The tested unit is the Burris 12-24 x 50 compact spotter, which surprised me in a number of pleasant ways. I'm was surprised that it weighs less than a pound, surprised that it can be had at about $120 (or less) street price, and surprised that its image quality was as good as it is. It is a surprising unit.

This little spotter is rubber armored, has fully multi-coated lenses, a BAK-4 prism (considered optically superior to the borosilicate / BK-7 prism), is just a tad over 8 inches long (8.1 inches), and weighs in at under a pound--15.2 ounces to be exact. It is light enough and small enough to easily carry in a backpack, or hang from a belt. Therein lies this little unit's appeal.

The larger and bulkier equipment comes, the less likely I am to carry it along to the range, much less to hunting camp, and it is even less likely to make it out in the field. If an item is too bothersome to carry, then its benefit is nil. The eye relief on this unit ranges from .7 to .5 inches, perhaps a bit cozy on the high end for eyeglass wearers, but I had no remarkable troubles when wearing glasses. The exit pupil at the 12X end is ample at 4.2mm, and the "sweet spot" of this spotter's general usefulness is from 12X to 20X with excellent edge-to-edge clarity.

As you can probably tell, I was well pleased with what this diminutive fellow could do, and it is well worth checking out for yourself. As best I can summarize the Landmark compact, it offers somewhere around 95% of the image quality of much bulkier units that weigh two or three times as much, and cost two or three times as much. More importantly, it gives you far more utility and general usefulness either in the field, or counting .22 bullet holes at the range.

I remain surprised. The Burris Landmark compact spotter is a tremendous value, and if you try one for yourself I believe that you'll be equally surprised at how well it performs, and how handy it to have at your side.