Leica Geovid HD BRF Rangefinder

I am thinking about purchasing a pair of Geovids 10X42. Can anyone give me the Good, Bad and the Ugly on these rangefinders?

I had many pairs of these over the last few years. I would recommend buying the hd version and not for reasons you would assume; the non hd models have HORRIBLE red LED interference when your glassing in the general direction of the sun. So far I haven't noticed this problem with the hd's.

The non hd version also have had problems leaking their internal nitrogen and this happened to me. I booked a 12-day dall hunt in Aug of 2010. On day four the entire right side of the binos completly fogged up with no abuse or neglect on my end. Because it was the right side I had no rangefinder, only an expensive monocular and had to use the guide's POS leupold rangefinder to kill my ram.

Leica, as expected, repaired them at no charge. Optically there is very little noticable difference between standard and hd.

The good? They are the best for the money. At $1200-1500 for non hd 10's they are a good choice and buy, the hd's will run a couple hundred more. IMO the optics are not as good as the zeiss rf but the leica rangefinder performs much better at long range.

I have the new swaro range on pro order, scheduled to get them mid March. The swarovski's are hands down the best of the three in terms of optics, angle compensation and rangefiner, the only drawback; button is on wrong side, again, for bowhunters (and of course $2K dollars).

Thanks for the feedback. I will just have to put the Swarovski and the Leica HD side by side when I get the chance to visit Cabelas.

LAST EDITED ON Jan-14-12 AT 07:39AM (MST)[p]I've had all three. I had a pair of the first Leica Geovids and the only problem I had with them was the display was a little weak. Other than that I had no problem and used them for 3 years or so on many sheep, elk, etc hunts. When the Zeiss RFs came out I sold my Geovids and bought a pair of those. I got the 10/45s which are obviously brighter than a 10/42. The focus is a little touchy on the Zeiss and the display on my pair was very faint on a bright day. I now have the new Swaro Range 10/42. They are lighter and smaller than the Zeiss RFs and weigh about the same as the Leicas. They are a little shorter than the Leicas. They are very bright and have a great focus mechanism for the diopters. They also have a Swaro Aim function which gives you actual yards to target and compensated yards to same on steep angle shots. The only problem with the Swaros is that the minimum range is 33 yards, 30 meters. This can be a problem for some if they bowhunt. They are all three great glass IMHO. The differences are just splitting hairs. For value a good used pair of Leica Geovids would be hard to beat. The new Swaros are pretty cool though. The range button is on the left side of the Geovids and the Swaros. This can be a problem for right handed bow hunters who have their bow in their left hand. You can range both with your right hand with practice. The Swaros being easier to do this with than the Leicas. The range button on the Zeiss is on the right side.

I have Geovid (non-HD) and they have been great. I have seen the red LED shadow when looking towards the sun, though it is minimal. Some people/binocs seem to have it more than others.

The coatings on these glasses are awesome.

If price were not a concern, I would get the new Swaro's. I do think they are a little nicer optically, plus they have angle compensation and the button is easier to reach with the right hand than on the Leicas.

The 30 yard minimum doesn't bother me, because it is the same pin anyway on my bow setup.

Grizzly

Thanks!

LAST EDITED ON Mar-19-12 AT 05:22PM (MST)[p]As hunters we are always looking for equipment that give us the edge. I have owned several of both swarovski and leica and can tell you that one will not give you the edge over the other. It really comes down to ergonomics and apperance IMO. My buddy likes the leica better, and I tend to like the swarovski.I went with the geovid because swaro didn't offer a rangefinder bino at the time.The geovid is hard to beat. I love mine. Wouldn't hesitate to try out the new swaro's either.

The bad=the cost, and ocassionally I have a hard time getting ranges beyond 700 yds.