Steve C
Well-known member
Leupold had a booth at the Sportsman's Show and the had just about all of their current binocular lineup.
Northfork. These are Japanese, and the optics are very much like the MonarchX and Vortex Razor. They advertise them as slim hinge. They are a nice ergonomic package. I think they are a little better than the Gold Ring, and I think that the GR and NF will shoot it out for the top spot in the Leupold line. There was still no one in the Leupold booth who had the first clue as to why the hinge design is like it is. The Northfork does not appear to be the flimsy thing the pictures show. You will have to be extremely picky not to like the image, but it is not quite as clear and sharp as the ZEN.
The Rogue is a nice porro glass. The glass appears to be better than what I recall from my brothers Mesa, but it is very nice. No idea if it it replacing the Mesa or not, but the Mesa is still in the catalog
Olympic Double Hinge is a really nice 25mm pocket size binocular. It is $325 US for the 8x25. It has a 273' fov.
The Yosemite is getting some new finishes. There is a camo finish, a Blaze Orange camo and a pink camo. There were lots of little girls liking the pink.
And finally the actually had the switch powers. The images of these were actually better than I expected they might be. They are better than the Katmai and Pinnacle they resemble, but almost but not quite as bright as the Gold Ring and the Northfork.
The 10&17x43 are a bit light and will be OK at 10x, but there better be a tripod handy for 17. I was pretty taken with the 7&12x32. It is right there with the Swift 7x36, and is surprising bright and sharp and hanholdable at 12x. I might have to shift some binocular inventory around and give these a go.
I won't put a lot of stock in a bunch of quick expo comparisons, but, the new Northforks and the Switch power are on my list of to try out binoculars.
Northfork. These are Japanese, and the optics are very much like the MonarchX and Vortex Razor. They advertise them as slim hinge. They are a nice ergonomic package. I think they are a little better than the Gold Ring, and I think that the GR and NF will shoot it out for the top spot in the Leupold line. There was still no one in the Leupold booth who had the first clue as to why the hinge design is like it is. The Northfork does not appear to be the flimsy thing the pictures show. You will have to be extremely picky not to like the image, but it is not quite as clear and sharp as the ZEN.
The Rogue is a nice porro glass. The glass appears to be better than what I recall from my brothers Mesa, but it is very nice. No idea if it it replacing the Mesa or not, but the Mesa is still in the catalog
Olympic Double Hinge is a really nice 25mm pocket size binocular. It is $325 US for the 8x25. It has a 273' fov.
The Yosemite is getting some new finishes. There is a camo finish, a Blaze Orange camo and a pink camo. There were lots of little girls liking the pink.
And finally the actually had the switch powers. The images of these were actually better than I expected they might be. They are better than the Katmai and Pinnacle they resemble, but almost but not quite as bright as the Gold Ring and the Northfork.
The 10&17x43 are a bit light and will be OK at 10x, but there better be a tripod handy for 17. I was pretty taken with the 7&12x32. It is right there with the Swift 7x36, and is surprising bright and sharp and hanholdable at 12x. I might have to shift some binocular inventory around and give these a go.
I won't put a lot of stock in a bunch of quick expo comparisons, but, the new Northforks and the Switch power are on my list of to try out binoculars.
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