leupold vs swarovski vs zeiss

[bugs n bones]

Is it really worth the extra money for a swarovski or zeiss in the spotting scope department over the leupold?

[Bigshooter]

Which leupold model?

[bugs n bones]

The golden ring 60 power

[Bob33]

Generally speaking the image will be better.  Whether or not it is worth it depends on your requirements and your eyes. For a rifle scope I would say no. For binoculars, yes.

[Bigshooter]

The golden ring 60 power

If you have never used Swoarovski then I think the Gold ring would be fine.  If I was you I would check out Vortex.  I like all of the higher end Vortex glass over any of the Leupold glass I have looked through.  And price is compareable.

I've never looked through any thing made by Zeiss that I liked.

[hunter12]

Bought Swarovskis last year. They are by far the best glass. I had leupolds which were good but even close to Swarovski.  The sticker shock is only bad part. They are also little heavy.

[Bob33]

I have a Leupold Gold Ring HD 12-40x60mm spotting scope, and a Swarovski 20-60x80mm scope. Is the Swarovski better? Slightly, yes. However, I use the Leupold more because it's smaller, lighter, has a wider field of view at its lowest power, and more eye relief. I think the biggest difference and the best justification for alpha glass products is in binoculars.

[bugs n bones]

Just trying to make up my mind on which spotting scope to buy

[Bigtine96]

You get what you pay for, if your looking in swarovski route the 65 mm with a 25-50 wide angle lense is the way to go. I compared it side by side with the 80 mm and you couldnt tell the difference. Checkout bearbasinoutfitters.com they have the best combo packages and price I have found.

[norsepeak]

Not worth the money.  I've used just about everything out there and keep coming back to my gold ring HD Leupy spotter.  Smaller, lighter and very good glass.

[bugs n bones]

Not worth the money.  I've used just about everything out there and keep coming back to my gold ring HD Leupy spotter.  Smaller, lighter and very good glass.

thanks norse

[Bean Counter]

I am from humble beginnings and now blessed with a good job. I am  still frugal and I don't think I'll ever shake it. I still shop at the Goodwill. Buy used cars. Still clip coupons, etc. I would look for a good deal but at the end of the day, not settle for cheap optics. I don't regret even the worst deal I've got on glass. Blow a lot of money on this one and don't ever look back.

I would only buy a spotter with HD glass. I love the wrap around focus ring as opposed to the small thumb knob. I think if I could do it over again id get something in the 50-65mm range rather than the 82mm that I have right now. Just a little too heavy for 2 mile pack ins that I have done with it. Top contenders on my list would be Swaro HD 65, Nikon 50mm, and Vortex Razor if they make a small one. 

Enjoy the search!

[go4steelhd]

Yes they are worth the money! If you want to see every detail. If your not using it at daylight or dark or looking under 800 yards you will not see the difference as much. Set them up 15 minutes after day light looking to see if its a spike bull or a three point buck there is no comparison.

[Crunchy]

Last year I purchased the Swaro 65mm spotter.  I wouldnt pay for HD glass in the Swaro spotter, I just dont know how it could get more clear than their standard glass.  I got the 20-60 eyepiece, but I rarely zoom much further than 50.  Leupold glass is ok, if you just looking for ok glass, and they do have an excellent warranty.  Vortex glass is similar to Leupold unless you get into their Razor line which is good glass, but not as good as Swaro at nearly the same price.  Go to a store where you can put there different spotters on a tripod and do the comparison yourself so you know where your money goes.

[jjhunter]

I owned the Leupold gold ring and STS 65 at the same time.  Swarovski is head and shoulders above the Leupold.  Especially when the thermals come up and you are looking into shade.  I also owned the STS 65 and STS 80 HD at the same time.  You can see the difference in some conditions.  I wouldn't say that there was a much of a difference, though.

To tell the truth, I have never been impressed by any spotter.   Put a pair of 15x56 SLC on a quality tripod and you have impressive!

[teanawayslayer]

Just purchased the Swarovski ats 65 hd. Bar far hands down the best glass on the market. Thanks to JJ letting me look through his spotter a few years back. Was never the same since. Took me a while to rathole some cash. But finally got it. Had to hide it from the miss. Well worth the wait.

[lewy]

  I had a leupold gold hing hd and was pretty happy with it, esp. the size, then my truck got stolen and it was in it. Having swaro binos and loving them and there customer service I bought a swaro spotter on the second go around, it is no doubt better glass but is larger and heavier. Other than size one other thing I do miss is being able to back off to 12x instead of 20x, but then again I like being able to zoom to 60x instead of just 40x. IMO they are both good scopes......

[teanawayslayer]

Is it really worth the extra money for a swarovski or zeiss in the spotting scope department over the leupold?

if you get over to cle elum get a hold of me and you can take look.

[lewy]

One other thing to add.....the focus is so smooth on a swaro you can do it with one finger and not jostle the image were on the leupy it feels like ur twisting the lid off of an old jar of peanut butter........

[h2ofowlr]

Just stick with Leupold so you don't end up spending more money after using Swarovski.  Trying to save you a bunch of money here.  I made the mistake of buying a Swarovski scope and it has cost me lots of money since then as I have been outfitting most of my rifles with them. 

[Don Fischer]

I looked through my first Sawrovski scope ever yesterday. Not impressed even a little. For what the things cost I expect a difference I could actually see. As far as the quality of craftsmanship, Leupold is guaranteed forever, tuff to beat! Matter of fact I've got two Nikon's with a lifetime guarantee no matter who owns the scope. After looking thru the sawrovski I am left cold by the high dollar import's. For thaat matter, I was at Nightforces place in Kent, Wash when they were just getting going, no longer in Kent as I understand it. I saw nothing in them that would tempt me to spend even half what they want for one.

[Big Horn]

Not worth the money.  I've used just about everything out there and keep coming back to my gold ring HD Leupy spotter.  Smaller, lighter and very good glass.

I agree 100%

[bigsads]

Vortex makes great glass, I would look into one for the money, and the warranty

[washelkhunter]

You can pay for American capitalism or you can pay for european socialism.

[BULLBLASTER]

I recently bought a vortex viper hd spotter in 15-45x60. I really wanted the razor hd but couldn't hack the dough... I looked at leupold and nikon as well and found my favorite to be the vortex. Didnt look into swaro or zeiss as they were out of my budget. If I had the coin I would have looked though.

[BULLBLASTER]

I took this pic through my spotter with my cell phone over the weekend at 550+ yards.

[Fishmasterdan]

I cant believe people still buy non American made items these days when a nice American made product is available!!! Should not even be a comparison.

[Steve C]

I cant believe people still buy non American made items these days when a nice American made product is available!!! Should not even be a comparison.

Care to educate us on just what optics are "American Made" these days? Binoculars, spotters, and rifle scopes.   You might be surprised at the answer.  The last ones I am aware of are the Baush & Lomb Zephyrs from when B&L was in Rochester New York.  That was back in the 60's-early 70's.

[Fishmasterdan]

Buy as much American as you can. Leupold (oregon ), USO(california), night force(Idaho), trijicon(michigna) all good companies that  try and do as much USA as they can to stay competitive. I agree not 100% American but more than swaravski or Zeiss.

If you are in the market to buy a scope please try and buy as much American as you can, as well as rifles and anything else you put your money into. We all know how difficult it can be sometimes to stay USA made but a little research can help.

Choice leupold, swaroski, zeiss. Which one is the most USA friendly. Leupold!!!

[Taco280AI]

Don't look through Swaros unless you're actually going to buy them. Once you look through them you'll realize nothing else is nearly as good

[Reet]

Swarovski spotting scope was one of the best purchases I have ever made. Hard to justify to the wife, but worth the money for sure. I've had 2-400 scopes before, and all I can say is that if you spend a lot of time glassing, then spend a lot of money. IMO. My binos were expensive as well, but anyone that has spent a lot of time looking through 50 dollar binos, take a glance through an 800 + pair and you'll most likely agree. Yes there are some good optics for less, and depending on a persons vision, a lesser investment may be adequate, but for me and my money the higher the quality of the optics the more time you can spend behind them. If I can't I.D. an animal with my binos, I break out the scope and see if it's something worth pursuing or not. I've seen animals on the other side of a canyon, work my way closer to find it was a doe or cow. With the scope I can determine that right away, and see the tic's on an elks back

[Steve C]

Buy as much American as you can. Leupold (oregon ), USO(california), night force(Idaho), trijicon(michigna) all good companies that  try and do as much USA as they can to stay competitive. I agree not 100% American but more than swaravski or Zeiss.

If you are in the market to buy a scope please try and buy as much American as you can, as well as rifles and anything else you put your money into. We all know how difficult it can be sometimes to stay USA made but a little research can help.

Choice leupold, swaroski, zeiss. Which one is the most USA friendly. Leupold!!!

Leupold is just like any USA optics company.  The best you get is assembled in the USA.  I don't think any USA glass is used in any of today's sporting optics.  There is a plant owned by Schott in the USA that may make some Nightforce stuff.  Other than that virtually all sporting optics glass, aside from the European alphas, has glass from Asia.  That means China, Japan, Malaysia, or the Philippines for the most part.

At the present none of the Leupold binoculars or spotters are even assembled in the USA.  They might reintroduce an assembled in the USA new Gold Ring line, but at present there are no Gold Ring binoculars.

The closest thing to a USA Optic is going to come from Kruger Optical.  They have a factory in Sisters, Oregon.  They own their own glass manufacturing plant in China (Pacific Rim Optical) and own their own assembly facility in China.  So the final product is under direct Kruger Optical from the drawing board to the packaging.  Others have varying control from design to package, but none of it is made here.

[go4steelhd]

I have used all three.. Go with the swarovski.. It's the best... Then you never have to upgrade. What you will gain with it is clarity at long range, in low light they really stand out.

[coachcw]

swaros are the best but heavy, my compromise was the Nikon .

[Bigtine96]

I carry my swaro everywhere, it doesnt bother me anymore than my old leupold did.

[Fishmasterdan]

Not trying to get into a pissing match, but Leupold employ's 700 people in oregon.
Swarovski employ's 700 people in Astria
Zeiss employ's 24,000 in Germany.

As stated before buy as much american as you can. I don't by into they are all made at XXX place. There is still alot of people that make there living with USA companies.

[Crunchy]

Not trying to get into a pissing match, but Leupold employ's 700 people in oregon.
Swarovski employ's 700 people in Astria
Zeiss employ's 24,000 in Germany.

As stated before buy as much american as you can. I don't by into they are all made at XXX place. There is still alot of people that make there living with USA companies.

If Leupold made glass like Swarovski I would have bought it.  But they don't.