Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Leupold binos arent that great

Got a pair of Leupolds BX-5 Santium flagship binos in 15x56. I thought theyd be decent to glass farther out than my 10x42 Swarovskis but the Leupolds are like looking thru grey skies. Even my Stryka S7 8x42 binos are like alpha glass compared to Leupold's best offering and i only paid $300 for the Stryka.

Really dissapointed in Leupold compared to other glass and its sad to see other spec's out Chinese and Japanese imports beat them. Sad because you pay for Leupold

I look to different optic manufacturers for different things......for Leupold I have never liked their bino's or their spotters or range finders.......I like Leupolds top end rifle scopes.

For bino's you could never talk me out of my Swarovski bino's........I have several AWESOME !!!!!!!!!!!!
as for their rifle scopes I will pass because of several issues..........never own another !!!!!!!!!!!

For bino's for the money to me Tract is the best buy going

Yep, the Swaros work well with my eye, as does the cheap Styrka. Im extremely impressed with Nikon HG binos for my eyes, but Leupold is pretty bad. Thought id give them a try but theres better out there. Im not a fan of their riflescopes either but ive gotten that nailed down for some time but i was just exploring the bino offerings and came away disappointed.

Ill need to pick up a new pairnof Nikons and try a Tract bino and scope.

I like my Leica binoculars. But I have only one, they were too expensive to ever buy another one.

I actually like my BX3 mojave's. I bought 2 pair of the 8x32's and they worked very well, until last year when they both decided to take a puke. I don't mess with Leupold rifle scopes because I've had too many go tits up. I don't trust them. Now I have to send my bino's in for them to repair and I'm not looking forward to it...

The binocular experts can preach their gospel regarding advantages and criticisms of various binoculars (and some of them may know very well what they are talking about), but the best way to see the difference between good ones and bad ones for many of us is to use a good one extensively for a day or two and then try a lesser one that you thought was good. You'll see the blatant difference(s) immediately.

Leupold "anything" ain't that great.

I really like my BX-3 Majave 8x32's too. I don't know how they would be out West but for my hunting grounds they are great.

I bought my only pair of binos in 1981. I still have them today and like them. they were really good then and still use them quit often.

So true.....

Too much time looking through alpha type binos kinda' ruins a guy when he tries to go back to something else.

You're missing quite a bit then. Glass available today is many times better than anything in 1981.

Kind of a shame, Leupold has gone to the wayside.

Its a shame that Leupold charges mid tier and alpha prices but put out low tier product.

Things proly tougher to make good at 15x vs 8x.

I’ve found the zeiss conquest to be a good bang for the buck book o.

They are great as far as clarity goes. Color and contrast, field of view and weight (17 oz's) is very good. The problem I had was with the left to right focus adjustment. They won't adjust anymore. I used to be able to focus left to right, but now when I try, nothing changes. I guess I better send them in soon, since it's not hunting season. Maybe they will be able to fix them easily, but with both of them going bad, it gives me reason to doubt they will hold up.

The Gold Rings beat the chit outta anything leupold has made, before OR since....

Yes, ive looked at some older brown rubberized Gold Rings some years back and they were quite good and much less in cost compared to the current BX 5 Santium line. Leupold is going down while smaller companies are improving.

I have a pair of 6x30 Yosemite’s that beat the hell out of anything close to their price. So I wouldn’t say they’re all not great. I’ve had others that I thought were pretty good like the BX4 Pro Guides but had an eye cup issue with them on my first trip in bad weather.

For years I used a pair of Kahles 8x42 and they still are good. But I needed a pair that was better for seeing early and late. So I bought a pair of Meopta Meostar 12x50. They are great. But kinda expensive at $1300.00 plus. Still, I have no regrets.