When a company like Leupold has a 100 years of experience with manufacturing a wide range of optics like binoculars, range scopes, spotting scopes and more, you can expect them to have a solid lifetime warranty on all of their products. These engineers have refined optical components and purged the interior with nitrogen to ensure the highest quality lenses available.
Leupold Compact binoculars are favorites of mine. Because I use binoculars for field explorations and work I want something lightweight, durable and compact and easy to pack. The Olympic Compact Dual Hinge Series is one I consider worth looking at. It folds really small for packing. These compact binoculars weigh less than 15 ounces.
For practical reasons, I need to compare these with Leupold’s Katmai Compact binoculars. These have full-size features yet only weigh 18.9 ounces and are only 4.1 inches long. Like the Olympic series they have fully coated lenses. This is essential for good light transmission and contrast as well as clarity. Both types are waterproof and have rugged casing. I recently learned that all Leupold binoculars are fog-proof and waterproof. The engineers have ensured that all of them are purged with nitrogen to provide the highest quality in optical preparation.
Both the Katmai and the Olympic Compact Dual Hinge Series come with in black casings. An added feature for the Olympic series is the optional mossy oak tree camo colored casing. You will need to choose between 8×25 or 10×25 with the Olympic series. Both of these sizes fit my compact criteria. My preference is 8X25 because it is easier for me to scan the field at that magnification than it is at 10×25.
Leupold makes so much information easy to find at their website and in their printed materials that you can compare binoculars very easily. I found specs and potential applications very quickly at their online site.
Both of these Leupold binoculars are superb. It is primarily a matter of personal preference and perhaps size that will make the difference for your purchasing decision. By size I refer to the distance between your pupils relative to the interpupillary distance of the binoculars. Both are about 60-70 mm. The difference between the exit pupils is less than 1 mm. I really like the Katmai because it uses full-size components in a sturdy compact optical instrument.
Another characteristic that distinguishes these two Leupold binocular series is how close they focus. At 4 feet away the Katmai binoculars are still giving you good focus. But the Olympic close range focus stops at about 8 feet. Most often I would not find that a problem. Rarely do I need to see a bird closer than 4 feet anyhow! Butterflies are another story.
The Katmai Compact Binoculars are available in 6×32, 8×32 or 10×32 magnification. I like 8×32 because they are comfortable and sturdy enough to be my primary binoculars. I wear glasses and the Katmai compact has full size eye cups which is a great feature. I do not know how anyone could make a wrong choice buying Leupold binoculars. They are all such precision optical instruments.
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