marinetowgunner
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Leica's New Geovid HD-B
- Thread starter gr8fuldoug
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pwrdbycotn
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Actually, Eric at EuroOptic told me yesterday that they have shipped a few out already. However, they don't expect a big shipment until July. So.....there are a few out there being shipped to customers. Let's hope one of those customers is a member here and will report their findings. I've also been anxiously awaiting the release of these rangefinding binos. I'm waiting to see the reports and reviews before deciding between these and the swaros.
land cruiser
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I am one of the lucky people who had a tracking number in the email from Eric. We bought them at SCI. Can't wait till Tue. Tried both these and svaro's (been using Geovid's for a while) and had no reservations. In fact, my buddy who bought a pair as well owns Svaro's too, he felt the same way.
gr8fuldoug
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We received our 1st shipment this week (all went to fill pre-orders) and are expecting more deliveries every week or two moving forward
pwrdbycotn
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land cruiser
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Same as they were at the show - glad I didn't jump the gun yo buy Swarovski when they first came out.I have not spend time at the range yet, but it is in order in the next two weeks.
It appears they are starting to trickle in, I see Cabelas has the 10x42 model listed as in stock. I guess I don't pay a ton of attention to when products hit after SHOT but July/August seems pretty late to get a hunting optic out that was at the SHOT to market. A lot of guys that are that serious about their optics want it in hand to work with well before August.
One would think that considering basically every generation we see of new ranging binocs from Zeiss/Swarovski/Leica tends to trump the other two as long as it's the newest generation they would not want to miss the bulk of a hunting season's sales while they were in that most recent generation slot. Should Swarovski/Zeiss come out with something new next year and they miss the bulk of sales this season I'd think that would be a pretty big dent in overall sales, but perhaps not. The Zeiss for instance has now been on the market since 2009, it wouldn't surprise me to see them release a new model next year. Especially since they are now well behind the light transmission curve with the new prisms others all appear to be going to. Though I'd be interested to see if those new prisms are giving up any resolution to gain all that light transmission, usually in optics you can't pick up that much light transmission without some trade off.
One would think that considering basically every generation we see of new ranging binocs from Zeiss/Swarovski/Leica tends to trump the other two as long as it's the newest generation they would not want to miss the bulk of a hunting season's sales while they were in that most recent generation slot. Should Swarovski/Zeiss come out with something new next year and they miss the bulk of sales this season I'd think that would be a pretty big dent in overall sales, but perhaps not. The Zeiss for instance has now been on the market since 2009, it wouldn't surprise me to see them release a new model next year. Especially since they are now well behind the light transmission curve with the new prisms others all appear to be going to. Though I'd be interested to see if those new prisms are giving up any resolution to gain all that light transmission, usually in optics you can't pick up that much light transmission without some trade off.
Any more updates on these or experiences? They still don't seem to be hitting the market in any numbers with hunting season right around the corner you'd think Leica would want them out in full force while they are the latest and greatest.
Oh to answer my own question it appears the trade off with the new prisms (not really new) is compactness seems the new prisms need a slightly longer package, but have less path changes which gains them the light transmission and wider field of view.
More concerning is Outdoor Life just did a review of the 2013 new binoculars, and in the "optical quality" (hard to say how that was judged,) but they only received a B+. That's a worse optical score than the $500 Nikon Monarchs received, worse than the $400 sightmark solitudes, and the same score as a $450 pair of Alpen's scored. I put little faith in magazine reviews but if true that's a pretty poor showing unless they have it out for Leicas.
Oh to answer my own question it appears the trade off with the new prisms (not really new) is compactness seems the new prisms need a slightly longer package, but have less path changes which gains them the light transmission and wider field of view.
More concerning is Outdoor Life just did a review of the 2013 new binoculars, and in the "optical quality" (hard to say how that was judged,) but they only received a B+. That's a worse optical score than the $500 Nikon Monarchs received, worse than the $400 sightmark solitudes, and the same score as a $450 pair of Alpen's scored. I put little faith in magazine reviews but if true that's a pretty poor showing unless they have it out for Leicas.
ArizonaWildernessHunter
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I think the "Perceived Image: A- " score is more accurate to look at. Not sure how they rated "optical quality" but they may have confused the old fashion porro prism systems with the new "Leica Perger Porro prism system" that fixed many problems such as waterproofing problems and durability. The light in a porro prism does not cross itself as much if at all while with roof prisms it does many times relying on coatings for correction, but this used to come with the sacrifice of giving up durability in a porro prism. The new Leica design fixed these problems it seems. The new design also increased the total field of view (342 ft) area by around 7.4% (not 3.6%, think water pipes and flow). This means while glassing the chance of seeing game at least in the open increases by 7.4%. The perceived image quality may be higher in the Zeiss Victory HT due to the same 42mm objective concentrating its light into a smaller viewing area of 330 ft. I think the larger viewing area will give a better chance of seeing game over an extra 1 minute in the morning on no moon nights. Hopefully we can have a review on the ballistics program's accuracy during different conditions to see how it compares to the G7 BR2 rangefinder. I read somewhere that there are a ton of shipments coming in and saw on at least one website guarantees for a September delivery. I saw that Cabelas has some right now. If anyone buys one please write a long review on here with some test results out shooting.
I believe I've figured it out, or at least the general idea of it from other reviews they've had talking about the scores.
Optical Quality appears to use a single test using an 1951 AF resolution target inside a darkened structure, the target is rotated and the smallest group of lines the tester placed 100 yards away can make out in low light is the score, so optical quality only tests the optical resolution and low light ability under fixed conditions. The Zeiss Victory HT beat the Leica in both categories earning "A"s in both. That doesn't surprise me so much, usually the light transfer and resolution of the top rangefinding binoculars does not equal the top non-rangefinder binoculars. My Geovid HD's did not have as good of light gathering or optical quality edge to edge compared to my swarovski EL's, in the center they were about equal but the geovid's fell off a lot toward the edges.
The Perceived image score is a more subjective score based on comfort, weight, balance, eye relief, long term eye strain, controls, durability and use under more realistic hunting conditions looking at 3D targets etc, than a resolution chart in low light. It seems to be more of a "Go use these in the field for a couple weeks hunting and see how you like them" than just a light gathering and optical quality score. It almost seems more of an ergonomics/easy of use/satisfaction score.
If that's accurate, that's still a pretty poor showing in optical quality, that would mean a $1200 pair of vortex binoculars beat them in optical quality and perceived image quality and they essentially tied with a $500 pair of Minoltas between the two.
They could have received a poor sample (perhaps that's why they have been so late to the market) their testing standards might not be very repeatable and how much of that is a result of Ad dollars is anyone's guess
Optical Quality appears to use a single test using an 1951 AF resolution target inside a darkened structure, the target is rotated and the smallest group of lines the tester placed 100 yards away can make out in low light is the score, so optical quality only tests the optical resolution and low light ability under fixed conditions. The Zeiss Victory HT beat the Leica in both categories earning "A"s in both. That doesn't surprise me so much, usually the light transfer and resolution of the top rangefinding binoculars does not equal the top non-rangefinder binoculars. My Geovid HD's did not have as good of light gathering or optical quality edge to edge compared to my swarovski EL's, in the center they were about equal but the geovid's fell off a lot toward the edges.
The Perceived image score is a more subjective score based on comfort, weight, balance, eye relief, long term eye strain, controls, durability and use under more realistic hunting conditions looking at 3D targets etc, than a resolution chart in low light. It seems to be more of a "Go use these in the field for a couple weeks hunting and see how you like them" than just a light gathering and optical quality score. It almost seems more of an ergonomics/easy of use/satisfaction score.
If that's accurate, that's still a pretty poor showing in optical quality, that would mean a $1200 pair of vortex binoculars beat them in optical quality and perceived image quality and they essentially tied with a $500 pair of Minoltas between the two.
They could have received a poor sample (perhaps that's why they have been so late to the market) their testing standards might not be very repeatable and how much of that is a result of Ad dollars is anyone's guess
land cruiser
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Very little time to play with my new Leica's but I am starting to use them. Spent some time at the range last weekend, quality as good as my HD's and love the fact that I can switch metric to imperial. Well thought out controls, takes a minute to get familiarized with and becomes second nature. Angle, temperature, elevation, all easily accessible.
I have one concern though and that's Ballistic calculator. Disclaimer - I did not have any time to go through instructions and winging it didn't work What I mean is the Leica site has a calculator on with Save to SD button, but it's rather limited when compared to the same thing on G7 site. It is nowhere near my Kestrel either So, I'll do some homework and will report once I figure out what's it worth
I have one concern though and that's Ballistic calculator. Disclaimer - I did not have any time to go through instructions and winging it didn't work
What I mean is the Leica site has a calculator on with Save to SD button, but it's rather limited when compared to the same thing on G7 site. It is nowhere near my Kestrel either So, I'll do some homework and will report once I figure out what's it worth
Mikecr
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Thanks Land Cruiser
Chase Curtis
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Has anyone ranged with use? Tight beam.. Easy to read? How far...? I can't find and full reviews....
land cruiser
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Spent a weekend hunting with them, definitely better ergonomics. Only hit the "wrong" button once. Didn't range anything past 700 yards (hunting on the coast), but ranging is as expected at par with my previous model Geovids. Easy to read, fast return. A much tighter fit in my Badlands bino case, but still fits okay.
