makers. The big thing is the rain guard. It is a stiff, very slick, plastic affair, and it gets pushed down as far as it can go when the Velcro fastener on the case flap is fastened. The slick surface of the rain guard makes a very tight friction seal with the softer textured rubber of the eye cup cover on the eye piece of the binocular. It does not come off easily. I use a case from a Yosemite, put the binocular in sideways, and there is room for the strap to be folded in the case. Any other standard style rain guard that is the right diameter and not made of stiff, very slick plastic will replace the one supplied.
Once the thing is unpacked and freed from the rain guard, you are very likely in for a surprise. While the accessories guys flubbed a little, the optics guys got it right. There are four things that were immediately obvious from first view. First is that for a binocular that does not employ field flattener technology, the field is apparently flatter than any other non-flat field glass. Second, is that the edge performance is as good as the apparent flatness of the field. The third thing is how bright the image is in light limited situations. It will stand in far better, far longer than I was prepared to see it do. Now, 32 mm objectives can�t catch as much light as a 42 mm, but it does pretty well. The other side is how well the image detail and brightness stands up in any condition to various 42 mm binoculars. The fourth thing is how well the binocular presents color and controls Chromatic aberration for a design that does not use ED glass.
To get this one set up, the user will note the right eye diopter is located on the front of the focus knob. It is easy to grasp and pulls outward. The focus is counterclockwise to infinity and moves through one and one half turns. There are three approximately equal in movement, �usage zones� in the travel. This one focuses to the advertised close focus distance maintaining a unified image. It will come about 18� closer if you use a single eye. It focuses from close to 30 meters (100�) or so in one third of travel, using up the first usage zone. The second usage zone takes you to infinity, with the third usage zone leaving ample room past infinity if needed. This will leave most use of the focus in the first whole rotation of the wheel. The focus seems well done, soft without being too soft, and is quite precise. There was some unevenness out of the box but that worked out pretty quickly. Several hours in the freezer do stiffen the focus travel a little, but it remains very usable.
L-Coat
This coating plays a reasonably visible part in the packaging and in general information about this glass. L-Coat is Leupold�s proprietary, new generation, cold fusion, multi-layer prism mirror coating. This is part of the tweaking that went on with this glass. While they certainly will not tell anyone what the secret sauce is, I was told that it is unique in that it uses a silver based compound in the formula at some point in the process. They make this point in their literature as well.
Optical performance
As mentioned above this is a bright glass. Not blindingly bright or standard setting bright, but more than amply bright to give a bright, sharp view. This binocular carries that sharp view very well at the outer limits of 8x usability. It stands up amazingly well in light limited situations and will not be embarrassed by its smaller objective by even a top quality 42 mm binocular. That is probably worth mentioning again, because the difference is less than what we have come to expect. The color balance looks pretty neutral when viewing brightly lit white surfaces through the objectives. In field use, I�d judge it to be ever so slightly warm. There is a suggestion of an adaptive color balance going on here that is worth a mention. The brighter the conditions get, the warmer the balance gets. Personally when the conditions are really bright I think that is a good deal. Be that as it may, the colors are bright, vivid, and appear completely natural. Contrast levels are good enough to snap the colors right out, and varying shades of color appear sharply defined. Stray light issues and glare is very well controlled, practically non-existent. So are reflections from the ocular lens.
The sweet spot appears at right around 90%, and in and reasonably wide 8* degree filed the view is nice and wide. There is little eye strain and it is pretty easy to use for long periods of time.
I've been working this one pretty hard trying to come up with some cons to report, but there really are none. At least with optics and construction, particularly at the sub $500 price level. The optics are good enough they will show it to you if you can expect to get the detail with an 8x instrument. With any of today�s better sub $500 binoculars, the difference with more expensive stuff is more with construction than image detail. Brand panache and recognition play here as well. The technical resolution specs are at least on the level of the high end stuff of very few years ago, and come so close to as precise as the eye can use. The image may well be seen as not as bright as some of the more expensive stuff, but I�m sort of tired about discussing the optics equivalents of��if a binocular is lost in the wilderness, does it still work?� Kind of like arguing over the benefit of 50 fps in your favorite handload.
The new Mojave is of apparently good build construction, certainly on par with anything else in the mid-level range. There is nothing in the build quality I would worry about much. If needed Leupold service and warranty is still top notch.
The stuff I have immediately on hand to compare are in, 8x 32 mm; Theron Wapiti LT, Leupold Acadia, ZRS, Opticron Traveler, and a bunch of older porros, the best of which is the B&L Zephyr 8x30. The Mojave is the best of that lot, with the Theron being closest. The chief difference is the width of the field, and edge performance. I�d say the Mojave is worth the difference.
My personal 8x42 stuff is the Leupold Gold Ring HD, the McKinley, the ZEN Prime HD, the Kruger Caldera, and the Promaster Infiniti Elite ELX ED. I had chances to compare it to the new Zeiss Terra HD, and the Nikon Monarch 7. For me I�d take the 8x32 Mojave over either of the 42 mm versions of the Terra or the Monarch 7.
If you need a really good, sharp, compact binocular with ample resolution ability that performs at a high level in light limited situations for its class size, like dealing with good warranty and service and don�t want to spend a lot, I advise anybody to put this on their short list. At the price it is hard to find something not to like about this binocular.