What range finding binos is everyone liking?

I tried the Sig Kilo 3k next to the Vortex Fury 5k AB. I felt the Vortex had better glass but not by much. I later bought the Zeiss Victory RF. The glass is night and day different. The Zeiss returns almost identical dope instantaneously. The Vortex takes a bit to return the dope. Paired to the Kestrel or the Tactix, though, it provides immediate dope on those devices.

I use the Zeiss for hunting and the Vortex for competition. You can't beat the warranty for when, not if, the wind blows over the tripod and they hit the ground at a high rate of speed.
 
I have an older pair of rangefinding Leica 8X42's. I also found the clarity of the good glass can trump a higher power plus wider view. and less eye strain.
I enjoy the combined functions a lot but features in rangefinder technology/software change much faster than glass improvements. It can make some sense to have seperate units upgrading rangefinders only......at least with a limited budget!
 
You won't go wrong with any of the big 3 Swaro EL, Leica Geovid, or Zeiss. I own the Geovids. They are probably 6-7 years old now. At the time the EL and Geovid were the only real options. One of my hunting buddies had the ELs at the time. Both were priced within a couple hundred of each other. After much debate and many trips to stores with both I chose the Geovids over the ELs. The rangefinder was better hands down. For my eyes the Leicas glass was better at that time. Just a year ago my brother went with the Zeiss because at that time he felt the Zeiss had the best glass and features. With these 3 all priced similarly look at the features to determine what will work best for the way you want to use them. All 3 have great glass. I was fortunate enough to find both the Leica and Swaro at two different stores during my work travel that allowed me to take them outside to compare in different light and background. I chose the Leica at the time. All 3 have made improvements recently and I honestly couldn't tell you which way I would now without doing more research on the current features.
 
I have the Zeiss Victory RF 10x42. Love the compact nature of them and they talk with my kestrel to give me my exact dope. I have ranged out to 3784 yards with them under the right conditions, and with a rest; hit 2700-2800 consistently offhand. I have been impressed with their clarity while watching deer out my back windows this winter.
 
I have used the older Leica HD-R's for years and they still impress.
If I needed all the ballistic software I would look to the newer El Ranges or Leica's, but I can get buy with my older ones; after spending days with both the new Leicas and Swaros my old Leicas still held there own and fulfill my needs.
 
I have the Zeiss Victory RF 10x42. Love the compact nature of them and they talk with my kestrel to give me my exact dope. I have ranged out to 3784 yards with them under the right conditions, and with a rest; hit 2700-2800 consistently offhand. I have been impressed with their clarity while watching deer out my back windows this winter.
Still have my Sig kilo 2400abs and my Sig kilo 5K. I like them still for different applications and their ability to talk with my kestrel. I need to pick the one I like best and sell the other. I don't think I will go totally the RF bino route; I love my NL purse too much to not use them for scouting and during archery season. But rifle season I will be using the Zeiss RF binos and a spotter.
 
How does the quality of glass and low light performance of Sig Binos compared to Swarovski or Leica? Please don't compare them to other names.
For low light, the Zeiss RF in the 10x54's are hard to beat. Best glass, not to much power for low light. Pick up an Outdoorsman tripod adapter for them, and you're set. They're all I use for long range glassing for elk in CO. If I need to spot, I'll just use my rifle scope.
 
If the ballistic calculators are basically the same, either the new Leica's or Zeiss.
I have some older Geovids, and they work great, but it doesn't have a functional ballistics
 
Top