Choosing an 8x32 Rangefinding Bino

[Article 4]

I’ve ordered the Leica pro 8x32. Planning to compare them with the swaro NL 12x42. Not really a good apple to apple comparison however I think that would be a great combination of glass for western hunters.

Agree, especially having the option of the 12s for open country...especially if you dont pack a spotter

 

[Houseminer]

I have a pair of Swaro El Range 10x42 and love them. Last weekend I had the opportunity to look through some of the other EL range binos. The 8x32's were great! I will be getting my dad a pair here soon. You will not be disappointed with them.

A plus 1 for EL 10x42, pretty solid.

 

[Utpikahtr]

I’ve ordered the Leica pro 8x32. Planning to compare them with the swaro NL 12x42. Not really a good apple to apple comparison however I think that would be a great combination of glass for western hunters.

Agree, especially having the option of the 12s for open country...especially if you dont pack a spotter

I’ve had the 8x32 pro’s for a week now, I haven’t ran out hem through any rifle testing. I did use them on a 3D archery course and they’re sweet. I did a low light comparison on a hill (that ranged at 2500 yards laser worked great) against my NL 12x42’s. The low light performance is right there with the NL 12s. The 12’s did have better resolution at that range due to the extra 4x magnification. All said I’m very pleased with performance and size of the 8x Leica’s.

 

[ElPollo]

I'm looking to upgrade my bino/rangefinder setup. I'm a rifle hunter out east who primarily hunts moose. I've convinced myself that I want to simplify my setup and save weight by getting a pair of 8x32 rangefinding binos. Currently using 8x42 Vortex Vipers that have served me well. I don't see a need for going to 10x magnification, especially with the smaller objective lens. Likewise, Leica Rangemaster 1600-b has served me well. Simple distance reading would do it for me... no need for a ballistic solution.

The options that I see on the market are the following:

• Swaro EL Range 8x32
• Leica Geovid Pro 8x32
• GPO Rangeguide 8x32

Am I missing any others? I'm both a "bang for your buck" and a "buy once, cry once" type of guy. I'd love to hear people's opinions who have used one or more of these binos with regards to glass quality and ease of use. Leaning toward the Swaro/Leica but if the GPO is almost as good, I'd seriously consider it.

Thanks!

What did you end up buying and can you give any feedback?

 

[dangerdude]

What did you end up buying and can you give any feedback?

I ended up getting the Swaro 8x32. They cost a pretty penny but I see it as an investment for the next 10-20 years.

I decided against the Leica and GPOs for different reasons. I have heard mixed reviews on Leica customer service and thought that for equivalent glass, I would choose Swarovski who I have heard nothing but good things about, both in the U.S. and Canada. Next, I wasn't a huge fan of going through the U.S. -> Canada import/export process for the GPOs or having to go through the U.S. for any possible future warranty claims. I was able to handle the Swaro in person from a reputable shop here and confirmed that they checked all my boxes before committing to the purchase.

The 8x32 Swaros are the exact same form factor and weight as my 8x42 Vipers, which I liked a lot. Fit perfectly in my AGC harness and I ditched the standalone RF I was previously carrying around. Ergonomically they feel great in the hands and the focus wheel and buttons are easy to use.

I don't know enough about optics reviews to give you more than this: the image is amazing, they are optically better in every way than my Vipers, people who know glass well seem to be very impressed by them, and the rangefinder does everything I need it to do. I wasn't able to verify this on an animal this year, but they performed very well until the end of legal shooting light.

The rangefinder is very quick and responsive. No lag. Ranged everything I needed to (within reason). Apparently the RF in the Revics and Sigs are much better, but I frankly wouldn't need that kind of performance. I'm a < 400 yard hunter and I know that the ballistics capabilities are overkill. Still nice to have the MIL or MOA solution right there instantly after hitting the range button. If I range an animal at > 400 yards, that's my cue to get closer.

The only annoyance I would note is related to the setup using the Swaro iOS apps. The EL Range Configurator app worked well enough but it doesn't show you a ballistic table. I needed to use the Ballistic app for that. In the Ballistic app, I could not for the life of me find a way of displaying the output in MILs, even though other forum members have done so. Maybe it's related to my regional settings (Canada) that are selected automatically by the app and that I can't change.

All in all, I'm really happy with the EL Range. Checks all my boxes in a compact-ish range finding bino. Bonus is that I have spent much less time browsing the Optics forum since getting them earlier this year!

Cheers

 

[Tanner]

Anybody out there have more to report on the GPO 8x32?

 

[Macintosh]

nope. but there's also the Sig 8x32 I havent heard much about. I've used the full sized sigs rf binos a bunch at matches, have found the glass is noticeably better than vortex fury's if a bit of a bluish tint, and ranging has always been fine including in very cold wx. If these are similar, for the price it would be a good value for a lot of people.

 

[JGRaider]

nope. but there's also the Sig 8x32 I havent heard much about. I've used the full sized sigs rf binos a bunch at matches, have found the glass is noticeably better than vortex fury's if a bit of a bluish tint, and ranging has always been fine including in very cold wx. If these are similar, for the price it would be a good value for a lot of people.

Your eyeballs are much different to mine, and the vast majority of users of both the Sig and Fury AB. The Fury AB's are very much a step up from the Sigs optically (had them both at the same time), and a notch below the GPO's. The RF laser and circle reticle on my Sig's were also way out of collimation, being the laser's POI was at 6:30 outside of the circle. Sig's customer service called it "within spec" so I promptly sent them back to the retailer.

 

[Macintosh]

Fair enough, Ive used at least 6 or 8 pairs of each side by side because pretty much everyone I shoot matches with locally has one or the other, so Im confident in my own opinion. I would have said most of our crew prefers the clarity of the sigs (edge to edge is better imo even if centers are similar) and the color rendition of the vortex’s. For sure they are very similar though, and it could easily be a tossup or the difference between individual eyes. Regardless, neither are alpha glass, I think its fair to say both are a budget to mid-range option, thats just been my experience. I personally went with vortex’s assuming Id need the warranty at some point. I only mention since sig does make a compact model that is reasonably priced and squarely fits the op’s topic, and the folks I know personally have been happy with their sigs. Cant compare to the other models from personal experience.

 

[Tanner]

Would either of you care to compare now the Sig Kilos and/or GPO Range guide would compare to something like a Maven B1 or 1.2? Not quite alpha glass but that same sort of class.,, curious if the 8x32 LRF binos are serviceable as an all day, every day glassing for hunting type of binoc.

 

[Macintosh]

Never seen anything made by maven in person, ever—so cant compare them to anything.
Re the sig and vortex binos mentioned. The vortex fury hd’s supposedly have Viper glass in them. To my eyes that looks true. Sigs are similar with the caveats discussed above^^. For me that glass is plenty good to see animals most of the time, but if I was spending “all day every day” glassing (Im not) Id save my pennies and buy swaro or similar.