Monarch HG vs Geovid R - Rethinking “near-alpha” binos

[redneckbmxer24]

Fwiw my geovid r were very difficult to get both optic diopter and the reticle focus, or whatever it is called to work. I thought the same thing and kept adjusting till I eventually got a good picture and focused reticle.

I noticed this too. I set the diopter in the left barrel with the right focused by the knob as you typically would but backwards (right side on normal binos) and got it great, then set the reticle focus and the barrels were significantly out of focus again and I had to keep tuning them back and forth until I got it just right.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

yeah that's true on mine too. I've had to tweak both multiple times, seems to change with distance. Still not sure if i'm supposed to be seeing extra red pinpoints around the box/letters or not.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

If you're seeing red dots that shouldn't be there it's either debris or grease on the reticle causing a reflection, a poorly executed illumination mask on the glass, or an issue with the LED. Both the 2022's and 2018's were crisp with no spill over or dots once I got it focused.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

they're so crisp and clear I thought they were intentional. three perfect square, pinhead sized red dots right above or below the aiming dot and the distance readout. Sounds like I need to spend more time fiddling with the diopters before I make a final conclusion.

 

[Lawnboi]

Iv been happy with mine this far. Iv used them at quite a few matches as my main glass, no true field time yet.

Curious how warranty goes for anyone being that it sounds like Leica is trying to get better with that.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

Iv been happy with mine this far. Iv used them at quite a few matches as my main glass, no true field time yet.

Curious how warranty goes for anyone being that it sounds like Leica is trying to get better with that.

warranty is another curious point. the website is pretty clear about 10 years, but the user manual inside the box says 5.

 

[dreamingWest]

I'm not in love yet due to size of eyecups and ergonomics, but I'm certainly surprised by the negative reviews regarding the glass. I don't have time yet for a full review and I'm still testing them every sunrise and sunset, but I haven't thought the glass was an issue. My are 8x42. For those griping about depth of field, are you using 10s? Also, I'm not using these as tripod glass so I don't expect to be very critical of edge.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

Yes, 10x. Have not put them on the tripod, but the depth of field challenge is apparent even freehand at 20 yards. The hill 8 yards behind my archery targets is blurry when the target is in focus.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

warranty is another curious point. the website is pretty clear about 10 years, but the user manual inside the box says 5.

I asked them about this too, their warranty information on the paperwork is not up to date. Not really sure why they can't update it since it's been like a year. Essentially they have a 10 year warranty that's similar to Vortex's in that it says it covers damage, but the question is will they actually honor that. Especially with entirely different literature coming with the units. They also have a 30 year warranty against defects on top of that.

Leica Sport Optics Warranty Program

Leica Sport Optics NEW USA and Canada Warranty Program

leicacamerausa.com

I'm not in love yet due to size of eyecups and ergonomics, but I'm certainly surprised by the negative reviews regarding the glass. I don't have time yet for a full review and I'm still testing them every sunrise and sunset, but I haven't thought the glass was an issue. My are 8x42. For those griping about depth of field, are you using 10s? Also, I'm not using these as tripod glass so I don't expect to be very critical of edge.

Mine were 10x42's. I could see the blurry edges in my view using them offhand but it certainly became even more evident when I mounted them on my tripod and started trying to use the entire image. Very underwhelming.

 

[Mr Xv3]

If you're seeing red dots that shouldn't be there it's either debris or grease on the reticle causing a reflection, a poorly executed illumination mask on the glass, or an issue with the LED. Both the 2022's and 2018's were crisp with no spill over or dots once I got it focused.

Mine is crisp, no spillover as a datapoint.

 

[Mr Xv3]

I'm not in love yet due to size of eyecups and ergonomics, but I'm certainly surprised by the negative reviews regarding the glass. I don't have time yet for a full review and I'm still testing them every sunrise and sunset, but I haven't thought the glass was an issue. My are 8x42. For those griping about depth of field, are you using 10s? Also, I'm not using these as tripod glass so I don't expect to be very critical of edge.

I spent some time today comparing them to my Nikons.

For a comparison sake, the benchmark(s) were 10x Nikon LX L (HG predecessor) and EDG. In my Geovid-R example:

When viewing close objects, the depth of field was a bit more restrictive on the Geovids than Nikons, yet at range 300m+ I didn’t notice a significant disparity between the LX Ls and Leicas. The EDG was a bit better…

CA was acceptable - not as good as the EDGs, but not bad at all.

Edge to edge on my Geovids was pretty good - compatible to the LX L - the Leicas , however, are noticeably more sensitive to correct eye relief. Once the eyecups were set, the view was actually quite good.

Of note, my example appears to have some dust between the objective lens and the focusing lens on the left barrel… I wasn’t able to notice it while glassing, but I’m going to have Leica correct it.

LRF performance is solid on my example.

More to follow once I have more time behind the glass.

 

[dreamingWest]

It can be a little frustrating getting everything back in perfect focus if you start messing with the diopters. You can find instructions online for the correct order of operations to reset. It's one of those things where I didn't need to make any adjustments so once I went "looking" for a problem, I regretted ever messing with it.

Depth of field is just fine/great in the 8x42s. Color is neutral. Not quite as warm as Swaro but much closer to Swaro than the distracting blue of my Sig Kilo.

My initial impression is that these are really cool. I've got a rifle hunt in Montana this year and I'll keep them until at least that hunt. I bought this "open box" pair from Happy Antelope for $1090 and they are no doubt a great value.

More thoughts later. It sounds like the 8x42 may be the winner. I plan to pair them with SLC 15s.

 

[dreamingWest]

Regarding build quality, my sample is extremely well made. No internal flaws (or dust). I'm a plastics engineer and can say that the molding and over molding is very high quality. Textures, witness lines, and shut-offs are superb. So I imagine new tooling is being used.

Mine say Leica Camera of Germany. Made in Portugal. They have nice marketing video for their Portugal facility you can find online. I'm not sure if any of the electronic components are sourced in Asia.

The simple rangefinder is fast and accurate. So far I've ranged from 10 to 1,736 yards.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

It can be a little frustrating getting everything back in perfect focus if you start messing with the diopters. You can find instructions online for the correct order of operations to reset. It's one of those things where I didn't need to make any adjustments so once I went "looking" for a problem, I regretted ever messing with it.

Depth of field is just fine/great in the 8x42s. Color is neutral. Not quite as warm as Swaro but much closer to Swaro than the distracting blue of my Sig Kilo.

My initial impression is that these are really cool. I've got a rifle hunt in Montana this year and I'll keep them until at least that hunt. I bought this "open box" pair from Happy Antelope for $1090 and they are no doubt a great value.

More thoughts later. It sounds like the 8x42 may be the winner. I plan to pair them with SLC 15s.

Got a link to the diopter directions you used? The leica youtube video and owners manual contradict, and neither method works for me.

 

[dreamingWest]

https://leica-camera.com/sites/default/files/2022-08/en_geovid_riii.pdf

This seems to be the most current version. These instructions aren't great either. I did manage to get mine back the way I wanted.

 

[Formidilosus]

What is the confusion with setting diopter and focus?


There are three adjustments, right diopter, left diopter and center focus wheel.

Cover left objective. Press button to turn reticle on. Adjust right diopter until reticle is sharp- then don’t touch it. Let your eye relax and look away multiple times so it doesn’t focus it for you.
Now look at a defined object 50-100 yards away- a single leaf or beach point that it sky lighted works well. Look in and out of the right eyepiece while adjusting the center wheel. A specific point on the object should be as crisp as posisble as soon as you look at it- don’t stare at it and let your eye adjust to it. Once that is set, don’t touch the center wheel.
Now, cover right objective. Using left diopter adjustment, look at the exact same specific point you did with the right eye and adjust the left diopter until it is as crisp as possible. Then don’t touch it.

Uncover both objectives, now use center wheel to focus as normal. If you adjust either diopter at all, you must repeat the entire process.

 

[Formidilosus]

As for the optical quality, etc. Much as another thread there is quite a bit of exaggeration, if not outright nonsense being posted.
I have written about Leica’s issues with RF performance in the cold quite a bit, however the last few years I have not seen any cold soak problems in quite a few of them. I have seen and used at least 10 of the newer Geovid R’s, and all have functioned correctly with a greatly improved RF over the previous generation.
The previous Gen Geovid was about a 900 yard on demand RF. Sometimes they would go farther, sometimes shorter, but it was expected to be able to get 800-900y in almost all conditions. The new Geovid R’s are legit 1,200-1,500 yard RF’s, with quite often getting 1,700-1,800 yards on trees, hill sides, etc.
The Swarovski EL Range TA’s are lackluster quite frankly. The RF in 6-7 that I’ve seen are about a 900 yard on demand- sometimes making 1,100-1,200 yards. Ryan Avery’s is by far the best in RF performance that I have seen with them, and still isn’t nearly what the Geovid R’s have been.

As for “glass” quality, the 10+ that’s I’ve seen are very good. Good enough that about half the people I am around that know how to use binos but aren’t dorks about it, have preferred using them over the Geovid Pros we had available. Quite frankly I do as well. Not, that the image is better in the Geovid R’s compared to the Pro’s- it’s not, it’s also not nearly the difference people make it to be; but in overall use I and many that I have been around prefer them. But again, we are using them to find and kill animals, not for mentally masturbating about 1% differences.

 

[ResearchinStuff]

If it was possible to have the reticle and image crisp at the same time I would like them.

However, in my sample of 1, so far that is not possible. I'm about 2 hours into fiddling with the diopter and focus wheel, and no combination of changes yields good results. With the diopter both zeroed out the image is fine, but the digital display is very, very blurry. With the display diopter adjusted for crisp display, there is no combination of focus or left diopter that produces a crisp image with both eyes open. Also, any change to the left diopter causes the rangefinder display to go blurry when both eyes are open. Adjust the red diopter for a crisp display and the overall image becomes watery, focus and left diopter cant fix the overall image quality at that point. I've tried the diopter setting process on objects across the house, across the yard (120 yards), at 400, 530, and 650 yards. Tried right around sunset and at noon.

Lastly, there are 4 square points of red light below the aiming box, and above and below each range number. From what I can gather, that's not normal, so it seems like my particular set is just defective in some way. The lenses are clean, no visible dust, cracks or debris, so I'm really at a loss as to the actual problem.

 

[Formidilosus]

If it was possible to have the reticle and image crisp at the same time I would like them.

However, in my sample of 1, so far that is not possible. I'm about 2 hours into fiddling with the diopter and focus wheel, and no combination of changes yields good results. With the diopter both zeroed out the image is fine, but the digital display is very, very blurry. With the display diopter adjusted for crisp display, there is no combination of focus or left diopter that produces a crisp image with both eyes open. Also, any change to the left diopter causes the rangefinder display to go blurry when both eyes are open. Adjust the red diopter for a crisp display and the overall image becomes watery, focus and left diopter cant fix the overall image quality at that point. I've tried the diopter setting process on objects across the house, across the yard (120 yards), at 400, 530, and 650 yards. Tried right around sunset and at noon.

Lastly, there are 4 square points of red light below the aiming box, and above and below each range number. From what I can gather, that's not normal, so it seems like my particular set is just defective in some way. The lenses are clean, no visible dust, cracks or debris, so I'm really at a loss as to the actual problem.

I am not sure how adjusting the left diopter messes with the right, however it sounds like it has a legit issue, send it in.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

Wow 2hr to get it focused and still not right is pretty extreme. I managed to get mine right after about a dozen adjustments or so, but my eyes were fatiguing after a few minutes of viewing through them unless I got off of them for a while.