• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Disappearance of Leupold GRHD? (1 Viewer)

nfbirder said:
I played with the interpupillary lock today, and this is what I found. When the center hinge is open all the way (and the interpupillary distance is greatest) the lock works flawlessly, leaving absolutely no "play". If you close the hinge slightly, the "knob" for the lock becomes harder to twist, and leaves some "play" once set. When the hinge is closed about halfway (or more) the knob becomes extremely fickle, sometimes simply refusing to twist, sometimes twisting with almost no resistance at all (leaving some "play" as before).
Click to expand...

I actually set my interpupillary lock the day I received my binocular (almost 2 years ago), don't remember it being difficult to set, and haven't touched it since. Since the hinge on the GR HD is at least as tight as any other alpha binocular, why not just leave the lock off?
 
Leupold GR HD 8X32

I was checking out www.allbinos.com .... They did a test/review on the Leupold Golden Ring 8x32 HD... They are now ranked number one on the list. They beat out seventeen other makes , including some high end alphas... It is sad that they have been discontinued..... Any thoughts ?

Twobits
 
Twobits said:
I was checking out www.allbinos.com .... They did a test/review on the Leupold Golden Ring 8x32 HD... They are now ranked number one on the list. They beat out seventeen other makes , including some high end alphas... It is sad that they have been discontinued..... Any thoughts ?

Twobits
Click to expand...

You have to go to the main site [Optyzme] and translate to see the full rankings. The 32 mm FL is tops there.
 
jgraider said:
A new, updated GR HD is due out at the end of this year or early next year.
Click to expand...
I have the 8x32 GR HD & Iam amazed at the overall performance of this binocular everytime I take them out. I cannot amagine the glass being tweeked to any higher level. Maybe a lighter model ? Open bridge ? I like the heavier weight, enables me to hold them steadier. I never worry where I take them, I really think I could run them over with my truck , they are built like a tank. Its too bad Leupold feels they have to be ** fixed ** or as I say .. Why try, it was never really broke, they are one nice piece of glass .... gwen
 
gcole said:
I have the 8x32 GR HD & Iam amazed at the overall performance of this binocular everytime I take them out. I cannot amagine the glass being tweeked to any higher level. Maybe a lighter model ? Open bridge ? I like the heavier weight, enables me to hold them steadier. I never worry where I take them, I really think I could run them over with my truck , they are built like a tank. Its too bad Leupold feels they have to be ** fixed ** or as I say .. Why try, it was never really broke, they are one nice piece of glass .... gwen
Click to expand...

From the eyeballing the 8x32 and from reading reviews by owners who returned them because they were uncomfortable to hold, one thing that they might want to fix is the location of the strap lugs. With my big hands, I'd never be comfortable with the lugs being so far forward, at least on the midsized models. The same position on the full sized would probably not be a flesh ripper since there's more real estate.

But otherwise, the Golden Ring series sounds like a lot of bang for the buck. My guess is that Luppy will find some way to jennycraig the GRs, but hopefully not by reducing the size of the prisms. The chassis is already made of magnesium, so that can only mean one of two things - either "plasticy" polycarbonate or a new, open bridge design.

I do like a little more weight to help dampen bad vibes and enough space for my hands, which is why I modified my 8x30 EII, which is now slightly longer than the 10x35 EII and about the same weight.

But I remember the sore shoulders I got from pumping the iron with the full sized HG series at nearly 36 oz. each. I could probably take that much weight in a well balanced full sized porro since the weight would be distributed over a larger area and I could better support the bins with my hands, but in a closed bridge roof, the weight is more centrally concentrated so balance and weight are critical for comfort.

Consequently, the RealFeel weight of the 45 oz. CZJ 8x50 Octarem was less than the 35.6 oz. 8x42 HG.

Hopefully, the thumb indents on the GRs help with the weight. HG/HGL/Premiers don't have any, unfortunately.

Here's what I mean about the strap lugs on the 8x32 GR:

http://allbinos.com/news_image/2765_leu_news.jpg

Brock
 
Last edited:
gcole said:
I have the 8x32 GR HD & Iam amazed at the overall performance of this binocular everytime I take them out. I cannot amagine the glass being tweeked to any higher level. Maybe a lighter model ? Open bridge ? I like the heavier weight, enables me to hold them steadier. I never worry where I take them, I really think I could run them over with my truck , they are built like a tank. Its too bad Leupold feels they have to be ** fixed ** or as I say .. Why try, it was never really broke, they are one nice piece of glass .... gwen
Click to expand...

After despairing of ever finding a 10 x 42 GR HD that had not seen one or more seasons of hunting duty, I gave in and bought the 10 x 32 GR HD "new in an open box" from an eBay seller. And I, too, am astounded at the performance level of this remarkable binocular. Yes, depth of field and brightness are compromised by the 32mm objectives, but the weight is noticeably more manageable than the 42mm versions (I also have the 8 x 42 GR HD and love it) and the image clarity and overall "wow" factor are amazing. It really is a shame this series was abandoned by Loopy.
 
I've been told that the Gold Ring spotting scope will be next to go. the 12-40X60mm.

But I've also heard rumor that this is because they are moving everything to US manufacture? I would be curious to see what came out in 2012
 
TV-PressPass said:
I've been told that the Gold Ring spotting scope will be next to go. the 12-40X60mm.

But I've also heard rumor that this is because they are moving everything to US manufacture? I would be curious to see what came out in 2012
Click to expand...

I could be mistaken, but i think anything "Golden Ring" is manufactured in the U.S.A., except for the optical elements which are sourced from Japan and Europe.
 
TV-PressPass said:
I've been told that the Gold Ring spotting scope will be next to go. the 12-40X60mm.

But I've also heard rumor that this is because they are moving everything to US manufacture? I would be curious to see what came out in 2012
Click to expand...

Did I hear right? Binoculars not just assembled but actually manufactured in the US?

We must be falling into the status of a third world country. :)

Union busting has been so successful that manufacturing optics in the US has become financially viable again!

Well, the rumor seems believable. Honda, Toyota and Kia make vehicles in the US now. Mitsubishi, Mercedes-Benz, Subaru, Nissan and Hyundai also have U.S. plants. Even BMW has a plant in Spartanburg, S.C.

I heard of another company making bins in the US. Some former Loopy engineers, I think. Don't know what happened to that brand. Perhaps they are going to make the new GRs?

I'm curious about why Loopy pulled the plug on the GR HDs when they seemed to be very popular? Allbinos even gave the 8x32 model second place after the much more expensive 8x32 FL!

Hunters won't mind the weight, but I think if Leupold wants to appeal to more birders, they will need to call call 1-800-JennyCare.

B.
 
brocknroller said:
Did I hear right? Binoculars not just assembled but actually manufactured in the US?


I heard of another company making bins in the US. Some former Loopy engineers, I think. Don't know what happened to that brand. Perhaps they are going to make the new GRs?


B.
Click to expand...

I think you're referring to Kruger Optical, located in Oregon. A couple former Leupold employees started that optics company. They do "design and engineer" their products here in the USA, and they own their own factory in China, where the binos are actually produced. However, that is an important point...it's not simply outsourced to a third party company, where it's their own factory. So, they have more control over quality control.

They produce the Kaldera, which has been getting great reviews.

I'm definitely looking forward to see if Leupold releases anything at SHOT show in January, regardless of where it's produced. I'm guessing if they release a new Golden Ring line, it will sell for around $1200, competing with the Vortex Razor HD and probably the Meopta Meostar HD (at least in 10x42, which I'm assuming will sell for about the same).
 
Some of this contradicts some of what I have seen elsewhere. That information said Leupold was developing a new overseas facility of their own. That was the why of the discontinuance of the GR line. How much assembly will be USA I have no idea.
 
Steve C said:
Some of this contradicts some of what I have seen elsewhere. That information said Leupold was developing a new overseas facility of their own. That was the why of the discontinuance of the GR line. How much assembly will be USA I have no idea.
Click to expand...

So perhaps I have the last of its kind; a very high quality binocular made in the U.S.A.?
 
jaymoynihan said:
So perhaps I have the last of its kind; a very high quality binocular made in the U.S.A.?
Click to expand...

I would not place any bets on that one. US manufacturers have not "made" their own optics for decades. The best you have is an early run of Gold Ring from when Leupold was still saying Assembled in the USA. They even dropped that pretense at some point before discontinuing the GR. For a time Leupold was making the chassis and some internal mounting mechanisms, but all the glass came from someplace in Japan. Leupold had a partner in Japan in development of the GR, I think it was Kowa. Look in this Leupold section for posts from "John from Scappose", he's the Leupold engineer responsible for the Yosemite and the Gold Rings. Seems he left in less than ideal circumstances, anyway it might be worth the search.

At any rate I agree it is a high quality glass. ;)

Edit: Now that I think about it, I think Leupold did try to go with the Made in USA track for awhile, when they were making some of the components. They were forced into the Assembled in USA, to finally dropping all reference to source of origin.
 
Last edited:
Warning! This thread is more than 12 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Similar threads

T
Leupold 12x50
Replies
15
Views
1K
Paultricounty
P
R
LEUPOLD 8x32
Replies
5
Views
3K
brocknroller
brocknroller
M
Leica Trinovid 10x32 BN vs HD
Replies
5
Views
667
tenex
tenex
R
Looking to decide on a new binocular
2
Replies
29
Views
2K
tenex
tenex
N
SF 42 & 32 Brief Comparisons
Replies
8
Views
2K
Scott98
S

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top