Leupold SX-1 Ventana 2 15-45x60mm Spotting Scope

TERRIFIC scope! 45x is plenty. Most people with x60 scopes rarely use more than x40 power so I decided to go for this smaller, lighter scope. We used it on wolves in Yellowstone this week at distances of 1/2 to 1 mile. This scope is tack sharp. I was able to compare to Swarovski, Vortex and Nikon and this Leupold seems just as sharp at a fraction of the price. The amount of eye relief is generous, even better than some of the Swarovskis I looked through. That makes it easy to use this scope while wearing glasses.

Leupold Ventana SX2 15-45 x 60Wanted a smaller budget scope for wildlife and scenery viewing priced around the $300 range; if you are fussy about optics and want something bright, clear and with decent eye relief, this is the one to get. Tested out some makes from Bushnell, Vortex, Barska, Celestron and all have their compromises at this price point.The Leupold’s image clarity and brightness holds up very well from 15x to 35x magnification; pushing magnification into the 40x or even maxing it out at 45x will obviously see some degradation in brightness but image clarity is still quite good and viewable. This was the biggest difference between the Leupold and its competitors; most scopes are quite useless beyond mid magnification in this price range. Of all the scopes I have tested, the Barska’s quality was the worst; of the 2 Barska scope I tried out and promptly returned, workmanship and QC was spotty at best. The others just couldn’t hold a decent image with anything approaching 40x zooms.The Leupold’s color rendition was also marginally better than the others, but I wouldn’t say it was that big of a difference in this area. Chromatic aberration was nicely controlled and there was minimal discoloration of the images even at the higher magnification. Ultimately being able to hold brightness, clarity and natural coloration is the name of the game here, and the Leupold really held its own in these 3 categories.Eye relief was also consistently better with the Leupold; Celestron and Barska scopes in this price range registered the worst. Even at 45x I never felt images were pin-holed or difficult to view, I also wear prescription glasses and the viewing images through the Leupold is not an issue even at the higher magnification.Physically the scope is nicely made and all adjustment knobs are smooth to rotate with good tactile feel. I purchased the angle version and the scope is mounted on my Amazon tripod sitting in my living room balcony. Not exactly a big buck set up but the scope is primarily used for wildlife, scenery, city and the occasional celestial viewing. A huge portion of my viewing is even done during dawn/dusk lighting conditions and this Leupold performs well.Ultimately this is a very nice budget scope with more than acceptable image quality for $279. If you want something a little better, you’ll have to probably cough up another $100 to $150 for some of the smaller Bushnell or Vortex glass with ED coating. Just don’t think you can do any better in this price range.Happy with my purchase and shipping time was as promised by the vendor. Scope even arrived 2 days early and the packaging was average. Recommended product and I would buy again from this vendor.

If you are a fan of Leupold optics, you will not be disappointed with this scope. The glass is clear, the scope is nice but it does not rotate on it's mounting axis (a negative). The Leupold warranty on this is not so good. You drop it and you are out of luck as accidental damage is not covered.The case is nice, and the tripod is adequate. I'd put my money into a Spotting Scope with ED\HD glass first, and look for one that will rotate on it's mounting axis. Buy a soft case for it like the "Snugfit" sold on Amazon. If you want something a bit nicer, I'd opt for the Creedmoorsports spotting scope cover. Bottom line....This is a nice entry level scope, but you may find yourself wanting something a little nicer after using it.

Disregard the only other review of this product if you are TRUELY knowledgeable of Leupold optics and other long range viewing optics.As he wrote: “If you are a fan of Leupold optics, you will not be disappointed with this scope.” I own a Leupold VXII 3-9x scope. The clarity of that scope at 9x is better than this scope at 15x.This product is not useful at the range or for hunting if you plan on viewing detail at distances. At the range, viewing holes on target at 300yds is the limit. Beyond that clarity is not sufficient.The first day I used the tripod the vertical adjust knob broke clean off, making it useless.Conclusion: pay a bit more money for a Vortex or pay a lot more for a good Leupold.This is a big disappointment because I have had great Leupold products in the past.

I compared this to Bushnell equivalent and it was much brighter and clearer. The real test comes at dusk or dawn and its performance was not comparable to a cheap hundred dollar Porro prism bino. It was much brighter than either two of them.If I had to choose between a Bushnell and this I would, however, choose this one.The Leupold was much clearer and brighter then the Bushnell spotting scope but both were still no match for the cheap Porro prism binocular at dawn or dusk. I seem to find roof prisms harder to focus then porro prism binos for some reason or another.The case (to hold them) of the Bushnell was much preferable and modern looking. The tripod also was better than the Leupold and less complicated to setup. However, both tripods would do the job for a "quickie" better-then-nothing way.Note: In bright sunlight, almost any good bino or spotting scope will work well within its design constraints and give good performance.

For the money this is a great scope. I live in Chicago along the lake. About 2.5 miles offshore there is a water intake crib. At the max magnification setting I can count the number of seagulls on the roof of the crib. This scope replaced a Celestron 70 mm 25x-75x. There is no comparison between the two, the Leupold SX-1 is much sharper out to the max magnification. I use the scope to look out over the lake at very long distances out to the horizon and I don't need anything better than this. It is a great scope.

I haven’t used it at the range yet, but it seems that it will do what I need . It’s a good scope for the money. The reason I gave it a 3 star rating is because of the dent in the case, but the cardboard box wasn’t damaged where it was located. So in my opinion it was packed with the dent already there and not damaged in shipping. Maybe quality control should be better!