Hi, I've been using the Leica Ultravid 12 x 50's for almost three years now. I borrowed the first 'demo' pair to come into town in order to check them out and after waiting more than a year and a half for another pair to get here, I finally bought the ones that I had been using all along.
If anyone is thinking of moving up to a set of 12 x 50s and wonders if they will be able to hold them steady or locate a bird easily without scanning madly in all directions, I'd be happy to answer your questions.
Out here on the west coast of Canada where a lot of the birding is done looking out to sea through clouds and mist, these are the greatest bins. I previously used a lovely old pair of B & L Elite 10 x 42s but I found that I often had to reach for the scope to see everything that I wanted to see.
The Leica 12 x 50s have been a real joy. Everyone had warned me that I would never be able to hold them steady but that was never a problem for me or for anyone else I loaned them to. The field of view is a little reduced but the picture is so clear that I feel like I am in it, instead of peering down a tube to look at the bird. Even after it is too dark to tell the colours of a bird with the naked eye, the Leicas let me see what I'm looking at in colour, giving me the gift of an extra 30 minutes of birding at dawn and another 30 minutes at dusk.
I really love my Leicas when I have left the scope in the car and can still get a good view of a bird that jumps up in front of me. I don't have any trouble scanning with them. In fact, the 12 x 50s are so good that my partner wants a pair now - either another pair of Leicas or the new Swarovski El 12 x 50s. Has anyone out there made a comparison between these two bins? I'd love to hear your views about which is the clearest and easiest to use.
If anyone is thinking of moving up to a set of 12 x 50s and wonders if they will be able to hold them steady or locate a bird easily without scanning madly in all directions, I'd be happy to answer your questions.
Out here on the west coast of Canada where a lot of the birding is done looking out to sea through clouds and mist, these are the greatest bins. I previously used a lovely old pair of B & L Elite 10 x 42s but I found that I often had to reach for the scope to see everything that I wanted to see.
The Leica 12 x 50s have been a real joy. Everyone had warned me that I would never be able to hold them steady but that was never a problem for me or for anyone else I loaned them to. The field of view is a little reduced but the picture is so clear that I feel like I am in it, instead of peering down a tube to look at the bird. Even after it is too dark to tell the colours of a bird with the naked eye, the Leicas let me see what I'm looking at in colour, giving me the gift of an extra 30 minutes of birding at dawn and another 30 minutes at dusk.
I really love my Leicas when I have left the scope in the car and can still get a good view of a bird that jumps up in front of me. I don't have any trouble scanning with them. In fact, the 12 x 50s are so good that my partner wants a pair now - either another pair of Leicas or the new Swarovski El 12 x 50s. Has anyone out there made a comparison between these two bins? I'd love to hear your views about which is the clearest and easiest to use.