Is the fact that these don't give the windage correction not an issue for guys hoping to shoot past more than a few hundred yards? I find it extremely clumsy to have to keep looking at my phone to get all the data I need to make a shot, but maybe I'm missing something here.
There's going to be some trade offs with any system choice. Right now there are 3 new things on the market:
New thing 1: Leica 2800.com and its bluetooth connectivity with the Kestrel. Thats a pretty sweet little system. For about $1600 total you get an 7x RF with very good glass, proven range finding, and in a tiny, light weight package. You pair it with the Kestrel and get a full ranging solution - distance, elevation requirement, and wind requirement. Read more here:
https://forum.snipershide.com/threa...-com-kestrel-with-applied-ballitsics.6929445/
Whats the trade off with the Leica + Kestrel? IMO - its more devices to take into the field. I'm not leaving behind binos. So now I'm packing binos, RF, and wind meter.
New thing 2: Zeiss Victory RF with bluetooth connectivity to Zeiss hunting app. No current support for connection to a Kestrel, but keep in mind - IT can implement additional connections to these systems. It wouldn't surprise me if that will be added. But for the sake of discussion, maybe it won't. The downside is that I don't get a wind solution in my binos. So if I want a wind solution, I need to pack the Kestrel. The binos are my glass and my elevation solution, the Kestrel my wind. Only 2 devices to bring in the field.
New thing 3: Sig Kilo binos. These seem to be the do-it-all with range, wind, etc. Basically everything the Victory RF does with a wind read out, and connectivity to Sig scopes if you have one on your rifle. Sig is swinging pretty big with this tech, and I like it. But I can't imagine the glass in their binos is going to compare to that of the Victory, or Geovid, or any alpha RF bino. I'm not willing to give up good glass for a extra tech.
One final thing to mention: You can learn to read the wind. Its much harder to learn to judge 600 vs 850 yards across a canyon. I'll take my wind reading skills over taking that extra device in the field. The Kestrel is cool, but IMO - its place is on the bench for LR plinking and LR competition. Under the conditions of shooting game when things happen fast, I want to rely on a quick elevation solution from my bino or RF, then reside on my wind reading skills to get it done.