Bushnell Fusion 1600 Review

[MDGrand]

OK, well after talking to the Bushnell rep at SHOT show and looking through the set of Binos he had out, I decided to drop my pre-conceived notions of Bushnell and buy a pair. I have always been interested in owning a pair of Leica Geovid Range finding Binos or the Zeiss but they always seemed like a mortgage payment AND they were lacking what all the new Range Finders have, angle compensation. As I have a pair of good Nikon Monarch 12x42 Binos and RifleHunter 550 rangefinder and I am a fan of Nikon in general (best bang for the buck IMHO)I was not willing to take anything less quality... Hence my preconceived notion of Bushnell. BUT.. after talking to Bushnell guy at SHOT show and litteraly saying those words of Bushnell not being on par to quality and being shown evidence and technology and other things have done to these Binos specifically, I decided to try them out. I also have a few friends that bought their Elite 6500 line of riflescopes and they are true believers in Bushnells "high end" line.

So.. here is my review, NOT Field tested.. I have not taken them into the snow yet or dropped them from a 30 feet or anything so here is what I found...

The good:

Clarity: VERY clear glass.. on par with good glass out there, extremely sharp on all objects. Comes with Bushnells "rainguard" and fully coated prisms. The clarity is NOT better than or equal to a Swaro or a Leica BUT.. its as good as any Leupold or Nikon I have seen...its JUST under the super high end glass.

Solid : Extremely well put together. Nothing feels cheap. The eye cups are better than my Nikons and just as good as my friends Leicas. Very solid up and down. Weight is acceptable.. a bit heavier than normal binos but that is due to the rangfinder built in. Focus knob and everything else feels well built.

Rangefinding: This is where they shine! Spot on. Large object or objects with good reflection, easy out to 1600 yards.. no problem. Small objects out to 8-900 yards, no problem. I must make mention of the modes they come with as well.. there pretty freaking cool!.. caliber specific (to all popular calibers) MOA adjustments or drop in inches. They have a rifle mode as well as Archery mode as well. And of course they have the ARC (Angle Range Compensation). All of this is at the push of button and you can change modes easily.

The NOT so good:

Low Light Test:  They are VERY clear and on par as I said to any quality glass out there, BUT, they are a bit darker on the low light test.. which, I know is the real basis for comparison on most binocular tests. That being said, they are not WAY darker but it is noticeable.

Warranty: The Binoculars if there is a lens problem or the like, have Bushnells limited Life time warranty, BUT, the rangfinder has 2 year warranty.

Overall:

The PRICE and combination of rangefinding binoculars with angle compensation along with overal feel and value make this a good buy. NOW... these are still brand new and have to go through a hunting season where I might have a different opinion but until then I really like them.

*BTW.. My Nikon Binoculars 12x42 Monarch and Rangfinder 550 are for sale. PM if interested.

[addicted]

descent write up with out a field test.

thanks

[MDGrand]

UPDATE:

I returned them.

Still great, but for the price, I can not justify something that performs worse in low light conditions.

...short story is that I took them out at the end of the day, light fading fast, rainy weather, cold, etc.. and they were darker than my Monarchs.. significant enough NOT to warrant the cost for me.

... Too Bad.. LOVED the construction, Rangfinder was cool too as was the "rainguard."

But at the end of the day... Still Bushnells. I hope they keep trying though.. they were VERY close with this one.

[addicted]

But at the end of the day... Still Bushnells. 

 

[jjhunter]

I think it will be a few years before we don't have to "pay" for that technology.   I just bought a pair of Zeiss RF 10x45.  I think that is the best option availble right now.   I even picked them over the Geovid being a left-handed archer.   The rangefinder is pretty amazing - glass isn't too shabby either.

[MDGrand]

Yep... I decided to go with the separate products... I too was really tempted by the Zeiss RF binos. But for THAT type of money it had to do everything. And the Zeis lack angle compensation technology. So I went with the Steiner Peregrine XP and the Nikon rifle hunter 1000... Very happy:-)

[jjhunter]

For me, the most important thing is the capability of the rangefinder - it needs to work every time, in every condition.   My Swarovski was awesome, the Leicas have issues in conditions - the Zeiss is supposed to be the best?

I've looked at the Nikon - hopefully, it works out for you.   I've done a lot more muzzy work across the West in the last couple of years - for this application, I expect the Zeiss to be worth their weight in gold.

Let us know how the Nikon works out.

[MDGrand]

Is there any angle compensation on the Zeiss though? I looked through the Nikon 1000 and its the real deal.. Super bright, and display black or illuminated.

[jjhunter]

Nope, no angle compensation in the Zeiss......but, I don't need an inclinometer, I'm real learned up in math.