As I recall the Nikon and the Bushnell are pretty much the same. A good unit to start with and you will find how handy they really are. Then you will want the Leica...

I've looked and looked at range finders. Finally while at Cabela's two weeks ago I took a deeeeeeep breath and bought a Leica 900 scan. A few gift certificates and some Cabela bucks from my CC offset the price a little.
Took it out to Wyoming and had a blast with it. Ranged antelope and deer very easily out to 800yds. A whole lot farther than I"d ever shoot.
Ranged a nice buck antelope at 257yds and still missed.
I guess it'll do a lot but you still have to hit what you're shooting at.

Like others here I was looking for a binocular/rangefinder, but found the ones out there to be either too expensive, or too heavy. Out of the ones out there right now, the Leupold is the lightest at 24 ounces, and both the Bushnell and Burris the heaviest at 34 ounces. However while the first can range to approximately 800 yards, the latter can range past 1,000 yards. To make the story as short as possible, this is what I decided after much research:



1. Leupold BR800

800-yard laser

8x30mm optics

24 ounces

$699.00



This unit should have excellent optics, it's not too heavy, but for its price, has a somewhat limited laser.



2. Bushnell

Over 1,000-yard laser

8x30mm optics?

34 ounces

Nearly one-half the price of the Leupold's



This is an older design, and heavy, but has a very competitive price. I imagine Bushnell will redesign this unit in the near future.



3. Burris

Over 1,000-yard laser

8x30mm

34 ounces

About the same price as the Leupold unit.



I imagine its optics would be similar to Leupold's, and its laser reaches much further. However, like the Bushnell, it's heavy.



Then I looked at two monocular range finders, and this is what I concluded:



1. Swarovski

Over 1,000-yard laser (1,500 yards)

8x30mm (monocular)

Almost $200.00 more than the Leupold BR800 (binocular/rangefinder)



This one was number one on my list of monoculars, but wherever I looked I could not find its weight. It should have the best optics around, but like all Swarovski products, its too expensive for a monocular.



2. Leica 1200 Scan

Over 1,000-yard laser

7x 20 (something) monocular

13 ounces

$479.00



This range finder has very good optics like other Leica products. The 7x lenses are a little limited, but not bad at all for momentary viewing and ranging of game. It's view finder can be clearly seeing under bright or dim lighting conditions.



I decided to buy a Leica LRF 1200, and have been testing it for a couple of days. I haven't used it to range game, just structures and things like that. This is a very compact range finder, and the design has been proven afield for a while now. But Leica should have added some sort of lens caps to keep dust out. The carry case is made of a type of padded Cordura (something like that), and is tight enough to keep any dust out.



Something else: Leica offers a 2-year limited warranty, and I believe Leupold does the same. I don't know about the rest, but I imagine it should be about the same.