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Leica Geovid HDB 3000 10x42 - Great Electronics Sketchy Optics (1 Viewer)

dwever

Well-known member
So I am at Sportsman’s Warehouse Wasilla Alaska with my Noctivids trying to buy ranging binoculars as I have been in the mountains weekly for six months and would love to know distances before moving, especially across valleys. I have three optics before me: my own NVD 8x42, the 10x42 EL’s, and 10x42 Geo’s.

The Geovids give data for range, incline/decline, temperature, and atmospheric pressure! I can even figure exact elevation diffs with known distance and incline in degrees. AND, the Leica ranges almost to 2 miles at 3000 yards.

The Swaro EL Range only measure to 1500 yards, no other data is given, and takes longer to give you distance.

BUT, the Swaro EL Range has somewhat superior optics on par with my Noctivids, superior brightness compared to the Geovids, better eye cups and better focus mechanism. Almost the same price. So I have a real dilemma. Buy the superior data pusher or the superior binoculars.

Any experience out their with either of these? Thank you
 

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Zeiss has a new rangefinder binocular, the Victory RF series. These go to 2,500 yds. and
are available in several sizes. Specs and more are out there. I would try this one before
buying anything, as the others have been out there for a while.

Jerry
 
Zeiss has a new rangefinder binocular, the Victory RF series. These go to 2,500 yds. and are available in several sizes. Specs and more are out there. I would try this one before buying anything, as the others have been out there for a while.
Jerry

Wow thanks Jerry. I've been reading about the Zeiss for about an hour now, and those would seem to be the choice for 2018, complete with temperature, inclination, and barometric pressure. They appear to be modified HD's.

Now to find them in stock somewhere in Alaska to look through them. Moreover, I believe those have to be shipped ground, and I can't order from the Lower 48.
 
Safran Vectronix Vector 23 Rangefinding binocular 906098.
Range up to 25,000m.

Only $21,000.
Not sure if one can buy this nice piece of kit.
 
dwever, post 1,
I have tested all Leica, Swarovski and Zeiss rangefinders, the results are published on the WEB-site of House of Outdoor (the most recent Zeiss one based on the HT is not tested yet).
Gijs van Ginkel
 
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Any experience out their with either of these? .....

With both, but in size 8x42.

I agree that the optics of the Swaro are among the best of any ranging bino.

What I don‘t like very much is that you only press the measuring button once, which both turns on the device and makes the first measurement right away. That requires that you either have already pointed precisely at your target, or you have to press the button once more and measure again. In this, I prefer the two-step procedure of the Geovid ( first press turns on, second press measures).

The display of the Swaro is brighter and more easily visible in broad daylight.

The Geovid in principle measures greater distances than the Swaro - I have measured up to 2585m during a dry dark night -, but in practice, depending on light / weather / nature of target etc, that difference to the Swaro shrinks quite a bit, the Swaro sometimes picks up certain targets more easily than the Geovid.

The Geovid is unique with its Perger prisms, due to its characteristic shape I find it easier to hold stable for extended periods, because your hands hold the bino at a slight angle that is more comfortable than a straight bino body like the one of the Swaro.

So in my view, they both have their pluses.

Canip
 
I was very impressed by the image quality of the 8x42 EL Range. Had it offered some form of ballistics compensation calculator, I’m sure I would have bought it. I disagree about the focus adjustment though... however, without the ballistics correction display, unless you memorise your click/distance values, you have to look at your drop charts which is i) slow and ii) difficult in low light.

Friends use the 10x42 Geovids, but 10x42 is not a format that I get on well with. In the end, I went with the 8x56 Geovid, which I tested side by side with my 10x50 EL for a long time. I was satisfied that I really wasn’t giving up anything optically. It possibly shows a little more chromatic aberration, but then it has a better focus and diopter adjustment, and of course no AMD.

I haven’t seen the Zeiss HT rangefinder version, but I found it very difficult to bring the 8x54 HT binocular into sharp focus, which is a pity.
 
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