Real world feedback needed: Rangefinder Binos

[carpsniperg2]

Looking for some feedback to help make my selection. Could I hear some good and bad from y’all. I have handled and looked through most of the offerings out there. I’m pretty die hard Leupold but still open. Wasn’t real happy with the brightness levels with the displays on a lot of them but only looked through them in a store setting.

Open to any price point.

[ASHQUACK]

I bought the loopy last year. Used them often this year during blacktail hunts. I like them but they are a newish toy to me. I don't have much experience with the other makers other than v-tex. I wasn't impressed with those.

[CarbonHunter]

I’ve had geovids for years. On my second set and the optics are clear and the ballistic calculations are spot on. I’ve had one issue where the laser was off calibration and I sent them back and they corrected the issue at no charge to me. The tech support guy even gave me his direct number just incase I had an issue in the future. Great company to work with.

Leupold and vortex make good glass but buying glass made by camera manufacturers is a step above in my opinion.

[Sakko300wsm]

Leica combp here - had them for about 3-4 years now and definitely was a great purchase! zero problems

[BeerBugler]

2nd gen leica Geovids, maybe my best purchase.

[bowman]

I have the Revic RF binos and wouldn’t go back to having both a rf and binos.

[knighttime25]

I've had the Vortex Fury's for a few years now and love them. As others mentioned, I agree I wouldn't go back to carrying binos and a rangefinder separately.

[HvyHorn338]

Gen 1 Geovid 10x42 owner for many years.  Hands down the best hunting purchase I have made.  I also had to send mine back for recalibration within the first 2-3 years I had them, but it was easy, fast and cost nothing as you would expect.  Since then there have been no malfunctions whatsoever.

Con -  They do not consistently get long ranges when trying to operate in foggy conditions.  Mine have been this way from day 1.

[bigdub257]

Geovids get my vote.  Bought mine used and they have been flawless.

[high_hunter]

Experience with Sigsaur 3k and 6ks both in 10x42 for ~2 seasons on each. Even tho rf binos are a bit heavy, they are areat upgrade over the individual tools in both archery and longgun hunting scenarios. Unless my wife is hunting with me, i always grab the RF pair and other harness has been relegated to a backup. Sigs customer service has been great too! I had a problem with the 3k eye cup after the 2nd year, when I sent them in for repairs they just sent me back a brand new 6k pair instead!

Where some RF binos suffer is the lens coatings to make numbers more legible but can make low light performance poor compared to non-rf. Sig may be one of the worst offenders in this category and i've seen some green, blue, and yellow tinges depending on model; believe this is an issue in most and that companies are still working to overcome.

I like the sigs for the super fast ballistic engine, spot on ranges, and paired phone app is decent. Some buddies have vortex furries and they take FOREVER to range in comparison. Not sure about other models but that was a big turnoff for me. Having a Fog mode is great and helps significantly but all can suffer to range correctly in dence stuff. Go try some out in field conditions and then figure out what price point you're comfortable with as I think this is one tool where that makes a significant difference.

[HUNT JR]

I have the gen 2 Sig Kilo 10k's. They are a great rangefinding bino. Glasswise I think they are real close to a Swarovski SLC which is plenty good overall. The rangefinder and ballistic solutions in this thing are really really good. The app is easy to use and get data into and the menu within the bino is easy to use. I have not used the leica's so have no comparison there but I have compared them to the Revic gen 2's and they are every bit as good as those.

[Sakko300wsm]

On a side note - if you archery hunt I would still keep your hand held range finder as well. I use my Leicas just as binos during archery . I use my hand held range finder as the range finder binos are to much movement during close range archery hunting

[cjc23]

I have the geovid 3200.com and have loved them. Looked at getting the Leupolds when I bought them but liked the glass and form factor way better on the Leica's. The only other ones that I would give a hard look at would be the swaro's or the Vectronix Vector X. The Vector's with their magnifiers is an extremely cool option to me.

[Rainier10]

Following along. I archery hunt so I would want a set with the rangefinder button the right sight of the optics.

[Sneaky Squirrel]

You nailed it Rainer. Make sure the button is on your dominate hand.

I went down this rabbit trail 5 years or so ago. Bought a pair of Fury HD's because Swaro's buttons are on the left. Buddy has the Leica's which were at the time the best option but the price point had me hesitant. After the first archery season, i knew i messed up going to range finding bino's. The convenience of a small range finder that you can drop and be on a tether is pretty handy. For rifle hunting, they are okay but very uncomfortable to glass with for long periods of time even mounted to a pod(big and bulky). Also for my eyes at low light, range finding glass isn't near as good...

I still have my Fury's but I ended up getting some NL's and a new range finder that i end up using 99% of the time.

[carpsniperg2]

Appreciate the feedback. I will for sure carry a normal Leupold range finder for archery hunting. I don’t even pack binos most the time when archery hunting now days. I have found myself in a situation where I was having to bounce back and fourth between range finder and binos with a moving herd of elk this year. Finally got me to make the choice to switch to a all in one package.

[Atlas1993]

The latest Swarovski EL Range TAs have the rangefinder button on the left side. The glass quality was excellent. I used mine for two years before I lost them.

My biggest gripe was that they were thicker than standard binos. I had to upsize my bino pouch to accommodate.

[Sakko300wsm]

Appreciate the feedback. I will for sure carry a normal Leupold range finder for archery hunting. I don’t even pack binos most the time when archery hunting now days. I have found myself in a situation where I was having to bounce back and fourth between range finder and binos with a moving herd of elk this year. Finally got me to make the choice to switch to a all in one package.

Good call!! range finder / bino combos are awesome , but definitely not good on their own for archery elk hunting. Always have my standard range finder on a retractable lanyard on my upper arm
let us know what you get 

[lazydrifter]

I've been hearing good things about these GPO's.   Half price sale now thru the end of the year

https://cameralandny.com/shop/brands/gpo/gpo-rangeguide-8x40-binoculars/03a72700-7cd2-013c-b9fb-00163ecd2826?variation=3650296

[jamesjett]

I have the Vortex Fury 5000AB.  I really enjoyed using them during the early bear season.  I just came back from eastern MT and the temps only dropped down to mid 20’s but the Fury’s sure eat batteries in the cooler weather.  I really didnt use the range finding much so not sure why it eats batteries. I went through three batteries in a week.  I do plan to contact Vortex for their input on the matter.

I wish you could turn the auto off down to 5 seconds or so.  The lowest setting for the auto off is after 15 seconds.  I will say having range finding binos does make a difference if you don’t have much time to range and shoot.  It’s one less step and the scan ranging works well. 

I don’t have any regrets buying them but not so sure it’s worth the extra $ money yet.  This was my first season with them. 

[teanawayslayer]

Leica has my vote. Had my geovids for 10 years. Great glass and flawless range finder.

[Magnum_Willys]

Leica has my vote. Had my geovids for 10 years. Great glass and flawless range finder.

My Leica Pro 32’s take like 3+ seconds to generate distance reading.  Super frustrating.  Like the 19 oz Zulu 6 stabilizing binos so much going back to separates.

[Sakko300wsm]

Leica has my vote. Had my geovids for 10 years. Great glass and flawless range finder.

My Leica Pro 32’s take like 3+ seconds to generate distance reading.  Super frustrating.  Like the 19 oz Zulu 6 stabilizing binos so much going back to separates.

My leicas are instant read - weird yours are slow

[teanawayslayer]

 :IBCOOL:hi

Leica has my vote. Had my geovids for 10 years. Great glass and flawless range finder.

My Leica Pro 32’s take like 3+ seconds to generate distance reading.  Super frustrating.  Like the 19 oz Zulu 6 stabilizing binos so much going back to separates.

My leicas are instant read - weird yours are slow

I have the hdb 2100. Mine ranges split second as well

[bigdub257]

:IBCOOL:hi

Leica has my vote. Had my geovids for 10 years. Great glass and flawless range finder.

My Leica Pro 32’s take like 3+ seconds to generate distance reading.  Super frustrating.  Like the 19 oz Zulu 6 stabilizing binos so much going back to separates.

My leicas are instant read - weird yours are slow

Ditto.  Instant read.

I have the hdb 2100. Mine ranges split second as well

[jeffro]

I didn’t reed all the reply’s
But if I can see it, it’s dead
No rangefinders needed
No clicks no adjustments
Just common sense hold over

[Sakko300wsm]

I didn’t reed all the reply’s
But if I can see it, it’s dead
No rangefinders needed
No clicks no adjustments
Just common sense hold over

good story

[jamesjett]

I didn’t reed all the reply’s
But if I can see it, it’s dead
No rangefinders needed
No clicks no adjustments
Just common sense hold over

good story

 

[cjc23]

Looks like theres a pair of swaro el ranges in the classifieds for a great price

Sent from my SM-S911U using Tapatalk

[actionshooter]

I have the Swaro's TAs, and love them. Range and Ballistics seem to be spot on.

Played with the Fury's a fair amount on the range, IMO, they are good if you are concerned with price, but the glass doesn't compare with the Geovids/Swaro.

Looppies are nice, but again the glass isn't there (for me).

Leupold's new rangefinder that links to Onx is pretty awesome though, I wish the Swaro's were there.

[JDHasty]

I have a pair of Leica w/Perger-porro prism.  Optically they are as good as any, and better than most.  The display is bright and sharp.  They have a lot of functionality I don't use.  My understanding is that they pair up with tech and work great. 

[bustedoldman]

I had the 3200.coms but after 8 yrs they got a little wonky, sent them in to get ran thru and they gave me the option to use them as trade in on the new pros 2 yrs ago. So glad i took them up on the offer.



https://leica-camera.com/en-US/product/leica-geovid-pro-10x42-ab

[CarbonHunter]

Leica has my vote. Had my geovids for 10 years. Great glass and flawless range finder.

My Leica Pro 32’s take like 3+ seconds to generate distance reading.  Super frustrating.  Like the 19 oz Zulu 6 stabilizing binos so much going back to separates.

Call Leica’s tech support. Sounds like your laser needs to be calibrated.

[carpsniperg2]

Thanks y'all! I settled on the leica 10x42.

Now I’ll start a new thread for a bino carrier!

[2MANY]

Sig 10k gen 2