-
Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.
Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
19/11/2012 New LEICA GEOVID (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter binomania
- Start date
Steve C
Well-known member
CameralandNY is accepting orders for March delivery. $2,945.00 for the 8x
http://www.cameralandny.com/optics/site.pl?page=40047
Since everybody likes gadgets, I would not necessarily discount the rangefinder for birding. Now you can say "With these things I can tell a Greater Scaup form a Lesser Scaup at 1,719 yds.!" Or whatever distance it turns out to be ;-). Or just don't use the button.
http://www.cameralandny.com/optics/site.pl?page=40047
Since everybody likes gadgets, I would not necessarily discount the rangefinder for birding. Now you can say "With these things I can tell a Greater Scaup form a Lesser Scaup at 1,719 yds.!" Or whatever distance it turns out to be ;-). Or just don't use the button.
Last edited:
The claims to great depth appear overblown, if they mean an exaggerated 3-D effect from widely spaced objectives. Measuring from enlarged images, the Zeiss HT objectives are spaced about 6mm wider than the eyes. Zeiss doesn't mention this as an advantage (and shouldn't). The new Leica adds another 4mm. Compared to a conventional Porro, whose objectives are spaced roughly twice as far apart as the eyes, that is mighty small.
Just advertising doing its job! Watch out, as ever.
Ron
Just advertising doing its job! Watch out, as ever.
Ron
Gijs van Ginkel
Well-known member
I learned through Jan van Daalen, that production starts from today in the Leica factory in Portugal. Samples will be delivered first in the US, so they will be shown at the Shotshow I guess and also at the European Shotshow, the IWA in Nuernberg, Germany.
The optical performance of the old Geovids and of the Zeiss and Swarovski rangefinders are good to excellent and the EL Range from Swarovski performed outstanding, so it will be interesting to know how the new Leica's are doing.
Gijs
The optical performance of the old Geovids and of the Zeiss and Swarovski rangefinders are good to excellent and the EL Range from Swarovski performed outstanding, so it will be interesting to know how the new Leica's are doing.
Gijs
brocknroller
porromaniac
Mmmm... my initial enthusiasm has been tempered by what you wrote above and Leif's question about possible higher cost of manufacturing Perger prisms. Perhaps this isn't the great leap forward for porros that I had hoped for since porros' greater depth perception and 3-D effect are in large part why I prefer them over roofs. The other reason is that since they're a cheaper to make you can get near alpha quality for a fraction of the cost.
If Perger prisms are more expensive to manufacture than traditional porros and if they lose their 3-D advantage, then they're merely "roofs" in porro's clothing. You might also see the large imager scale "roof illusion" with them.
Also, now that dielectric coatings can get 99.99% reflectivity from S-P prisms, I wonder what advantage the Pergers have over A/K or SP prisms other than the "additional beam paths have no impact on the observation beam path so the prisms are suitable for a pure observation binocular," as Leif said (see I'm giving you credit!), which means they are advantageous for rangefinders at least. I also wonder if this means the Geovids will lose their blue bias?
If Perger had come up with these back in the aluminum coatings days, the straight through roof style design would have taken a faster track evolutionary path rather than going through the phase coatings and aluminum-silver-dielectric roof prism cycle, which made roofs take a long time to come up to the light transmission standards of much cheaper porros. Some porros still beat the light transmission of the alphas.
The other question the "banana bulkiness" issue raises is like the midsized Zeiss FLs, which don't use the A/K prisms of their bigger brothers, if Leica might not use Pergers in their midsized Ultravids bur stick with the SPs to keep their size small?
If nothing else, at least we're finally seeing new technology being employed at the top level rather than another incremental upgrade.
<B>
Last edited:
Holger Merlitz
Well-known member
I would regard these Perger prisms as the better alternative to Abbe-Koenig. They do not compete with Schmidt-Pechan, the latter still being more compact. But the SP has intrinsic problems (regarding the anti-reflex coating of some of its surfaces) which make them inferior to Porros or AK designs. Now, the Perger is probably somewhat more compact than the AK and has no roof edge, so it would be a great alternative for those who want high performance combined with a small beam offset. The problem is: There is this patent, and if these prisms are in fact restricted to be used for Leica binoculars only, then we won't see any moderately priced binoculars which take advantage of them.
Cheers,
Holger
brocknroller
porromaniac
That's less expensive than the MSRP. I'm sure it's also available in meters.
Did you order or are you waiting for the 10x to become available?
<B>
brocknroller
porromaniac
Unless, like Zeiss, Leica does the unthinkable and decides to offer an under $500 Terra-Trinnie ED to compete in the Volksbin market segment.
Nah, I doubt it. Leica seems to be heading in the opposite direction, toward becoming a "boutique brand" for the wealthy and professionals, where it's already at with its cameras.
I would have liked to have seen Nikon buy this patent, because unfortunately, my superpowers do not include turning lead into gold.
<B>
Steve C
Well-known member
No, that CLNY link also has the 10x too, like for $2,995. Besides, I'm not much of a rangefinder fan anyway, despite my tongue-in-cheek comment above. I don't own any kind of a rangefinder. The binocular aspect is pretty neat.
Last edited:
brocknroller
porromaniac
I don't own one either, and at that price, I'm not likely to anytime in the near or distant future. Just estimate distance by a stone's throw. If you know how far you can throw a stone, and you want to tell how far away your target is, throw a stone. If it's closer than where the stone lands, it's "closer than a stone's throw", and if it's longer, "longer than a stone's throw". Not quite as accurate as the Leica RF, but stones are a lot cheaper.
Of course, that's a measurement technique that Superman can't use, because when he throws a rock, it goes completely around the world!
<B>
jan van daalen
Well-known member
Knowing Brock, it will probably be bullet (stone) proof.
The prices of the new bin will be 2.750,00 and 2.850,00 euro's and will be on the market after the German IWA in march.
Jan
The prices of the new bin will be 2.750,00 and 2.850,00 euro's and will be on the market after the German IWA in march.
Jan
ticl2184
Well-known member
Nice one Brock !
However if your a Hunter, throwing a stone to estimate the range of your potential quarry might frighten it off, unless it's a mouse, a big stone and a direct Hit !
Not really sure what the purpose of a binocular range finder is, at $3000.00 ? Wouldn't a rifle scope with a integrated range finder attached to a rifle, save time ?
Tim
However if your a Hunter, throwing a stone to estimate the range of your potential quarry might frighten it off, unless it's a mouse, a big stone and a direct Hit !
Not really sure what the purpose of a binocular range finder is, at $3000.00 ? Wouldn't a rifle scope with a integrated range finder attached to a rifle, save time ?
Tim
Steve C
Well-known member
There are some scopes with range finders built in. They don't seem nearly as popular with hunters as with a combo with binoculars. Part of that is certainly wanting to have all necessary information on hand before one shoulders the rifle. I for one don't shoulder the rifle unless I am prepared to shoot. I also need to be prepared not to shoot depending on last second information seen with the scope. In short, guns are for shooting, scopes are optically enhanced gun sights, and binoculars are seen as primary data collectors, and hunters overwhelmingly prefer the rangefinder combo in binoculars. Edit: Rangefinder cobmos eliminate one piece of kit from the field gear too.
There also seems to be the perception among the more financially well heeled hunters that high quality equipment automatically makes them better hunters. That same perception seems to also apply to some birders too. So there are both hunters and birders who will pay top end prices, hence we see products with top end prices offered.
I think the larger question is whether or not Leica sees fit to offer a binocular only version of this new porro.
Last edited:
Thanks to hunters for checking us brownish green suited birders out not through their rifle scopes!
"I think the larger question is whether or not Leica sees fit to offer a binocular only version of this new porro."
I agree and I bet and hope not. The patent puts up the new prism mainly for its convenience at deflecting information into and out of the beam path, not as an improvement in optical quality or cost savings. The Ultravids are so elegant and minimal, many fans point to this as a strong appeal of the brand, and it would be silly to give that up for a few mm of "plasticity" and a copycat open bridge look. Leica cuts a mighty mean roof angle in my experience.
Not that the Ultravid couldn't stand a shot in the arm, considering the activity of the other brands of late. But please, not banana-ization!
Ron
"I think the larger question is whether or not Leica sees fit to offer a binocular only version of this new porro."
I agree and I bet and hope not. The patent puts up the new prism mainly for its convenience at deflecting information into and out of the beam path, not as an improvement in optical quality or cost savings. The Ultravids are so elegant and minimal, many fans point to this as a strong appeal of the brand, and it would be silly to give that up for a few mm of "plasticity" and a copycat open bridge look. Leica cuts a mighty mean roof angle in my experience.
Not that the Ultravid couldn't stand a shot in the arm, considering the activity of the other brands of late. But please, not banana-ization!
Ron
14Goudvink
Well-known member
I suppose this is the usual conversion error. FOV in meters on the German Leica website is 130m/1000m (7.3 degrees), which corresponds to 390 ft./1000 yards.
dalat
...
Yes, I also stumbled about this initially, calculating 125m/1000m from the 371 ft/1000 yds given in the first info in this thread, which would have been great for a 10x42. Yet Leicas metric infos give 114 m/1000m, ok, but nothing exiting.
Last edited:
That's a very intersting design: high end porro open bridge binoculars. I've never understood why the porro II prisms were used hardly in current designs anymore. There are many porro I binoculars on the market but AFAIK Canon is the only manufactorer that so far still has the porro II type in use, which is more compact. It comes as a surprise to me that after all these many years in binocular history, someone has found room for a new type of prism. So I can only say: Congrats, Mr. Perger!
Now Leica, keep on with that spirit of innovation and give us birders, instead of the range finder, image stabilisation in a not bulky package. Also, porro II prisms should allow even wider fields of view.
Steve
Now Leica, keep on with that spirit of innovation and give us birders, instead of the range finder, image stabilisation in a not bulky package. Also, porro II prisms should allow even wider fields of view.
Steve
Last edited:
Similar threads
