Leupold Guide Pro 15-45 Spotter Review

Joined
Jul 24, 2014
Messages
454
Location
Ogden, UT
Due to my father-in-law using his Swarovski ATS 20-60x80mm for an upcoming desert sheep hunt this year, I realized that I needed to purchase a spotter of my own. I've been using his spotting scope for the past four or five years and didn't see a need to purchase one up until this point in time.

I haven't seen a review for this scope yet, and was more than a bit worried because of the lack of reviews. I also wanted to keep the price under $1000 because I have a Swaro available to use (except this year). I called the guys at CameralandNY, who are amazing, and we talked for a long time about these mid-priced spotting scopes. They almost had me convinced to buy the Athlon Ares 15-45 but in the end I went a different route and purchased the Leupold from a different vendor.

The scope came in a nice box and was packaged well. I was a little disappointed in the user manual because it doesn't contain a lot of information, but then again, not a lot of information is needed in a spotting scope user manual.

The advertised weight of the scope was 62.71oz and it came in at that weight on my kitchen scale with a tripod foot, neoprene cover, and lens caps attached. The total kit weight with my Pro Master Carbon Fiber tripod is 105.25oz

I hurried behind my house at 5pm to see how the scoped looked and I was pleasantly surprised. A number of years ago I purchased a Vortex Viper HD 20-60 and didn't like the blueish tint to the lenses. The color through the Leupold looked true to life and I was impressed. I saw a prairie hawk sitting in a tree at 936 yards away and I took a picture at 15 power and 45 power. These were taken with my S8 Active and a tines up adapter.

I wanted to get a low-light look also so at 7:30pm I went outside to get a view of the same tree. Much to my chagrin, I spotted a deer in a neighboring corn field and looked at him for the rest of the night. He was 486 yards away and I kept the spotting scope on 15x the entire time.

The few complaints that I have about the scope have to do with the lens covers. The ocular and objective lenses are connected with a bungee cord and disconnecting clips. Also, the only way to attach the lens covers to the spotting scope is by stringing the bungee cord under the neoprene cover. The objective lens is difficult to remove but hopefully it lightens ups over time.

Overall, I believe this spotting scope is a great entry level piece of equipment that will get a lot of use this fall. I know that I took a weight penalty by going with this scope over the Athlon but I wanted to give Leupold's 'Twilight Coating' a try and I am not dissapointed.20190924_172012.jpg20190924_172149.jpg20190924_193538.jpg20190924_170848.jpg20190924_170929.jpg
 
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Austos12

FNG
Joined
May 29, 2020
Messages
28
Location
Washington
Thanks for the review! Did you feel the resolution got much worse at 45 power or did it stay consistently clear? I have a vortex diamondback spotter that is okay at 40 power but at 60 it turns to junk
 

bobclem11

FNG
Joined
Jan 24, 2020
Messages
19
Location
North Carolina
Thanks for the review, I’m in the market to purchase my first spotter as well, and was looking at this exact one but straight instead of angled. Seems like I couldn’t go wrong with it!
 
Joined
Dec 14, 2018
Messages
696
Location
SE OK
So now can you tell us how it compares to the Swaro.
if you were going on an important hunt, would you want more?
 

Jo83ben

FNG
Joined
Dec 19, 2020
Messages
63
Would love to know how it compares to the Swarovski as well!


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