I have been following this thread, which seems to re-appear every year or so, with interest. The majority of the complaints about Leica seem to be the result of lack of care or maintenance by the owners, or physical impact. The equipment in question in all cases are consumer level products and it is quite unrealistic to expect them to withstand any abuse thrown at them. If you want bins that will withstand abuse, you need to go to military spec gear, such as the Steiner Military R range, which you can literally run over them with a truck and they will still be in collimation, as a video on Steiner’s web site shows.
I am not a Leica user & never will be, as I think they are over-rated and over priced. I just think it is not fair to bag a brand when the problem is with the owners. As for making a warranty claim for damage from physical impact, well isn’t that what insurance for?
Cheers,
Carl Clifford
On 07/03/2011, at 9:31 AM, Greg Little wrote:
Jonny
I too am a happy Leica owner, with no complaints. Have had my Leica BN 10×32 binoculars for 9 years and use them every week for work and play. While they are well made and robust I look after them and can only imagine that eyepieces popping off and screws rusting are from mishandling, accident or abuse.
Greg Little
