He's just a little guy.
Hey guys, Todd Helms out here today
to bring you a full break down and review
of the new Leupold SX-4 Pro Guide HD
This model happens to be the 15 - 45 x 65 mm
It's a spotter, its a good one and I'm going to point out all the features
and reasons why if your in the market for a new spotter,
you need to be looking at this new Leupold SX - 4 Pro Guide HD.
Alright, so we are out here today overlooking a big basin somewhere in beautiful Wyoming, antelope scouting.
A lot of the other guys in the office have great elk tags or deer tags,
I've got an antelope tag. So I am out here this morning with the SX -4 Pro Guide looking for bucks, basically.
I found a little guy. Yeah, he is just a little fella.
But Hey, this is a huge basin, as you can see, there is a lot of country out here to look over.
The Leupold spotter is going to help me do that.
I chose the 15 - 45 x 65 mm because I wanted a scope that wasn't so big,
that i couldn't take it into the back country easily.
You can hall around a 85 mm scope in the back country,
but you are going to feel it at the end of the day.
The SX - 4 Pro Guide 16 - 45 x 65 mm is a great balance of powerful spotting.
These antelope Im looking at are 2000 yards away.
I can see all the features i need to on that buck;
even in this harsh sunlight, to know, he's not really what I am looking for.
I have spotted a few more antelope past that shadow on the ground from the cloud.
There is a buck out there, probably over a mile;
with all these heat rays, this scope is still clear enough and sharp enough
that I can tell, that is an antelope I want to come back and look at later this afternoon.
Lets break down some of the features about this spotter
that I think, make it top of the line in its price point.
First of all, you've got a fully rubber coated magnesium body.
The magnesium body keeps this thing light, but maintains structural integrity and keeps it tough.
So if I were to, Heaven forbid, take a spill off this thing
or knock the scope over and it was to take a tumble,
cause I know that I am not the only one that's dropped a spotter in the back country.
This scope is going to be tough enough to survive and keep me right in the game.
So, it has an integrated sunshade. I just pull it out
I've been using this a little bit this morning, already.
Because, the sun in really high in the sky, kinda coming down. if it was further over hear on my left.
I would definitely want the sunshade and leupold knows that and they make it integral.
All I do is push it back in when its not in use and when I want ot use it, just pop it out.
It slides really nice and smooth.
Its also got nice and tight fit, so there is not going to be a lot of grit or dirt that gets in that thing.
Moving up the scope, my focus ring is right here on the body of the spotting scope.
This is, in my opinion, the ideal location for a spotting ring.
It is a natural hand placement.
When I need to focus my scope and really make those fine adjustments.
I am sure I am not the only one, that in using a spotting scope,
I have found that focus rings, whether they are on eye piece or they are on the body of the scope,
they can be, if they are too loose,
That focus ring gets bumped really easily and you have worked really hard to get an animal or an object in very sharp clear focus
and all of a sudden it gets bumped, it out of focus and you have to find that again.
I have found that its not only nice and firm, but it turns really smooth.
The range of focus is pretty forgiving on this scope.
There is not a real small window.
In a lot of spotting scopes especially in this price range
The focus window for perfect clear focus is really small
You go too far just a little bit one way, and your out of focus.
you come back and sometimes it can be hard to find that sweet spot.
I have not found that with this.
Leupold really put some thought into the design and production of that focus ring in particular.
Moving up the scope, you can tell this is the angeled version of the scope.
It has my power selector right here on the eye piece. Again, much like the focus ring,
Very smooth, very easy to use.
Its not too stiff, that I'm really struggling to turn it, but its not so light that its going to get bumped either.
15 - 45. When I first stepped up on this vantage.
I turned it down and I was just doing some quick scanning.
I started close, then I moved out far and I just kept scanning on 15 power.
Because I could se what I wanted to see.
The antelope that I found right out here, I actually found on 15.
Got my focus right and zoomed it into 45.
Fine tuned my focus just a little bit of a touch.
And I could take a look at this buck out here with these does.
He's a unique little fella, but, he's a little fella; he's going to get a pass.
More features that come to mind are. The oversized eye piece.
This is a big eye piece.
One of the things that I have found with this is, I am on 15 and I can pop this eye piece out really far
And I can tighten up what I am looking at.
If I am on 45, personally I like to dial it down. Maybe 1click out.
And I can look through and I still have a wide field of view in that spotter.
If I want to get real tight, lets say on this buck, I want to get real tight on him, I turn it way out and it's
man that is tight and I am clear focused.
It's perfect.
The oversized eyepiece makes it nice because I don't have to really work to get my in it.
I just look.
And I'm there. And its really comfortable.
Thats one of the things that I have noticed about this scope,
This isn't the only location I have used it in. I have used it at the range.
In several of the rifle reviews that we've got coming up, so stay tuned for those.
This scope has helped me look at groups and bullet placement on targets,
on sunny days, on over cast days. This light is harsh this morning already.
This scope really kind of mitigates glare.
And the reason for that is, the Twilight Max HD Light Management System that Leupold uses in building this scope.
It cuts glare, in high harsh light, like we have here.
I was blown away by this the other night I was actually looking at a big group of elk up in the mountains,
That it was too dark to even video with my camera
But with the SX - 4 Pro HD
I could still watch those elk on, if I turn that power on down to about 25,
I could still see the elk and make out details on them in extremely low light.
And that is pretty rare for most spotters, especially spotters in this price range.
The coating that leupold uses on these lenses,
Is called the Guard Ion Coating. It makes the lenses very scratch resistant and very durable.
which is really important, especially out here in the west because,
Every where we go we have grit and dust and nasty stuff we have to deal with.
And our optics take a beating.
So that Guard Ion Coating; one more great feature
to make this scope good and tough.
The SX - 4 Pro Guide HD comes tripod ready right out of the box.
You got a little shoe, that you can screw a shoe to or it will fit right in most tripod mounts.
The nice thing about that is, there is a little knob on this back side i can loosen and I can turn this entire scope.
Just like this, side to side if I want to.
So say I am glassing out the window of a pick-up truck,
I need to turn that and it actually has detents
Click
To get you right back to the very same spot you were already on.
You can lock it in, its tight, its not going to turn.
But if I am sitting down in kind of an awkward spot,
I can turn that scope
Just one more feature to make this scope extremely user freindly.
And that much more of a value.
The SX - 4 HD is going to set you back less than a 1,050$
I think that MSRP sits 1,039$ for this scope
Pretty good value in my opinion from what I have seen from my usage of it in the field.
And it's got the rock solid Leupold Lifetime Warranty.
If something happens to this scope, you send it back; if they can't fix it, they are going to replace it.
I have only had to use a Leupold warranty once.
And I own a bunch of leupold products, so that ought to tell ya,
Your probable not even going to have to worry about the warranty, but
if you do it's a great peace of mind.
That your investment is covered and leupold is going to take care of you.
So guys, if you get a chance,
Head over to a Sportsman's Warehouse and get your hands on a
Leupold SX - 4 Pro Guide HD
There's a couple different options out there,
This 15 - 45 X 65 I think is an ideal size
To cover the gamet of western Big game hunting.
Anywhere from glassing ultra long distances like I'm doing today
Or up in the mountains on an high country mule deer hunt,
This scope is light weight enough. Its going to be easy to carry.
Its not going to take up a lot of space in your pack
and it's going to provide you with all the optical clarity and focus that you need
to make the right judgement call in the field on your next big game hunt.
So, While your here on Youtube with us, mash that subscribe button,
hit the thumbs up, leave us comment down there to let us know what else you want to see us review
in the Eastman's Gear Lab,
And Hey, Good Luck this fall.