I bought my son some ziess bino's for his graduation and he returned them and got the gold ring leupolds and loves them. Two of my buddies have them also and would not trade them for any other bino's.
I've had the opportunity to use them next to Ultravids in both regular light and low light. The first noticed difference is the feel between the two. The Leicas seem a little more comfortable in your hands with their size, shape, and weight. I liked how the Gold Rings had a locking mechanism for the width between eyes. This comes in real handy when you have them on a shoulder strap and only have one hand to look through the glass. You don't have the eye cups coming together too close with the pressure of the straps.
When looking through them both in regular light I couldn't see a difference. They were both crisp and clear out to the same ranges. I didn't really notice any field of view difference in either one. Where I did see a little difference was when it started to get dark. I just looked at the twilight ratings of the two and they are the same, but when looking through them I was able to see through the Liecas a little longer than the Leupolds. I think I probably got 2-3 more out of them with a crisp image that I could see well as it got darker.
Are the Liecas better? Yeah, but you have to make the decision if they are worth another $800-$1000??? I think you have to make that decision for yourself and really try to get into a shop and try them all out, and if you can get them to let you take them outside when it is starting to get a little darker.
Which Zeiss model? The reason I ask is because at least one of their lower end models isn't worthy of the name. If you gave him ClassiC's, Victory II's, or FL's, I'd be highly surprised if he exchaged them for Gold Rings.
