Rifle Scopes Is this normal CA for a Leupold VX-6HD?

[carbonbased]

I have a brand new (from SWFA) Leupold VX-6HD 4-24x52mm that looks like poo, CA-wise (edit: chromatic aberration). It’s a really nice scope, sharp, love the varmint reticle, great eyebox (bit better eyebox than my Mark 5 5-25), and great in-scope level. My Mark 5 has only a bit of CA, which I only noticed after I saw massive CA in the VX6HD and went looking for it.

The scope has been mounted in Burris XTR Signature rings and then unmounted. SWFA will take it back minus a 15% restocking fee. Or I can sent it back to Leupold, but then I might not have it back in time for a hunt.

This amount of CA is not normal in this scope, right? These pics reflect what I and two other range dudes saw through the scope.

 

[SoCal326]

CA?

 

[flyright]

That looks like extreme Chromatic aberration to me. Haven't been behind a lot of newer Leupolds lately but I don't ever recall seeing that.

 

[Dev L]

What is range of target?

 

[carbonbased]

What is range of target?

100 yds.

Well, thanks for the feedback. Rather discouraging…been having a rash of bad luck with new products.

 

[carbonbased]

CA?

Added the term chromatic aberration to original post. It’s when the colors fringe around things, most noticable with white objects against dark backgrounds. I believe the cause is the colors aren’t focused at the same plane.

 

[patriot07]

Never used that scope, but you should be aware that CA worsens as you get off-axis. So I know you said this is representative of what you were seeing, but a cell phone pic is prone to showing bad CA since getting it properly aligned is difficult. I guess my point is that if you are seeing that much CA, are you sure that you're well-aligned to the scope in terms of your mounting scheme and stock adjustment?

If you're lined up well and seeing that much, I'd send it to Leupold with the pictures and see what they had to say.

 

[carbonbased]

I noticed that alignment worsened and changed the CA. However, I could see it when aligned properly, the scope in the pics is UNmounted at the time, and the CA is so much worse than the Mark 5 I have. The Mark 5, even way off axis, just doesn’t have much CA. The scope above is sorta of outrageous.

 

[flyright]

No way to produce that much CA, even with a way off angle pic through any scope with any lens/camera. Something is not right there.

 

[beetroot]

I have a VX5hd and a VX6 and they look nothing like that.

 

[roamin]

Doesn't look normal to me. I have a 3-18 VX6 ZL pre HD model. The scope handles CA very well. I'd contact Leupold.

 

[carbonbased]

I'm happy to report that Leupold took care of me and fixed the problem. I dunno what was the exact fix was, but they rejiggered the erector system. All good.