GPO rangeguide 8x40

[grahambiel]

Anyone gotten their hands on these? I tend to prefer an 8x bino so it’s nice to see another option with a 40mm objective since most of the 8x RF binos are a 50mm

The thing that really blew me away is the advertised weight…25 oz?? That’s 8-9 oz lighter than pretty much anything out there

The other rangeguides have seemed to get good reviews and for half the price of the revics these seem like a pretty solid option if you don’t need ballistics

 

[grahambiel]

Nobody?? Maybe I’ll have to be the guinea pig on these. Seems like a great weight and size for 40mm RF binos. I’m curious if they have the blue tint the 32s supposedly have

 

[Ridge Ghost]

Please be the guinea pig and report back. The weight and price point have me interested as well, but there isn't much out there for reviews or real world experience.

 

[wedgetail]

How’d they go Guinea pig?

 

[cuerro viejo]

Nobody?? Maybe I’ll have to be the guinea pig on these. Seems like a great weight and size for 40mm RF binos. I’m curious if they have the blue tint the 32s supposedly have

I have the 10x40. Weight to performance is hard to beat, I put the glass as same as Revic but tone is a touch darker(no blue tint though) as the coatings on the right tube are a shade darker then revic. The left tube is identical tone and clarity to Revic, just led coatings is touch darker in the right.

Over if you are looking for a very fast lazer, in a extremely light weight and small size they are the hard to beat

 

[wedgetail]

Thanks. Not overly fussed about the weight - it’s more the price vs specs. Excellent optical reviews, good LRF and significantly cheaper than the next cheapest 8x42 LRF bins. Even AU$300 cheaper than meopta 10x40s.

I’m slightly concerned about them being too small - people say they’re minuscule and fit in the palm of your hand? That’s really weird for 8x40s, do they feel stupidly small?

 

[Bendejo]

Tracking # shows my 8x40 (demo pair from camera land) showing up today. Hope to get some time behind them this weekend, and I'll happily post my unprofessional opinion here.

 

[wedgetail]

Thanks mate yea would love to hear it

 

[KY_coop]

I usually wear XL gloves and I don't have a problem with my 8x40 gpo rangeguide. Love the weight, fast ranging, smaller size and good glass( atleast to my eyes).

 

[jonpall]

Tracking # shows my 8x40 (demo pair from camera land) showing up today. Hope to get some time behind them this weekend, and I'll happily post my unprofessional opinion here.

Did you get a chance to try them out?

 

[jonpall]

I ended up buying both the 8x40 rangeguide and 10x42 leica geovid R to see how they compare. Unfortunately I don't think I'm the best one to do the comparison because I don't have much if an eye for optics. I used some 10x42 vortex Diamondbacks for years and was satisfied. I currently use some 8.5x44 kowa genesis.

The Leica are obviously much bigger than the GPO. They are also a bit bigger than the kowas, which are already a big bino. The Leica did not fit in my small marsupial case. The Leica have a more grippy material, which might be nice. The GPO did not feel too small in my hands. The focus wheel on the Leica moved much easier and was more smooth, but the GPO seemed to function well. No locking diopter on the GPO.

Optically, like I said above I'm not the one to pick apart differences. This was especially hard considering the GPO is an 8x and the Leica a 10x. Both seemed nice. Leica may have seemed brighter but could have been in my head as well.

The rangefinder on the both functioned well. I may have preferred how the GPO worked and looked but it wasn't a big deal. Both will range further than I will ever need. The GPO ranged some ridiculous distances though. I just randomly ranged a mountain by my house and was getting instant ranges up to 5000 yards which seems crazy and impractical but interesting.

I'm sure someone could tell a bigger difference optically between the two but I'm taking advantage of my ignorance and am keeping the cheaper and smaller pair ($800 demo set from cameraland). I like the size and feel they'll do the job for me. They have a 5 year warranty on electronics so I'll see how they do in that time. Maybe I'll need ballistics by then.

Attached is a pic comparing the size of the 2 rangefinding binos as well as my kowas.

 

[Mt Al]

Chiming in because I just received 8x40 GPOs from cameralandNY (thanks, Doug!!) and took them out for a long day in the hills.

I've been heavily using one pair of 10x42 Leica Trinovids for almost 20 years, and a Leica 1200 Rangemaster since they first came out, don't recall how many years ago but a long time. Tired of carrying around two optics and the price on the GPOs were low enough to jump. In a perfect world I'd have enough $$ laying around to buy 8x32 Geovids, but that's not the case.

Not sure if today's lower-grade optics are now better than 20 year old Leica's. That's my only comparison. Also, like jonpall above, I may not be the best judge of optics.

I used the Leicas and GPOs off-hand, no tripod, side by side while glassing some hillsides, randomly popping them out over a few hour period. I really like the size, feel and clarity of the GPOs. IMHO, the GPO image clarity was better, keeping in mind the 20 year age and very heavy use of the Leicas during that time.

I could barely tell the difference from 10x to 8x. Non issue for me.

Given the price and quality, color me one very happy GPO owner, very pleased with this purchase.

However, for me optical performance in low light is what makes or breaks them. Hope to use the GPOs prior to and right around sunrise this weekend to see how they perform and will report back if they're not up to snuff.

 

[grahambiel]

For those who are still thinking about these, camera land has them discounted even further to $650 now. At that price I had to pull the trigger

 

[jonpall]

For those who are still thinking about these, camera land has them discounted even further to $650 now. At that price I had to pull the trigger

Wish I wouldn't have just bought them for 800. Good deal.