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Got new binoc's - Leupold Wind River Mesa 8x42 (1 Viewer)

Paisley_Tx

Well-known member
I was wondering if anyone had any reviews or input about Leupold's binoculars. I just bought a Wind River Mesa 8x42 binocular. It uses center focus porro prism, is waterproof, field of view 34.1 (ft @100yards), min focus 16.4, weight 26.5.

I'm new to birding and didn't have alot of money to spend on higher dollar binoculars, even though these are alot pricier than alot of lower ended ones. Mostly I'll be using it for birding (backyard & field), and other uses, but mostly birding.

Anyone used these before? I loved the field of view and precision (when viewed in the store, in low light situations) was pretty sweet. But then again this is the first time I've really tried out binoc's in order to compare before buying. Oh, and I wear eyeglasses, which these worked well with.

As competition, I was looking at the Eagle Optics, Denali 9x32 binocular. Not sure what type of prism it was.

thanks!
 
Paisley_Tx said:
I was wondering if anyone had any reviews or input about Leupold's binoculars. I just bought a Wind River Mesa 8x42 binocular. It uses center focus porro prism, is waterproof, field of view 34.1 (ft @100yards), min focus 16.4, weight 26.5.

I'm new to birding and didn't have alot of money to spend on higher dollar binoculars, even though these are alot pricier than alot of lower ended ones. Mostly I'll be using it for birding (backyard & field), and other uses, but mostly birding.

Anyone used these before? I loved the field of view and precision (when viewed in the store, in low light situations) was pretty sweet. But then again this is the first time I've really tried out binoc's in order to compare before buying. Oh, and I wear eyeglasses, which these worked well with.

As competition, I was looking at the Eagle Optics, Denali 9x32 binocular. Not sure what type of prism it was.

thanks!
How much were those? I'm thinking about getting a new 'pair'.
marcus
 
$170 at Outdoor World. I got to use them in the field today, I really liked them, but again I dont' really have anything to compare to since this is my first pair (other than some ol cheapo's I've used).
 
I had never seen any Leupolds. Checked out some at a sports store, 10x50. I think it was this same series. Theye were fairly bright. I have checked out some 10x50 porros for the heck of it, and never really liked any. These I liked. I think the close focus was more like 20 feet rather than 29 feet, to me.

I currently use 8x40 Nikons, and do not like the 10x50 Nikons that much. If I had a need to move from the 8x40s to 10x50, these would be a top contender.

My porros are mostly for winter and warblers, so the Nikon 8x40s will do for quite a while. I did not have any 8x42 Leupolds to look at then.
 
10x50 Leupold Mesa's

Paisley_Tx said:
I was wondering if anyone had any reviews or input about Leupold's binoculars. I just bought a Wind River Mesa 8x42 binocular. It uses center focus porro prism, is waterproof, field of view 34.1 (ft @100yards), min focus 16.4, weight 26.5.

I'm new to birding and didn't have alot of money to spend on higher dollar binoculars, even though these are alot pricier than alot of lower ended ones. Mostly I'll be using it for birding (backyard & field), and other uses, but mostly birding.

Anyone used these before? I loved the field of view and precision (when viewed in the store, in low light situations) was pretty sweet. But then again this is the first time I've really tried out binoc's in order to compare before buying. Oh, and I wear eyeglasses, which these worked well with.

As competition, I was looking at the Eagle Optics, Denali 9x32 binocular. Not sure what type of prism it was.

thanks!


I had a pair of Leupold 10x50 Mesa's which are sold at Walmart on sale for $170.00. They are excellent binoculars of the porro-prism design. I thought they were one of the best low end binoculars at the time. But since then I have compared them to the Canon IS 10x30, Canon IS 8x25 and the Nikon Monarch's 8x42's and all three of these binoculars were way above the Leupold Mesa's. I took my Nikon Monarch's into Walmart and compared them side by side with the Leupold's and the Monarch's blew them away.
Reallistically, if you look around you can get either the Canon's or the Nikon's for about as cheap as the Leupold's. For example ,I got my Canon IS 8x25's for $150.00 and my Nikon Monarch's 8x42's for $180.00 both on Astromart. I guarantee you they are heads and heels above the Leupold's in sharpness and FOV.

Dennis
 
Yes, the price was a little high comapred to decent 8x40s of many brands, but for a 10x, the Leupolds were bight.
 
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