The only difference between the two, as far as I have found, has been that although all the lense surfaces are fully coated, the Vari X III uses what Leuopold refers to as " Multicoat 4" caoting on all lens surfaces. The VX II uses Multicoat 4 on the exterior lenses and a different coating on the interior, non-exposed lenses. A friend of main who is a sporting goods salesman said the Leupold rep told him that the difference is so subtle that you would never be able to tell the difference. There is also about a $200 difference for comparable models. My question is do any of the members here have an opinion on this matter? Do you own either model and have any firsthand knowledge on this subject???