Rangefinding Binoculars

Getting ready to get some Rangefinding Binos. Anyone have the Ziess, Swaros or Leicas? If you were buying now which would you go with and why?

I have the older non-HD Leica Geovids and love them, but if money were no object, I'd get the newest ones that are programmable.

I used the EL Range 10's this year and had the old Geovids. I really like the EL ranges and they are the brightest of the bunch and will range consistiently to well over 1600yds (personal best is 2200 on a clear day) I like the option to use the degree of incline and decline in lieu of ballistic range as its nice to use Exabal. I haven't touched the new Leica's and I don't like the ergonomics of the Zeiss glass.

I got to play with the new Leica's at the shot show. I use the old Leica's now and just bought a G7 range finder the week before the shot show. According to Leica the new HD-B W/user ballistic interface will do everything that the G7 will do. So it does everything you want in a binocular rangefinder comb. They are the new leader as of right now,until the others catch up .

I like my Zeiss Victory 10x45 RF binoculars. Yes it is pricey, but it is worthy every penny.

I love my Leica Geovids, but they are sold and will be buyng the new Geovid HD-B that big john just referenced. Awesome and the standard the others will be judged against.

I've had all of the big three in RF and will share my experience...I have nothing to gain here, so I think I can speak impartially.

I started with the Leica geovid (non-hd) 10X42 and used the hell outta them. Great glass. Reliable, reasonably priced (with some looking), and quality optics.

I then bought a pair of Zeiss RF 10X45s from Doug at Cameraland Demos (honestly, I think they were spankin' new) and they were fabulous. A bit larger than the Leicas, but quicker readings and slightly better ranging capability. Stunning glass, but not quite Zeiss 'FL' bino quality (probably due to the reflective coating to protect the user? (laser)).
They were bombproof with the rubber armoring and felt the best in the hands. Ergonomically numero uno.

I got the Swaro bug and traded the Zeiss for the Swarovski EL Range in 8.5X42.
The Swaros were like new, and were very nice. The optics were stunning for RFs! I didn't like the seperate readouts in each eye, I'd rather have all readouts in one eye. The Swaros were the least reliable with readings and they never felt perfect in my hands. They also quickly suffered from the worn paint on the hinges--not a huge deal, but unacceptable for top-buck alpha glass. The Swaro are spendy! One had better be getting a great deal to justy the purchase, imho.

I went back to the Zeiss 10X45 RFs and they will be my last for awhile. I nailed a steal of a deal from a guy with a mint as-new-in-box pair. All things considered, they are simply the best I've used.

In fairness, I haven't tried the old school HD Geovids or the newest HD-B Leicas. At $3000 Leica recently lost me as an RF buyer, that kind of money is outrageous. I bought two Toyotas for my teenage kids with the kind of money.
Also, with no angle compensation under 100 yards, Leica screwed the pooch. I am a bowhunter and expect $3K glass to have that function.
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Broomd,
I appreciate your review. I am looking to upgrade my older non HD Leica Geovids for a new pair of rangefinding binoculars. I love my Leicas, but would like to move to a model with angle compensation. I am not really interested in all the ballistic calculations. Which of the big three would you guys get, and why? Thanks for your responses.

Great review broomed. I have a friend with the zeiss rangefinding bino's and they are truley impressive. fatrooster.

Have been looking recently as we'll, went up to cabelas today and compared the Leica to the swaro, ended up with the swaro. My decision came down to the swaro being a little clearer and seemed to have a better rangefinder. Swarovski warranty (I believe) is better also.

I also have been researching these and looked at them at Cabelas. One difference I noticed is that Zeiss seems to range to a lower yardage better than the others. As a bowhunter I want to be able to range down to 20 yards and I dont think the leica or swaro do that very well, maybe Im wrong?nwhunter

I have owned and used all three mentioned; the zeiss rf, the standard and hd geovid and I now use the EL range with the HD-B leicas on pro order that should be here in August or September. It is true, the el will not range below 33 yards, but why would that matter? Unless you are shooting a vintage bow a 35-yard pin will be accurate down to about point-blank range.

Besides, the zeiss rf, as well as every zeiss spotting scope, has TERRIBLE edge to edge distortion. The trouble with swarovski and leica, IMO, is the button is on the left side of the bino, this is cumbersome if you are a right-handed archer. The new geovids have a right-sided button!

Hey Broomd,
I'm resurrecting this thread because I noticed you sold those Zeiss binos a few months later in the classifieds. Curious as to why. I'm currently comparing RF binos and looking for reviews from those that have used the big 3.