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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dean L" data-source="post: 1803915" data-attributes="member: 83386">I recently purchased a pair of Leica 12X50 Ultravids from a Leica dealer who was selling them on eBay.  They were a "demo" pair, but had purportedly been kept in a glass display case and never used in the field.  As such, they had the full warranty. Once they arrived, I was immediatlely impressed with the contrast, color richness, and overall sharp image (at the center), but the longer I used them, the more I realized that they had some issues.  The focus wheel was very sticky and tended to move in 'jumps' making a precise focus almost impossible, there was an unusually high degree of distortion in the upper half of the FOV (compared to the lower half), the right diopter adjustment required a 1.5 to 2 diopter shift to match the left (no, it wasn't my eyes), there were some 'spots' in one eyepiece lens and one objective lens that appeared to be imperfections in the coatings of those lenses, and extended use, even while using a tripod or monopod, resulted in eye fatigue.Turned out this pair had been manufactured in 2005, so it had been a 'demo' pair for 5 years before I came along.  After a phone conversation with Leica U.S.A., I composed a lengthy letter outlining in detail all of my concerns regarding the performance of these binoculars and sent it, along with the binoculars, to Leica on March 23rd of this year.  About 1 week after they received the binoculars, a letter shows up stating that all repairs would be under warranty, and I was to sign and return my authorization for them to repair.  On April 19th, much to my surprise, the UPS delivery truck pulls up wanting me to sign for my binoculars.  I couldn't believe they were coming back in less than a month, since two weeks of that time the binos were in transit.With some skepticism as to how thorough the repair might have been, I unpacked them and found a little card inside that had the name of the technician who performed the work and the final test--IN GERMANY!  I immediately took them out for evaluation.  I must say I was flabbergasted at the transformation in the performace of these bins.  Every single problem was addressed.  While I cannot say for certain, the performance is so superior to their original condition that I suspect that the lenses were replaced with the new HD glass.  They are now brighter than before and the CA has been reduced to almost nonexistent, and I'm sensitive to CA.  There is no CA anywhere near the center of the FOV, and only slight at the edges if you look for it.  They exhibit lower CA than any of my 7X or 8X bins, including my Nikon 8X32 SEs.I simply cannot imagine a more satisfying customer service experience.  Thank You, LEICA, for absolutely outstanding service.Dean</blockquote>

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