The image above was shot near sunset. Those familiar with my reviews may recognize that road. It’s about 800 yards from where I’m standing taking this photo through my camera phone. Note that, given the multiple lenses of these new phones, it’s very difficult to get it lined up just right, so the very clear image above really doesn’t do the Leupold binoculars justice. Even so, the image is outstanding.
I had two other people do a blind test between this set of Leupold BX4 Range HDs, a set of Vortex Fury HDs, and a set of Leica Geovid Pros. Two people couldn’t tell the difference between the image quality of these and the Leicas (the youngest eyes could) and everyone quickly pointed out the superiority of the Leupold glass to the Vortex binoculars.
Lens coatings aren’t cheap, but they make a big difference. Leupold invested heavily in their “light management system” some years ago, and it’s paid big dividends. We did the same test after the sun had just set. In the twilight, none of the glass tested outperformed the Leupolds, for any of the people looking through them.
Jacques put that glass clarity to the test — and to good use — and not just on our Klipsringer hunt. For a change of pace, we took a trip over to the Eastern Cape, looking for bushbuck. While glassing a hill with the BX4’s, Jacques said, “There, bushbuck female.” He walked me into where he was looking, but I still couldn’t find it.
Finally he said, “right there, 700 yards, you can see her ears sticking up in the bush.” Her brown ears, in a brown bush, 700 yards away. I gave him a two-word response before giving up in disgust. Jacques has the eyes of a PH in his 30’s who spends almost no time looking at a screen and whose livelihood is based on his ability to see animals very far away, but I chalked it up to the better glass.