Range finder

Blacknsilver

Well-Known Member
I am wanting to upgrade my range finder.
I have a pair of Swarovski Binos 8-42 slc and love them. Swarovski make good kit. So looking towards that manufacture. There is a range finder going for £250. Not sure if it comes with anything yet. Box or holder of warranty etc
anyone use the swaro range finder? What your opinion on them?
I'm on the fence wether to sell the Binos and range finder and get the Bino range finder. But that's a major spend which scares me and not sure if it's justified. It would be nice as only one item to carry.
The Ziess prf have a good report on them. So they could be a contender.
 
I'm a swaro fan - scopes plus EL bins. But I prefer my leica rangefinder to the one swaro one I tried. I found it horrible.
 
I have the zeiss prf, never let me down, ranges as well if not better than my geovids, never have to ping anything twice
 
i had the swaro el range binos,could not find fault, i miss owning them .as normal they where just stunning,if the moon was out i could see rabbits at night etc.the only reason i sold them is as a rifle varmint shooter i have a habit of spotting something and dropping down at which point 2 grands worth of binos touched the ground with me.if it was muddy i found myself more concerned about looking after the binos than anything else.i went back to leica 1600 b that where small enough to carry in a top pocket and promised my self some swaro binoculars soon .not range finding i find it best to have 2 tools for the job.
 
I have the Zeiss PRF too. Lovely range finder and very accurate. If I could afford range finder binos then I'd get them as the seperate range finder never really gets used once I've learnt the distances from a high seat as its too big to carry round comfortably.
 
I am wanting to upgrade my range finder.
I have a pair of Swarovski Binos 8-42 slc and love them. Swarovski make good kit. So looking towards that manufacture. There is a range finder going for £250. Not sure if it comes with anything yet. Box or holder of warranty etc
anyone use the swaro range finder? What your opinion on them?
I'm on the fence wether to sell the Binos and range finder and get the Bino range finder. But that's a major spend which scares me and not sure if it's justified. It would be nice as only one item to carry.
The Ziess prf have a good report on them. So they could be a contender.

I share your enthusiasm for the Swarovski 8x42 SLCs. I tried them in all light conditions against the Els but, try as I might, I could not see any difference. I therefore did not spend the extra £700 or so to get the ELs.
I use my binoculars a lot and for other activities than deer stalking. I have handled the major makes of range finding binoculars but the bulk and weight were not to my liking. I know that some of our members swear by them but they are not for me.
I have seen the Swarovski palm-sized rangefinder in use and it was very good. Several years ago I bought a used Leica palm-sized rangefinder from one of our SD members.
It is supposed to range out to 600 yards, but will do much further. It is small, light weight and works perfectly. Easily slips in and out of a pocket and I cannot fault it, even after several years use in all sorts of weather.
Everyone to their own choice, but for my purposes, lightweight handy binoculars and a small lightweight rangefinder do me nicely.
I hope this is helpful.
 
It's a difficult one.
I think that the cost of the range finding Binos is gong to kill me. sometimes having kit too nice that you don't want to use it. I am always like that with a new knife. I don't want to cut anything with it. After I do out gets used as its meant to. So I think that the Swaro SLC will stay as they are stunning. The Ziess seam to get a good thumbs up. So there looking favourite.
I have the Hawke 400. They seem to work but if I want to stretch the range out past 400 which they seem to do weirdly enough. Had them reading 520 last week. But how accurate will they be? 10-20yards out and it's a miss on the target.
Has anyone acctually measured out a range after pinging it?
 
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I have the 8x42 Swarovski Rangefinder Bino's and they are absolutely brilliant! Buy once cry once!
 
It's a difficult one.
I think that the cost of the range finding Binos is gong to kill me. sometimes having kit too nice that you don't want to use it. I am always like that with a new knife. I don't want to cut anything with it. After I do out gets used as its meant to. So I think that the Swaro SLC will stay as they are stunning. The Ziess seam to get a good thumbs up. So there looking favourite.
I have the Hawke 400. They seem to work but if I want to stretch the range out past 400 which they seem to do weirdly enough. Had them reading 520 last week. But how accurate will they be? 10-20yards out and it's a miss on the target.
Has anyone acctually measured out a range after pinging it?

You say it's a difficult decision - I don't agree. Keep your binos & get a decent second hand range finder from one of the better brands. Leica works really well for me. As for accuracy, I've tried several against each other & they're all within a yard or two. Oh, that's another consideration of course - some units are either metres or yards, not switchable. I started off thinking metres was the way to go. I went back to yards & MOA.
 
It's a difficult one.
I think that the cost of the range finding Binos is gong to kill me. sometimes having kit too nice that you don't want to use it. I am always like that with a new knife. I don't want to cut anything with it. After I do out gets used as its meant to. So I think that the Swaro SLC will stay as they are stunning. The Ziess seam to get a good thumbs up. So there looking favourite.

Buy secondhand.
 
The actual rangefinder in the leica Binos and dedicated range finder units is streets ahead of anything else
the swaro el range are let down by the rf built in them


faster
more accurate
sighting reticule before range
more pings per battery
longer range
usually significantly outperforms its own spec
my 1600b went out to 1999
my 800crf went to 1100
my geovids have pinged 2450 to date (2000 yd spec)

the swaro glass is very good though
 
You wont regret a pair of rf binos. I got some leica hd-b's this year and no looking back.
I know what you mean about "kit too good to use" but just look after them and any enjoy them. A tool to do a job! Get them insured for any "accidents" and the top companies will generally look after you if anything goes wrong anyway.
 
I have the Leica 1600B and cannot fault it. Small, fits in a shirt pocket, accurate, great glass and the ballistic calculator can be set for your load.
Just ping the target and dial in the indicated clicks (in MOA or Mils, the choice is yours.) if you are shooting longer ranges. the 7x mag means you hardly need binoculars, although I usually have my Swaro's 10 x 42.
 
Been well pleased with the Bushnell for sorting out ranges while waiting for game in strange high seats picking out points then remembering them if a shot shows.
 
If all you're after is a reasonable range estimate out to about 800 yards, there are plenty for under a hundred pounds. Mine is a VisionKing, and is pretty accurate out to that range :thumb:
 
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