Variety is the spice of live. Different eyes, different scopes. Else competition between companies wouldn't exist.
I have a lot of confidence in Chris Roberts with CR2 Solution who does technical advising for Leupold. As a man who spent many years as an Army Sniper then Army Sniper Instructor, I'd like to think that Leupold is getting all the right messages from what the community wants. It is for this reason that the Army still uses Leupolds today for their B4s. This said, my understanding is that the Nightforce ATACR can take more abuse. What that looks like, is beyond my knowledge... I haven't beat up any scopes recently. But no one wants to assault a scope like
@Huskydriver seems to
The Mark 8 3.5-25x H58/59/T3 is when I saw Leupold mature. The MK5HD is just a revised Mark 8 with more refined materials. But yes: the eyebox is smaller than others, something that I hope they revise in future models.
None of this says anything against Nightforce or any other brands out there. But the Leupold MK5HD is the first scope I actually fell in love with all around, and their military discount makes them worth it. Retail vs retail? No, I'd rather get a low end S&B for the same price, or a Nightforce. So all said... I still don't understand the disgust or hate towards it. They've been great scopes and a great company to work with with amazing support when needed. And they really take care of the military/veteran community, let alone the B4 community.