New Vortex 1500 Yard Rangefinder!

[Elknut1]

They are identical in weight & size.

  ElkNut1

[deerslyr]

Is there an adjustment to turn the angle compensator off? Or can you see what the original straight line distance is like the leupys?

[Elknut1]

Yes, you can have it on any mode you choose. Don't know if it shows both straight line & angle comps at the same time. I do not have one in hand, yet! (grin)

  ElkNut1

[shootem]

Keep us posted. I may be in.

[Antlershed]

Any idea when you will get your hands on them? Seeing photos from Shot Show, and they are starting to pop up on eBay for sale.

[KFhunter]

I'd love to see some head to head comparison reviews with the new sig kilo

[Stein]

Safe to assume you have had your hands on one already? I bought a Ranger 1000 when they first came out, and couldn't get it to range a hillside in broad daylight much past 350 yards. Will the 1500 come closer to its advertised yardage?

I had the same problem and sent mine in.  I should get it on Monday, they turned it around in less than a week.

[Elknut1]

Stein, good in sending it in, there's a laser miss aligned in your unit. It happens, I sent one back for a customer that had the same issue. Vortex has sold 10's of thousands of these, few go back but now & then one does.

  I did finally get my hands on a new Sig 2000, I did my best to run it through the ringer. I did so side by side with a new Leupold 1000 & Vortex 1000. The Sig gives very fast readouts & responds nicely but too many cons for me to own one!

  Here's issues with it. #-1 -- Crappy optics, not clear at all. For instance, when looking at 80 yards you see the target good but anything even 3' from it is a blur, no kidding. It only focuses on the exact target. The Vortex & Leupold was clear all around the target.

  #- 2 -- You have to focus it constantly from 20 yards to 30 yards if you do not it's a blur. I focused to 20 yards then looked at 80 yards & wow, you cannot see much at all, it was terrible! The Vortex & Leupold had no issues seeing all those distances with no additional focusing. Once the Vortex & Leupold were focused at 20 yards they still needed no focusing at 500 yards. The Sig needed constant focusing no matter the distance, it was a pain!

  # -3 -- You cannot focus it easily, the small rubber type wheel is very difficult to turn, I don't  mean just firm I mean it was very hard to turn, it took two hands to do it. Definitely an issue with as much focusing is needed on ones hunts!

  # - 4 -- The laser on it is not pinpoint precise. Yes it will shoot 3,000 yards but at bowhunter distances anything within 2'-3' high or low will catch the lasers eye & give you a misread distance. I did this aprox 20 times & it's not reliable at all. If you were to range a deer or elk at 50 yards & there's a branch within 2'-3' of it high or low it will catch the branch even if it's 10 yards from the 50 yard target. I did not like that at all. With that happening how far could you be off at 200 or 600 yards, it's not trustworthy.

  Those of you have one please go out & test these things & you will see what I'm talking about. Not pushing Leupold or Vortex but be careful of the Sig & it's actual operation.

  ElkNut1

[HntnFsh]

Wow! That's a lot different review than the one Bob put up. Wonder if he would care to chime in and share his experience with those units. Any chance you just got a bad 1.

[Bob33]

Wow! That's a lot different review than the one Bob put up. Wonder if he would care to chime in and share his experience with those units. Any chance you just got a bad 1.

I don't have any reason to push or bash any particular product line.

I stated the optics were not as good as a Leica but I had no problems clearly identifying objects at all distances. The optics are comparable to other rangefinders I've used with the exception of Leica including Vortex, Bushnell, Leupold, and Nikon.

I had no problem getting accurate readings under a variety of conditions.

[HntnFsh]

Ive read several reviews on the Sigs. This is the first negative 1 Ive seen.

[Elknut1]

Bob, thanks! I guess I didn't see your review! I wasn't comparing my findings with yours, certainly was not stepping on your toes. I had read quite a few reviews on both Rokslide & the Long Range Forums, this is what prompted me to check one out! In honesty I was disappointed with it. Would you check yours & let me know how yours does on these 4 things? Thanks!

  1 - Optics not very good. By not good I'm referring to the blur with everything around left & right of target within the lens.

  2 - Constant focus. It needs to be re-focused to every target distance even as little as 10 or 15 yards from last focus. That's an issue for bowhunters like myself.

  3 - Focus wheel does not want to turn, it's very hard to get at & you about have to dig into the soft rubber to get a bite on the wheel to get it to turn, this is an issue since it needs constant focusing. To me this was it's biggest downfall.

  4 - Laser casts a beam aprox 5'X5' instead of the size of a golfball. It kept catching anything that was near target that was in front of it. If you're ranging objects that are by themselves you may not notice this, range objects under 100 yards with things close by & in front of target & see if yours does this?

  Other than this the laser is lightning fast & scans moving objects very well. I had no issues with read outs. Others that I read about did. Thanks!

  Anything is possible about getting a bad one but I was at the Sporting goods place & the couple that were there were the same.

  ElkNut1

[Bob33]

The Sig Kilo does not have a focus knob/wheel. Neither does my Leica.

They have diopter adjustments, which serve an entirely different purpose.

Diopter adjustments are intended to be used once to adjust for individual eye differences. Once set, they should not be changed. They are designed to be difficult to change. They're difficult to change on my Sig, and also on my top end Swaroskis, on purpose.

Nearly all top end optics have diopter adjustments. If one doesn't, I would wonder why.

As for focusing, I've not yet seen a rangefinder that does adjust focus. It seems to me it would be unnecessary, and a needless loss of time when you want to get a reading quickly.

[Elknut1]

Bob, agreed, you should be able to focus diopter one time for all distances as did the Leupold & Vortex. The Sig would not do that, even minor distance changes were a blur if I did not re-focus, that is my issue with it there. Have you noticed this same thing? Range different distances from 15 yards on out to whatever you'd like, notice the clarity diminishes rapidly to the point of not being able to identify ones target unless you re-focus.  Thanks for your response.

  ElkNut1

[jackelope]

Tagging!!?!?