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Leica Geovid HB-B 8x42, an independent comparative review (1 Viewer)

S

SteveTS

Well-known member
Jagdpraxis have reviewed the Leica Geovid HB-B 8x42 and compared it to the Swarovski EL 8x42 Range, and the Zeiss Victory 8x45 RF, interesting reading even if you are not interested in the ballistic applications ... the article is in English and is attached below in pdf.

A useful independent review ... from Jagdpraxis.com ... "Im Bereich Jagdoptik arbeitet Jagdpraxis zusammen mit dem optischen Fachlabor der Georg-Simon-Ohm-Hochschule in Nürnberg unter Leitung von Prof. Dr. Hanskarl Treiber und kann somit die Tests exklusiv auf neutrale Ergebnisse stützen."

Earlier this year we had a thread on the Leica Geovid HD-B here : http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=275722&highlight=rangefinder

If the pdf link doesn't work let me know and I'll dig out the weblink.
 
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Thanks for that! I will read it again more carefully when I have more time. Thanks for posting it!

I am surprised by the transmission tests as I would have expected the Leica to come out on top, but the results were:

Swarovski EL range - Right D=90.9% / N=89.6% Left D=91.1% / N=89.2%
Leica HD-B - Right D=86.3% / N=87.7% Left D=87.7% / N=84.3%
Zeiss RF - Right D=70.2% / N=62.6% Left D=85.5% / N=75.2%
 
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JabaliHunter said:
Thanks for that! I will read it again more carefully when I have more time. Thanks for posting it!

I wonder why they refer to the Leica as a "mixed porro-roof concept"? First time I have heard that description of the Perger porro...

There also seems to be some confusion about the placement of the electronics and the optical and laser beam paths when it comes to the Swarovski too!

I am surprised by the transmission tests as I would have expected the Leica to come out on top, but the results were:

Swarovski EL range - day 91% / night 89%
Leica HD-B - day 87% / night 84%
Zeiss RF - Right day 85.5% / night 75.2% & Left day 70.2% / night 62.6%

The Zeiss result is quite poor really for such a high priced binocular (in my opinion of course) and is a similar conclusion to that of Allbinos in their review from some years ago (comparing the left and right barrel performance).

In contrast the Leica was noted for its almost identical results in left and right barrels.
Click to expand...


The reason that Swarovski came late with this range model was they did not want to mix the laser path with the optical path, causing one tube to have different values, like you see at Zeiss and Leica.
This is why the EL range has bulbs on the bottom to divert the laser path.

Jan
 
JabaliHunter,
Look at the transmission spectra and the test results of the Leica, Swarovski and Zeiss RF binoculars, which I published on the WEB-site of House ot Outdoor. Go on this EB-site to "Verrekijkers" and then in the left column to "Verrekijkers testen en vergelijken" and you will find a whole range of test reports and one of these reports is dedicated to the performances of the different range finder binoculars. You will also find the full transmission spectra there. so look and shiver.
Gijs
 
jan van daalen said:
The reason that Swarovski came late with this range model was they did not want to mix the laser path with the optical path, causing one tube to have different values, like you see at Zeiss and Leica.
This is why the EL range has bulbs on the bottom to divert the laser path.

Jan
Click to expand...
Hi Jan, I was looking through the article again and cut some of my comments, but didn't realise that you had already replied! Anyway, I need to look into that idea some more, but my understanding is (was?) that only the electronics were slung underneath, so I cannot see how that alone helps separate the laser and optical paths. On reading the article again I see that it states that the EL does not use a beam splitter, so I am interested to see a cutout diagram showing the separate paths if that is the case. I also thought that a major part of the design philosophy for the Leica was to use the perger porro prism to provide a better means of keeping the two pathways separate?
 
Gijs van Ginkel said:
JabaliHunter,
Look at the transmission spectra and the test results of the Leica, Swarovski and Zeiss RF binoculars, which I published on the WEB-site of House ot Outdoor. Go on this EB-site to "Verrekijkers" and then in the left column to "Verrekijkers testen en vergelijken" and you will find a whole range of test reports and one of these reports is dedicated to the performances of the different range finder binoculars. You will also find the full transmission spectra there. so look and shiver.
Gijs
Click to expand...
Thanks Gijs - I remember looking at your reviews before - I need to refresh my memory...
 
The first compact RF binoculars

For those with an interest in rangefinding binoculars Steiner have entered the market with the first 'compact' RF binocular, the Steiner Nighthunter 8x30 LRF, here :

http://www.steiner.de/en/binoculars/hunting/nighthunter-8x30-lrf.php

It would seem to be one that would be comfortable to use one-handed, and its hardly surprising that Beretta, the pan-global Italian-American arms manufacturer and the owners of Steiner, wish to flex their marketing muscle in this arena.

Enjoy the Summer !
 
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JabaliHunter said:
Hi Jan, I was looking through the article again and cut some of my comments, but didn't realise that you had already replied! Anyway, I need to look into that idea some more, but my understanding is (was?) that only the electronics were slung underneath, so I cannot see how that alone helps separate the laser and optical paths. On reading the article again I see that it states that the EL does not use a beam splitter, so I am interested to see a cutout diagram showing the separate paths if that is the case. I also thought that a major part of the design philosophy for the Leica was to use the perger porro prism to provide a better means of keeping the two pathways separate?
Click to expand...

JabaliHunter,

The pictures show what is inside the bulbs of the EL Range. Because the opticale path is your "aiming point" and the laser goes through this Pechan prism with small optical glass parts, there is no need for a beam splitter.

Jan
 

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The reason that Swarovski came late with this range model was they did not want to mix the laser path with the optical path, causing one tube to have different values, like you see at Zeiss and Leica.
This is why the EL range has bulbs on the bottom to divert the laser path.
Jan
Click to expand...

JabaliHunter said:
On reading the article again I see that it states that the EL does not use a beam splitter, so I am interested to see a cutout diagram showing the separate paths if that is the case. I also thought that a major part of the design philosophy for the Leica was to use the perger porro prism to provide a better means of keeping the two pathways separate?
Click to expand...

From what I understood about the design of the Geovid, the laser for distance measuring does not go through the glass of either barrel, but is placed in a seperate unit in the central hinge of the bridge. It's only the beam for the display of measurements that is introduced somewhere in the perger prism.
 
What makes you think that the HD-B may be discontinued? The page you linked says nothing about it. The HD-B is the newest Geovid, the one with the Perger prismns.

The HD-R are just some updated versions of the old HDs, I think the only change was something with the ballistics programme and perhaps Aquadura coatings or so...
 
Samandag said:
It seems that the Geovid HD-B 10x42 may now be discontinued and Leica are introducing a range of compact RF binos, the Leica Geovid HD-R 42 (8x42, 10x42) and Leica Geovid HD-R 56 (8x56, 15x56) :

http://uk.leica-camera.com/Sport-Optics/Rangefinders/Leica-Geovid/Geovid-Range
Click to expand...

Sam

If you toggle around the small group of 4 pics just to the right of top centre of the page on the Leica website, it will still swap between 8x and 10x for th HD-B model, so it looks from that as though the 10x lives on.

Lee
 
Thanks, Lee, as usual you have taken my overview and kindly focused the essential detail.

Would be interesting to hear from any users of the new RF HD-Rs.

Besr wishes,
 
dalat said:
What makes you think that the HD-B may be discontinued? The page you linked says nothing about it. The HD-B is the newest Geovid, the one with the Perger prismns.
Click to expand...

Only that when I glanced at the site my impression was that only the 8x42 was available, my simple mistake but glad it caught your interest.

Best wishes,
 
The new HD-R is also a Perger porro version - essentially the same as the HD-B but without the full ballistic programme.

Both HD-B and HD-R are currently £500 off in the UK when you trade in "any" binocular.
 
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