Best Range finder Bino's???

Monkey Spanker

Well-Known Member
Rather than buy a better rangefinder, I've decided that the money would be better spent on upgrading to a set of rangefinder bino's. A shop near me has the Swarovski ones which seem ok, and are not dissimilar to my 8x42 EL's, apart from two big lumps underneath! They are a good price too. Are the new Leica Geovids any better? Anyone got experience of both types that could give an opinion? Swaro or Leica?
MS
 
Hi MS
I took advantage of the Leica recent offer and bought a set of the Geovid HDR402s. I would not use the full ballistic package of the HDBs so could not see the point of paying the extra £250.
I had a pair of EL32 s before the Leica and they were excellent.
I really like the Geovids though.
I compared them to my friends EL Range and to my eyes there was nothing in it.
If your up in North Yorkshire any time soon, you are welcome to view mine.
 
Bushwear do a good trade in deal on EL's against the new range finders. Believe it or not selfridges had really good deals on the older models a couple of months ago, but i decided to go with the new ones via bushwear and i have to say they are excellent. I tried the leicas and no doubt they are very good, but for my eyes the swarovski's had the edge. I gave all my local shops a chance to match the deal, as i do like to try to support local businesses, but none were interested and i have to say the whole transaction with Bushwear was superb, i would not hesitate to deal with them again.
The swaros are a joy to use, really fast and easy. I enjoyed playing with the incline range difference, and now know it makes no difference in real terms over the distances i shoot over. I also use the tracking feature more than i expected, and it is probably more surprising the way a distance can change with an animal just ambling along past you, way more then the incline feature shows the changes in distance.
 
i have 2 pairs of the EL 8X42 rangefinders for sale on a thread in optics. Worth a look !!
 
How about a military pair of binoculars, with stadia in the half milradian, for artillery?
A pair of 10x50mm will range a deer inside 1,000 meters in 50-meter increments, to within 10 meters, with a little practice.

Pretty quick to range a fox or deer, or anything where you have a pretty good idea of its size, or the size of something near it, like a fence post or gate.
 
I own a pair of the swarovski and have done for around 3-4 years and they are very good and would probably replace them with the same if anything unthinkable should happen but I have also tried the Leica and they are also good. My eyes aren't good enough to rate one over the other and it would have to depend a lot what deal you could get to which you should buy.
 
I've got the Leica Geovid HD-B and they are excellent. The glass is superb and the rangefinding capabilities are the best from everything i had tried before.
 
Having owned the Leicas (old and new iterations) and played with the Swaros... It all comes down to ergonomics and performance... the glass in both is better than your eyes.. the prism systems are slightly different but it makes little or no difference..

The laser in the Leicas can get out farther... 2,000 vs 1,500 yards... I used to think it was pointless having something range that far but it comes in very handy when tracking a herd of reds on the hill... the further the better!!!

The electronics and ballistics package in the Leica's is state of the art and arguably the best out there (for binoculars) .... whether you would use it all is debateable... I only use the angle corrected distance... not interested in the ballistics data, I have other more comprehensive calculators for that. The fact it also measures and takes environmental data into account is impressive.

The Swaros are more compact (in the hand feel much more compact than they actually are) and give a flatter image than the leicas.. great when viewing static objects but can induce nausea (sea sickness) in some when scanning for long periods say, forest margins...

The deal breaker for me are those two geet big lumps sticking out of the bottom... they just felt soooo uncomfortable in my hands...

Leica HD-Bs win for me purely on comfort!
 
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I was doing the Xmas shopping in bury St Edmunds and there in a shop window was a brand new pair in 8x42 el range for £1500. I don't know if they are still there though. Obviously they were not the new model, but I still thought that was a good price, and being that you are from suffolkshire thought it was worth a mention.
 
I was doing the Xmas shopping in bury St Edmunds and there in a shop window was a brand new pair in 8x42 el range for £1500. I don't know if they are still there though. Obviously they were not the new model, but I still thought that was a good price, and being that you are from suffolkshire thought it was worth a mention.
They were the ones I'd seen! Trade price plus vat to clear. They'd gone sadly.
 
I tried both Lieca and Swaro and could not split them. I went for the Swaro 10x42r and am delighted although the focus margins are minute to my eyes, one thing to remember which swung it for me was warranty, Swarovski second to none.. Lieca ???.
 
I tried the Leica's when they first came out and they were OK, I liked the concept. I then tried the Zeiss when they came out and they were better than the Leica's optically but I wasn't swayed to swap out my 7*50SLC's and CRF1200 combination. When Swarovski brought out the 8*42RF's my RFD got a pair in and I tried them....I walked out of the shop with them!

My only complaint would be that.......no sorry, can't find one :)
 
Swarovski 8x42 for me. Tried the Leica HDB 8x42 as well but didn't find they suited me ergonomically. I have small-ish hands and couldn't operate the focus and range button on the Leica easily without changing hand position . The two lumps on the Swaro are a bit odd but actually I find them an aid to holding them steady. Optically there was nothing in it for me. Having said that, there is nothing really between my old 7x42 SLC's and the EL range when it comes to it!
 
i tried them both side by side.i have had my swear ping back from 1800 yards so i think 1500 is a safe figure.for me the glass is better in the swarovski to my eyes by a margin.the leica have ballistic drop data but if your shooting far you still have to open a ballistic app to work the wind accurately.no point knowing one without the other ?.the leica would ping a willow with no leaves at 1500 whilst the swarm had to be pointed at the floor at the base of the tree to get a reading.to some up leica might have the laser edge but swaro has the coatings/glass.in the long tearm swaro brand might hold a better price.
 
Thanks for all the replies guys. It looks as if the Swaro's are the way to go which I pretty much what I hoped for as all my other glass is Swaro! Gutted that I missed out on the new pair in my local shop, but I've a friend in the trade who is currently seeing if he can get me some for a good price. If not, I've had a couple of good offers on here. By the way, does anyone know what warranty they come with or if it is transferrable?
Cheers,
MS
 
One thing to bear in mind is that whichever brand you go for, they won't perform as good in low light as standard binoculars of the same brand.
I found this out the hard way.
 
I've tried most and had have owned the older model Leica and Swarovski RF binos. Always had trouble with the swaros seeing the wonky readout.
 
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