The Leupold D-EVO ( Dual – Enhanced View Optics ) is an interesting take of the dual optic concept, which was first popularized by Hensoldt installment on the G36. For the longest time, the biggest complaint about the dual optic setup is always about the rather elevated position of the red dot as a secondary sight. While the “chin wield” approach is a viable solution for soldiers shooting at close range, proper cheek wield is important for sports shooting as it affects execution of one of the five marksmanship principles.
The Leupold D-EVO approaches the problem by keeping the red dot as the primary optic and making the magnified optic the secondary. Instead of putting the seconding optic above the primary, it “stole” the space under the primary optic. It uses geometry to take advantage of the optical perception of depth to make the area of the eye piece larger than the area under the primary optic, so the views of both optics seamlessly stacked on top of each other when viewed by the user.
This “space saving” is achieved by placing the objective lens and prism assembly on the side of the eye piece. To compensate for horizontal offset between the prism and the line of departure, the recticle of D-EVO demonstrates a “skewed” BDC ladder.
In practice, the user needs to get into a relative small window of eye relief to see the proper sight picture. Once the proper eye relief is found, the user will just move the eyeballs to jump from the primary optic to D-EVO. Personally, I found it I had to press my cheek hard to get the proper eye relief, and there isn’t much room to wiggle around. It maybe an issue for people who need to wear helmet. On the other hand, once the user gets to the proper cheek wield and eye relief, rolling the eye ball up and down to switch between the 2 views is pretty instinctive in a way. From the ballistic compensation perspective, if ammo is not matching the BDC or the range estimate is off, you have to deal with an extra horizontal adjustment as the BDC is not a vertical line. This means walking rounds to the target is a bit more complicated.
At 13.8 oz with a fixed 6X power, the dual setup will end up about the same weight as a 1-6Xscope, or maybe even lighter, when used in conjunction with a light weight reflex or red dot sight. Overall, it is an interesting concept, but it may work better with a weapon system that has a high cheek to optic distance ( or both the D-EVO and the primary optic need to sit on a riser )
Rifle pointing up:
Right side:
Left side:
The brochure shows how the views are stacked on top of each other:
CMR type recticle with a "skewed" BDC to account for horizontal offset between optic axis and bore axis
The Leupold D-EVO approaches the problem by keeping the red dot as the primary optic and making the magnified optic the secondary. Instead of putting the seconding optic above the primary, it “stole” the space under the primary optic. It uses geometry to take advantage of the optical perception of depth to make the area of the eye piece larger than the area under the primary optic, so the views of both optics seamlessly stacked on top of each other when viewed by the user.
This “space saving” is achieved by placing the objective lens and prism assembly on the side of the eye piece. To compensate for horizontal offset between the prism and the line of departure, the recticle of D-EVO demonstrates a “skewed” BDC ladder.
In practice, the user needs to get into a relative small window of eye relief to see the proper sight picture. Once the proper eye relief is found, the user will just move the eyeballs to jump from the primary optic to D-EVO. Personally, I found it I had to press my cheek hard to get the proper eye relief, and there isn’t much room to wiggle around. It maybe an issue for people who need to wear helmet. On the other hand, once the user gets to the proper cheek wield and eye relief, rolling the eye ball up and down to switch between the 2 views is pretty instinctive in a way. From the ballistic compensation perspective, if ammo is not matching the BDC or the range estimate is off, you have to deal with an extra horizontal adjustment as the BDC is not a vertical line. This means walking rounds to the target is a bit more complicated.
At 13.8 oz with a fixed 6X power, the dual setup will end up about the same weight as a 1-6Xscope, or maybe even lighter, when used in conjunction with a light weight reflex or red dot sight. Overall, it is an interesting concept, but it may work better with a weapon system that has a high cheek to optic distance ( or both the D-EVO and the primary optic need to sit on a riser )
Rifle pointing up:
Right side:
Left side:
The brochure shows how the views are stacked on top of each other:
CMR type recticle with a "skewed" BDC to account for horizontal offset between optic axis and bore axis
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