rangefinding binos

[zaitsev]

Hi all, its often said in IT circles that you should never buy anything thats less than version 3...

I've been pondering the replacement of my current Binos and rangefinder with the Leica Geovids. However Zeiss have now brought out their rangefinding binos which confuses the issue somewhat.
With these two major players producing them it can only be a matter of time before Swarovski brings out their own version. I had heard that Swarovski had some in development but weren't happy with them and consequently were not going into production until all the bugs were ironed out.

What do you guys think and has anyone got their mitts on the Zeiss units yet?


Regards

Z

 

[old keeper]

rangefinding binoculars

Hi, I have had absolutely no experience of combined binos/rangefinder, but always use both of these as seperate items. One thought that occurs, apart from droppig a set of binos once and having them recollumated you reckon a pair of binos will last indefinitely, however I have had a couple of rangefinder go wrong, what is the situation if a combined unit packed up? Just a thought.

 

[steyr.308]

Hi Zaitsev,


I have owned a laser range finder for a number of years now, always Leica. Firstly I owned the LRF1200, which you could choose your unit of measurement between metres or yards. I now have the 1200CRF measuring in metres, my preferred unit of measure. I do like the idea of the one unit concept of Bino and LRF. I have both Leica Bino's and LRF so cost wise I will stick with until those lucky numbers role in!!!

A very good friend of mine owns the Leica Geovids BRF, the only problem that I have with them is that the LED readout is very fine and hard to read, very much like the LRF1200 I owned. However they do claim that the LED distance readout is legible in any light, I could not tell. The display on the CRF I find to be bolder and easier to read.

The above is based only on my own opinion and others may disagree. I do think that old keeper makes a very good point about what do you do if the whole unit packs up?

Regards

 

[zaitsev]

Good point about the reliability problems. I hadn't considered it although I know some of the early geovids did go belly up. Shouldn't have thought it would be a problem with any of the big three though as their warranties are excellent.
I have Swarovski 7x50 slcs and a leica 800scan at present which I find good. The binos are the best pair I've ever had or used and you can just about see in the dark with them. If I buy some new ones then they'll have to match the performance.


Cheers

Z

 

[Pete E]

Deleted by User

 

[remmy7]

hello all,

before anyone looks at the time I am posting this and thinks how sad I am I must say that I am just in from a very busy backshift and I am still buzzing.
I have been using Leica geovids for about 2 - 3 years now and cannot fault them as previously posted they have consigned my Zeiss binos to the glovebox in the disco. With regards to the warranty I cannot be certain without checking but I am fairly sure the warranty was at the very least 10 years. Battery life I thought was going to be a problem at first as I replaced the battery they came with after around six months. However the replacement battery is still going strong. the only downside is the weight but after a weeks stalking you develop a Fatima Whitbread type neck and its not a problem. I honestly cannot reccomend them enough, I use them constantly and have treated them pretty harshly ( a two hundred yard belly crawl over a partially frozen and snow covered gravel track on top of them for instance) but if I were to give them a clean and put them back in the box you would be hard pressed to tell they are not new.

Remmy7

 

[alled12]

Zaitsev
I have both a laser range finding scope and bino's. Both useful. I use leupold laser range finding binos, their very good and about half the price of leica ones new. I felt that carrying both a range finder and binoculars was just cluttering up my person while out stalking. But that is just my opinion. I am told that leicas are excellent, it will be interesting to see what the zeiss set are like.

 

[300wsm]

 

[Thar]

I am sure that when I enquired about the warranty on the Leica rangefinding binoculars I was told 30 years on optics but only 5 on the eletronics, that and the weight of the thing was why I stuck to seprate Bin's and RF. You look though your bins many more times that you need to rangefind something.

Best rgds

Thar