Spotting Scopes...opinion of Leupold Gold Ring

catorres1

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May 16, 2014
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I am doing preliminary research on spotting scopes, as I hope to purchase one in the medium future. It will be used from a pack..IE I will be carrying it, hopefully into Elk country.

I am not able to afford a Swarovski. Just not possible in my tax bracket.

One other point, I wear glasses and have alot of astigmatism, so I must view through my glasses, I can't focus and get a clear view without them. I've tried and it does not work.

I have looked at Cabelas Euro (Meopta), the Leupold Gold Ring, and an 85mm Razor. The Razor's eye relief was too short to work for me...as I got to the higher powers, I could not see a whole picture, even pressing my glasses against the eye piece. Maybe there is a longer eye relief choice there, but it appears to not work. Plus, it was recommended to me that it is too heavy for my use. Is the 65mm Razor any better in terms of eye relief at higher power?

The Meopta was beautiful. But the clerk I was with who has a lot of experience hunting (and uses Swaro these days) suggested it was a bad choice to haul around in a pack. It's price was too much for me as well, though sometimes it goes on sale.

So the asked what I planned to do with it, and when I told him, he suggested the Leupold. He said he always suggested this one (other than Swaro), as it is light and tough. Eye relief was great. He claims it is popular with a lot of high country hunters.

Any thoughts and other models/brands to consider? I had Kowa on my radar until I was told (and read) that the eye relief is even less than on the Razors.
 
We bought a Leo back in 97 for the wife to use for bird watching. I was using a Pentax 65mm at the time. The Leo is a great scope and especially since its a lot lighter than many.

Just recently I put my Pentax up for sale and bought an 80mm Zeiss. Needless to say the Zeiss is GREAT but its like carrying a bazooka thru the woods because of its size
 
Ive had a Leo since they about first came out,have a small 20x also.It is my most used scope,because it 32 oz. and about 12'' long.My big Kowa 774 gets least use.Like the Kowa with my 30 wide eye.Can find the leos used for 500-600 bucks lot times
 
I was looking at one of the HD models. How does you Leupy do vs the Kowa? Especially at low light. I know the Kowa is ahead, but how much and what do you miss out with the Leupy, where are you limited?
 
Mine is not hd but at a 3rd the price it is not bad at all.When you go past 30x its not as clear and my Kowa goes to 60x but you need real good conditions to glass that high,30x about my normal range.The leos does loose at low light to Kowa but it is just last minutes and usually past legal in my area
 
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