My thoughts on the current alpha rangefinding binos (Zeiss Victory RF, Leica 3200.com, Swarovski El Range)

[Supranatural]

My understanding is the Swaro doesn't have ballistic solving in the binos while the Zeiss and Leica do. Unless I've read it wrong the Swaro has simple distance and angle calculations so a bit behind the Zeiss and Leica.

 

[OCHO505]

One side not to this old thread.. I have sent in a few sets of Zeiss bino's in for repair and their customer service and whole transaction absolutely sucks! I like a lot of stuff from Zeiss but in comparison to Swaro it was enough for me to thing twice about ever even owning Zeiss purely for this reason.

For the price difference I am trying the Leica, I have had the Swaro range and they were good but not $1K better IMO.

 

[Rooster22]

I was able to borrow a set of the Zeiss Victory RF a few days ago, so I've been able to do some head to head comparisons of these 3 over the last couple of days. What follows is a very unscientific summary of whatmy 44 year old eyes could see. I also didn't have these on a tripod, which would have helped a ton, so buyer beware. Your mileage may vary.

I set up a few resolution charts about 50 yards away from my front porch. During the minutes of low light right i dusk, I did a whole lot of comparison between these three.

My first overwhelming conclusion: there's not much difference between these 3 optically. I had convinced myself that the swaro El Range was outdated and not as great as some others. While i do notice a difference between the el Range and the EL Swarovision binos, it was really really hard to pick out much difference between the Swaros and the Leica and Zeiss. There are small differences in the sweet spot and the edge clarity and the cast of the hues, but it is so stinking small.

The only real difference i saw was literally in the last 2 or 3 minutes of visible light. The Zeiss and Leica were able to resolve just a hair longer than the swaros. And really - i had to try really hard to see any differences between any of them optically.

If you're on the fence and want to upgrade simply due to optics, I'd hold off. It's not worth it. If you want the ballistic stuff in the zeiss and leica, then it's probably worth it.

Anyway, a few of the other differences. The ergonomics are quite different between the 3. The swaros were like an old friend since I've used them for so many hundreds of hours, so i can't be unbiased. They felt the most comfortable to me because they were the most familiar.

Between the other 2, the Zeiss, for me, was considerably more comfortable to hold. The focus on the zeiss was better than the leica - more precise and smooth. The leica will probably break in with use, but as is now, it was stiffer and trickier to find that perfect spot. It was "spongy". The Zeiss could dial it right in.

Button placement - it is perfect on the Leica. Easy index finger push. On the zeiss, it will take some getting used to. It's further down where the ring finger sits, so to zap something, you'd have to get used to gripping them further down the barrel or hitting it with a different finger.

My honest opinion is that i wish swaro would come out with their version soon, because i'd own it for sure. In the meantime, I'll be running the Zeiss. Because they are more expensive, i'll look for a used set or a demo or something and try to get a good deal, then likely sell them when swaro comes out with theirs, for no other reason than i love swaro as a company, the rest of my stuff is swaro, and they've treated me like gold over the years.

Zeiss's phone app is also light years better than Leica's. I'm sure Leica's will catch up, but Zeiss has them beat right now. The Zeiss app has a lot of fluff that nobody will ever use, but the base ranging stuff and bino syncing stuff is easy and straight forward. I continue to have issues with the Leica functionality. I think i got a defective unit.

If anybody has questions, let me know and i'd be happy to help.

I had heard the Zeiss will only give ballistic calculations out to 800 is that true? And did it range as far as the others?

 

[cuerro viejo]

This isn't the 90's anymore fellas, come on over to 2020, LOL. All of the decent RF Bino's range to 2,000+ yards, have fast response times, and have good ballistic solvers. What is the technological advancement that you guys are waiting for?

12x and 15x

 

[Mojave]

Every time I think that I want an alpha binocular with a range finder, I start thinking about what happens if the range finder part dies.

If they were a range finder, and that part died, I would just have a decent but not perfect set of binos.

The actual Alpha plus binos do not come with a range finder. The rangefinder is only installed in the 2nd tier (still alpha) but not as good binos.

Range finders get upgraded every year, massive upgrades. Optics do not. The curent top tier range finder is in a stand alone unit.

The best binos are still without range finding capability.

Just my two cents.

I can get an Alpha plus optic for

Swarovski NL Pure 8x42 $3299

Leica 8x42 Noctovid $2849

Zeiss 8x42 T-SF $2899

Or an Alpha that is not as good with a range finder for:

Leica Geovid 8x42 $2599 for the 3200.com

Swarovski EL Range $3929

Zeiss LRF $3699

So in the Leica the LRF Bino is cheaper, and in the Swarovski and Zeiss the LRF Bino is $500-800 more, for a lower quality product.

A top tier LRF stand alone is $500-1500.

I still don't see the juice being worth the squeeze for a combo unit.

 

[JGRaider]

I thought about his exact same scenario many, many times the past few years. I even tried 3 different Geovids, all of which the RF feature sucked and didn't meet spec. I've never been a Vortex fan, but I decided to try a Fury 500 AB, and boy was I pleasantly surprised. I hunted whitetails and mule deer from November through this past weekend (whitetails). The optics in the Fury are not "alpha" stuff, but they are much, much better than average. They got me well past legal shooting light quite easily. The RF feature is just kickasss great, leaving the Geovids in the rearview mirror. Very few instances I couldn't get a reading and that was just jacking around with them. I never failed to get a range while hunting. I way underestimated this Fury AB unit, and obviously Vortex will take care of any and all electronic problems down the road at no cost to me. I'd buy them again in a heartbeat.

 

[Supranatural]

Mojave and JG, that's the same logic I used...I run an EL Pure and a Leica Rangefinder and I've found the combo performs great. And if the RF ever falls I won't be out a pair of binos while I wait for the RF to be fixed...

 

[Mhopper5]

Lately I’ve been using the two rangefinder method. I get redundant range finders in case one fails and the 3x power has amazing FOV at 100 yards. Plus with my lazy eye I can look forward and 90 degrees to the right at the same time. I’ve found at angles greater than 75 degrees the lasers don’t interfere with each other and give false readings. If I want to shoot at something I use the good eye while sleepy holds steady for anything that might come around the corner. Before you hate just know I see you over there even though I’m not facing you.