Rangefinder Testing RESULTS ARE IN

[86er]

Since most traditional levergun cartridges fly in a rainbow-like trajectory, the use of a Rangefinder can be pretty important. If you are also and archer, handgunner or hunt from a treestand or in steep terrain the trajectory becomes even more important. I have a handful of Rangefinder that compute algorithims to calculate the actual distance to the target with consideration for the angle. This has various names from different manufacturers. I have two Leupold, two Bushnell, two Nikon, a Zeiss, a Lecia (non-compensating) and a Opti-Logic . I am going to the optics lab today to test these units. A report will be posted here tonight.

SEE MY NEXT POST FOR RESULTS

[gimdandy]

I look forward to the results for lots of reasons , however since I already bought a 900 Lecia a couple years old it just tells yardage only and I'm stuck having to know my cartridge and gun well enough to be able to lob one in w/ the correct hold..........that'll work for me. I do see however where in your situation that w/ lots of different weapons of different clients it could be quite helpful and I personally enjoy seeing how they all stack up currently. Incidentally when I purchased the Lecia the salesman at Cabelas and I took the four that I liked best in the store , outside , measured 300 yds. , checked for accuracy and they were all good enough, then checked ease of operation, and then clarity, Lecia's easily won FOR ME.

[CowboyTutt]

Ha! You go Joe! I love it!
-Tutt

[86er]

Results:

The Nikon and Bushnell models were hard to read on dark shadows or on dark animals (black cows) because the display is black. The lens are okay but are not as bright and crisp as the Leupold They only scored 9.2 and 9.35 in light gathering/optical clarity but the Leupold RX 1000 with TBR scored 5.80 (1 is perfect and high dollar binos are around 3 - 4).

The Leica 900 is not waterproof although it was fogproof. It does not have ballistic compensating ranging ability. The lens scored 5.25 and was indistinguishable from the Leupold. The Ziess was 5.0.

Leica 900 and 1200, Leupold RX 1000 and Opti-Logic have RED displays that can be seen in any light.

Opti-Logic was great overall but it did not feature any magnification. It was hard to put the little red dot on a deer sized target at 300 yds or more. Priced around $300 for the 1000 model.

I dropped them out of a tree stand 15 ft high and let them hit the ground. The Nikon 550 ceased to function. The Bushnell 1000 ARC had a display error. All the others worked perfectly.

Overall, the Leupold RX 1000 had the best features, optical clarity and display. It is waterproof. Priced at $349 in black $399 in camo. However, I tried a camo store display that Cabelas provided right next to all the others. The readings on all the rangefinders on one particular target was 55 yards. The ranging actually varied from 54 yds to 56 yards but all were within one yard. It was a measured 55 yards, and the Leupold, Zeiss, Nikon Bowhunter and Leica were all exact. The camo Leupold RX 1000 from Cabelas display read 61 yards. How could it be 6 yards off? Potentially a miss in bowhunting. We called Leupold customer service. They said to compare it to another Leupold in the store and if it was off to have the store replace it if it was purchased w/i 30 days. If it was purchased more than 30 days ago Leupold would replace it if it was mailed back. They said it might need batteries or may have been mis-used since it is a display.

If you don't care about the ballistic function, the Leica 1200 was perfect at $500. The Zeiss was over $2k but it is a bino also, and was essentially perfect.

All the waterproof claims were true in a 10 second dunk in a bucket of water. The non-waterproof leaked as expected and killed the batteries.

Of the ballistic calculating units, the Opti-Logic and the Leupold RX-1000 were the best overall. The Leupold glass was absolutely the clearest and brightest on par with the Leica and Zeiss.

Any questions?

[cnjarvis]

Thanks for the report Joe.

Did you happen to check them for accuracy AFTER you dropped them?

[86er]

Oh - Yes. The units that still worked after being dropped were calculating properly.

[CowboyTutt]

Thanks Joe! It turns out that this is the one Jeff Quinn reviewed a few months back. It does sound like a good buy in rangefinders along with the Leica.

http://www.gunblast.com/Leupold-RX1000.htm

-Tutt