Lieca, Swaro and Leupold all make them. Of these is there a clear winner and why? Does one have better glass or a better laser than the next?

Perry

quote:

Originally posted by perry:
Lieca, Swaro and Leupold all make them.

I'm not aware of any Swaro rangefinding binos. I wish they did make them as they make an excellent rangefinder and excellent binos and more choices is always better.... But like I said, I don't think they make any yet.

Personally, I would not consider the Leupold. Very weak laser.

The Geovids have already made their reputation as top quality stuff.

quote:

a better laser than the next?

The best laser goes to none of the above. The best non-military-only, available in this pricerange laser I believe is that of the Newcon LRB 7X40 3000 Pro.



This thing is on a whole different level....

I believe that of the ones you mentioned only Leica makes range finding binoculars. The others are monoculars and are going to be a bit more uncomfortable to view through for long periods of time, if that makes any difference to you.

As far as the actual range finding capability goes it has been my experience that Swaro’s and Leica’s are about equal. I haven’t yet tried a Leupold but am very interested in their new models. A friend of mine bought a Leupold recently and he loves it so far.

Really good quality and amazingly accurate range finders are getting so small and light weight that combo-units (range finding/binoculars) are almost a non-issue any more when it comes to trying to cut back on weight and extra gear.

Burris. I can range blackbuck and stag to 600 meters under hunting conditions regularly.

Unless they have improved dramatically from earlier models, about the only brand I would discourage anyone from buying are Bushnells. Using your naked eyes and “guessing†at distances will give you about the same results (and sometimes better) than the Bushnells that I have seen and used.

Laser rangefinders (as well as most other optics) are among those things where you actually do get what you pay for.

Binoculars and rangefinders serve two different purposes. Combining them in one instrument necessarily requires compromises. While a combined binocular/rangefinder SOUNDS like a good idea, I highly recommend that you purchase a separate high quality instrument for each purpose.

It's kinda like a Swiss Army knife: You can gut an elk with it if you have to, and you can eat soup and clean your fingernails with it if you have to, but there are better tools available for all of those tasks.

quote:

Originally posted by Stonecreek:
Binoculars and rangefinders serve two different purposes. Combining them in one instrument necessarily requires compromises. While a combined binocular/rangefinder SOUNDS like a good idea, I highly recommend that you purchase a separate high quality instrument for each purpose.

It's kinda like a Swiss Army knife: You can gut an elk with it if you have to, and you can eat soup and clean your fingernails with it if you have to, but there are better tools available for all of those tasks.

Could not agree more with you!

Personally,I feel the same way about trying to use binoculars as spotting scopes.

Once you have used the Leica Geovids, you will NEVER consider the hassle of two separate units again.

Great glass and a laser up for any hunting situation.

My PH in Namibia, this year, Mike Kibble was so impressed with my 10X42 Geovids, he did a deal with me for them

I then had the pleasure of buying a pair of their new 15X56 Geovids. Bloody awesome

I agree with Blair. Having both units in one is much more practical and faster. The burris laser 1500 has worked great for me, at $600 it didn't hurt that much to buy. I can only lust after the Leica for now. I used to use 7x Zeiss and don't really miss them so I guess the quality of glass must be OK at least for me.

I'm with Blair D Calvin and JohnAir. I feel there is no compromise in the Leica Geovids. Just this past weekend I was hunting on an expensive lease and sat in a blind with the lease spot holder. He had a pair of Swaro 15x56's and I had my Leica 10x42 Geovids.

He will be getting a pair of Leica Geovids. The Leica was not any better than the Swaro as far as resolution, the Swaro's were not noticeably better at light gathering but I would bet that they were, we just didn't have the right conditions to prove it.

His Swaro's were much heavier and bulkier. The Leica's weigh in at 33 oz. which is substantial but not out of bounds.

I ranged all objects up to 932 yards with the touch of a button.

Will it ever make a difference in a field situation? Maybe, maybe not.

There is no compromise in the Leica Geovids. They have excellent glass, none better.

That's speaking from experience cause I own a pair.

I write a lot about laser rangefinders, so I think I know what I am talking about. One thing no one mentions is laser beam divergence. The smaller the divergence, the more likely you are ranging to the animal in question and not a treeline 100 yards behind it. Newcon has the smallest beam divergence around, although the original Geovid was pretty good as well, and the best when it came to the vertical beam orientation.

Jon A: Newcon binos are only good to 1500 yards; the guys I spoke with there claimed that to truly be reliable, you should divide the claimed range by 3. Newcon makes rangefinders out to 4k or more, so ranging in the bright sunlight of AZ (boys, you won't believe how that degrades just about every RF out there) well past 1000 yards should not be a problem.

quote:

Originally posted by AnotherAZWriter:
The smaller the divergence, the more likely you are ranging to the animal in question and not a treeline 100 yards behind it. Newcon has the smallest beam divergence around, although the original Geovid was pretty good as well, and the best when it came to the vertical beam orientation.

Definately. The 3000 Pro also has target selection which is another huge benefit (allowing you to select whether you want to range the deer or the treeline).

quote:

in the bright sunlight of AZ (boys, you won't believe how that degrades just about every RF out there) well past 1000 yards should not be a problem.

Definately not with the 3000 Pro. You'll get anything of decent size within a mile in bright light. I can get the above building (a very good target) at 2800+ with direct sunlight on it. On targets like this:



The limit seems to be around 2K in direct sunlight, +/- a couple hundred depending upon exact target. Even in Arizona, these won't even be breathing hard at 1000.

quote:

Originally posted by Blair D Calvin:
Once you have used the Leica Geovids, you will NEVER consider the hassle of two separate units again.

Yup. I couldn't agree more. After using combo units for several years now, I wouldn't even consider using two separate units. I'm spoiled for life. They're my most used hunting tools, by far. I feel naked using binoculars with no button....