Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Quality of old Leupold Gold Ring IF binoculars

Any opinions on these 10-15 year old bino's? I have heard they were made by Leitz/Leica.

Last time I saw a set in the field they were 35-40 ft. in the air <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> They fogged on my partner and he is not very tolerant of gear that doesn't work. He may still have them....but only because he didn't say "pull" before flinging them. He bought Zeiss and has never looked back. Just the only set I've seen, your mileage may vary. 1ak

I have a set of 7x35. Excellent binoculars. I don't understand why more IF binos aren't made. Seems like they would have far fewer alignment problems.

I have a pair of 7x35 Gold Ring IF bino's which have regularly been used from Alaska to central China and they are excellent. Even here in SE Texas they have remained fog free and clear.

The country of origin is most likely Japan.

If you look very closely you will most likely find a small Japan which has been stamped in the objective housing and then had black finish applied over it. On my pair it is difficult to see.

I have not been able to find any information on the origin of the glass, it is excellent, but the frame is stamped Japan.

I'll note that Leupold's current Wind Rivers seem to be OEM'd from Cannon and that is not a bad thing. A hunting guide borrowed my compact 8x23s and liked them so well that he still has them <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

I used Muledeers Gold rings on a deer hunt in Montana in the late 90's. If I remember, they were 10x40's. We took a bunch of optics out each day so we didn't have to use the same ones. They were sturdy but optically they were second rate. My Porro prism Fujinon's were much clearer. These old Leupies are not phase coated and just aren't in the same league as the newer stuff. Look through the new Nikons and Pentax!

Leupold did sell some compact 8x, 20 (or maybe 7x, 20) Gold ring bino's that had a striking resemblance to the Leitz 8x, 20 Trinovid BC compact bino's....some said then that they were made by Leitz and branded by Leupold. Don't know if this was true but certainly Leupold made the short lived Leica riflescopes (eg branded Leica Ultravid) for Leitz - perhaps there was some reciprocal arrangement . I have a set of the Leica Trinovids (they are labelled as made in Portugal) and they are ok.....the newer "P" coated binos are definitely superior than these older (pre - "P" coated) ones are.
AJP