Excelsis - Display Vote

Leica Ultra 8x32

As others have noted, these binoculars are superbly designed and are wonderful to look through, if you get the right pair. However, when I got my pair home I discovered two optical flaws in the unit -- both eyepieces had traces of printing on the coatings, which would not come off, and one of the prisms in the right tube had bubbles all over the coating, producing a noticeable hazy flare in certain conditions that hadn't been immediately obvious in the store. I immediately returned the binoculars to the retailer, who returned them to the Canadian distributor under the Passport Protection Plan. It has now been two and a half weeks since I took the binoculars back, no sign of a replacement unit yet in spite of repeated follow-up calls, and I am leaving tomorrow on the trip for which I had purchased these binoculars. For the money I paid for these binoculars, I expect both much better quality control at the factory and much prompter service from the distributor. I am very disappointed. I have never experienced this frustration nor disappointment with any other binoculars I have owned, by three other manufacturers, at prices a fraction of the price for the Leica unit. I would otherwise have given the Leica 8x32s a rating of 9 or a 10, but not after this experience - I think a rating of 5 is being generous.

Overall Rating: 5
Weight: 1 (Unreliable Vote)
Date: 10/05/2000 05:59:56 am PST
By: Anonymous (xxx.xxx.165.48)
Link to this vote: http://excelsis.com/1.0/displayvote.php?voteid=41480

>As others have noted, these binoculars are superbly designed and are wonderful to look through, if you get the right pair.  However, when I got my pair home I discovered two optical flaws in the unit -- both eyepieces had traces of printing on the coatings, which would not come off, and one of the prisms in the right tube had bubbles all over the coating, producing a noticeable hazy flare in certain conditions that hadn't been immediately obvious in the store.  I immediately returned the binoculars to the retailer, who returned them to the Canadian distributor under the Passport Protection Plan.  It has now been two and a half weeks since I took the binoculars back, no sign of a replacement unit yet in spite of repeated follow-up calls, and I am leaving tomorrow on the trip for which I had purchased these binoculars.  For the money I paid for these binoculars, I expect both much better quality control at the factory and much prompter service from the distributor.  I am very disappointed.  I have never experienced this frustration nor disappointment with any other binoculars I have owned, by three other manufacturers, at prices a fraction of the price for the Leica unit.  I would otherwise have given the Leica 8x32s a rating of 9 or a 10, but not after this experience - I think a rating of 5 is being generous.  


Get the Nikon 8x32SE for 1/2 the price with better performance and almost no chromatic abberration.

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