Tested: Leupold LTO Tracker 2

Leupold's LTO Tracker 2 builds on the company’s successful LTO Tracker Thermal Optic by adding a recalibration mode, making the device infinitely more useable in thicker (and warmer) brush. While the LTO Tracker was an excellent foray into the thermal imaging market, its performance suffered slightly when there were many objects around of the same (warm) temperature, which would flare the screen uniformly across the board. Beacon Mode in the LTO Tracker 2 fixes this issue entirely by recalibrating the screen to only the warmest temperatures, making animal detection (and recovery) far easier.


Deer in the above image (as well as all in images below) pictured in medium-dense cover at approximately 75 yards.

Though generally the LTO Tracker 2 will show any warm-blooded thing in bright contrast, Beacon Mode is so sensitive as to allow recalibration to the point that only a flame is readily apparent. (Beacon set to a +100 here.)

In Beacon Mode, the temperature threshold is rebalanced to make neutral items the background color, while anything warmer is illuminated in bright color(s). The Mode is also adjustable from -40 units to +100 units. The further into negative numbers one goes, the more sensitive the device will be to variations in temperature; conversely, the more positive on the scale one travels, the more extreme the temperature will have to be to light up. Beacon mode also signals exactly what it is calibrating against by placing a small red box around the warmest object in the vicinity (in Hi/Lo Green color mode, it does the same for the coldest thing in the field of view with a blue box.)



More than just a close-range tool, the LTO Tracker 2 boasts 7X digital zoom, with a detection distance of 600 yards (though they say the typical deer detection distance is around 250 yards) from its 206 x 256 thermal sensor. Zoomed to 1.5X, the Tracker 2’s field of view is 16.9 degrees, while the 1.22” display itself has a 240 x 204 resolution, and a 30 HZ FastFrame rate.


Green Mode

In terms of color modes, the LTO Tracker 2 has six—Black, White and Green, which are standard; Hi Black, Hi White and Hi/Lo Green, are for use with the Beacon Mode. MSRP is $644.99. For more information on this handy device, visit leupold.com. 


White Mode