james holdsworth
Consulting Biologist
The ''un-waterproofness'' of recent Leica bins seems to be more than a few outliers...
In my experience, Leica usually restores bins to like new condition when it services them, so I don't think a new bin is likely to be any better than one that's been repaired. The latter might even be better, if it is checked thoroughly in the course of repair. I had to send in my Leica 8x32 BA just a few days after purchase for a hair that appeared in the view. That was in 1996 or so, and they've had no problems since. I'm not sure how thorough the pre-sale checks are beyond quality control during production. I've also had to return bins to Swarovski, Zeiss, and Nikon for repair shortly after purchase, so this isn't a failing unique to Leica.
--AP
my mate had the inside of his Nocts actually fog up after getting caught in a rain shower, bigggggg issue,
I know we've seen many cases of the Ultravid and poor water resistance in the past but it's really disappointing to see this sort of thing in Leica's newest design. My desire is for the brand do well but I'm continuing to lose confidence in their sport optics.
The trouble with these things is that people understandably report problems (and sometimes they are genuine), but no one reports a non-problem. Given that, and the fact that the sample size is so small, it's easy to get the impression that a particular issue is widespread. I'm no statistician, but I'm quite sure that no self respecting one would assume that Leica have a general problem with poor water resistance based on the reports thereof on BF.
The trouble with these things is that people understandably report problems (and sometimes they are genuine), but no one reports a non-problem. Given that, and the fact that the sample size is so small, it's easy to get the impression that a particular issue is widespread. I'm no statistician, but I'm quite sure that no self respecting one would conclude that Leica have a general problem with poor water resistance based on the reports thereof on BF.
but can only recall seeing one such a report in the older Ultravids/Trinovids and none from other brands, e.g. Zeiss or Swarovski
Were there really "many cases of the Ultravid and poor water resistance in the past"? I can't think of many instances where people reported problems with the Ultravid. OK, Allbinos did, and a friend of mine had some problems with his 8x32, but that's about it. Hermann
Few instruments are waterproof in the long run as seals shrink and harden, as divers often find out as their expensive watches drown...
The Noctivid is a radical new design for Leica it seems to me, I`m not that surprised there are some issues that arise from real world use, any of these can be ironed out for newer production runs, but surely the main concern is how quickly or willingly Leica address these issues for those affected, its this care and service that would be my concern before paying £2k on a NV right now.
Perhaps "many" isn't the ideal terminology, when considering only the cases that we've heard about here at BF. But if I create a loose composite of those cases here at BF, then consider the two flooded Leica optics at Allbinos, (unbelievable in itself) my own leaking Trinovid 8x32 BN (sat overnight in the rain) a friend's fogged up Ultravid non-HD (inside a damp truck cab) and all the scattered cases of fogged or leaking Leica optics on the various shooting and hunting forums, which I occasion, it's a complete enough picture that it's concerning to me. Now we hear of a BF member's fogged NV already?
Swarovski seems to be the predominant high end optics brand here in the desert southwest US, among archers, shooters, and hunters. As a general example, I can't really think of a time where I was at the archery range, or the shooting range, or around hunting camp when someone mentioned a fogged Swarovski. I don't doubt that it happens, it's just that I never run into it with non-Leica optics, including all the different Monarchs in circulation which are also popular here.
Let me be clear that I'm not anti-Leica. I love the history of the brand and still own several including that 8x32 BN, 8x42 UV HD, Televid APO, LRF 1200 and darn, I still miss the 10x50BA that I traded in years ago! These days, I can really relate to what Maljunulo stated, in that I just don't want to deal with sending my optics in for repair work. I feel that Leica is at significantly higher 'leak' risk than my other optics, including my cheap Nikon 7x35 EX's which I routinely run under the faucet.