Binos w/built in rangefinder. Pros and Cons

[Formidilosus]

Personally, I'll never own a bino and rangefinder combo. Electronics go bad, become obsolete, etc. Eventually they fry, and with the exception of Vortex and Maven, there isn't a single company out there who will warranty the electronics beyond 5 years, most are only a year. When the electronics go bad, you're just left with an ergonomically inferior pair of binos and you STILL end up buying a new rangefinder anyways, or another pair of expensive rangefinding binos.

Leica and Swarovski both offer a ten year or longer electronic warranty.

The original Leica Geovids from the first year they came out are still very good binos. The newer ones are better still. The RF from the very first Gevids is a legit 800+ on demand RF in all conditions- how many people shoot animals beyond 800 yards? The newest versions are legit 1 mile RF’s, have excellent optics, and are smaller. There no real game changing thing that will happen to Bino RF’s in the next decade that will make the current best ones obsolete.

The reason for Bino RF’s over separate ones, is speed. Or more correctly, shorter kill chain. And it can be significant.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

I have the Meopta Optika LRs in 8 power that never leave my bino harness. I don’t see myself going back to separate units. Amazing glass, great range finder, and highly effective for hunting all types of game.

 

[Ryan Avery]

I go into the field to kill animals. RF Binos make me more efficient at it.

 

[Marble]

I dont think the image quality is as good on the combo binos. It's my observation.

I have spoken with some of the people that work for optics companies. In order for the range finding feature to work, certain coatings have to be applied to the glass. I don't know how it effects the image quality. I just know for me they are a no go.

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[bohntr]

I’ve had Leica Geovid BRF’s since they came out……which is a LONG time ago. Still a solid piece of equipment that work flawlessly and have never failed. I recently upgraded to the Geovid BRF that has angle compensation as well. Great glass and rangefinder.

 

[Ryan Avery]

I dont think the image quality is as good on the combo binos. It's my observation.

I have spoken with some of the people that work for optics companies. In order for the range finding feature to work, certain coatings have to be applied to the glass. I don't know how it effects the image quality. I just know for me they are a no go.

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I have the NLs, ELs and the EL Range TA. There's just not enough difference to matter to my eyes. If I can see it with one I can see it with the other.

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[Little Jake]

I won't buy range finding binoculars because as others have said they don't have the same warranty as optic only glass.
I still have a Nikon 1200 range finder that is 16 years old, I keep waiting for it to die but it hasn't let me down. I keep thinking I'll get a smaller longer ranging model with the angle compensation but other stuff seems to always take priority.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

I dont think the image quality is as good on the combo binos. It's my observation.

I have spoken with some of the people that work for optics companies. In order for the range finding feature to work, certain coatings have to be applied to the glass. I don't know how it effects the image quality. I just know for me they are a no go.

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

Range finding binos are gonna be 8 or 10 power and used handheld most of the time. Nothing replaces high quality 12s or 15s on a tripod.

I used to wear a bino harness 6 or 7 days a week for about 10 years straight. I managed multiple properties for game depredation year round. If you think you are noticing a difference in optics quality between EL’s and EL ranges (as an example) while free handing for quick glassing and hunting you’re fooling yourself.

I made the switch to range finding binos because it saves tons of time while out hiking/hunting or on the atv checking for herds and predators. I used to miss animals because of the time it takes to glass them, put binos back into the harness, pull out range finder, range the animal, put range finder down, set up for shot, and finally, maybe a bang flop. It’s also WAY easier to re-find and re-range an animal with the binos after the time it takes to get the shot setup. Lots of time you moving to prone position or seated position to get the shot is when they see you and start to move off.

With range finding binos you instantly get a range as soon as you glass the animal. It saves a ton of time which can be the difference between a kill or an animal that gets away. The MINIMAL difference in “glass quality” between a RF bino and the equivalent non range finding bino shouldn’t prevent anyone from making the switch in my opinion.

 

[Macintosh]

My 2017 Rf had an advertised 1200 yard range, which in reality translated to about 500-600 yards absolute maximum in the field under most conditions, often less--that is an "obsolete" level of performance for anyone that does any longer range shooting, I'll give you that. But even my very middle-of-the-road vortex fury's reliably range WAAAAAY past 1000yards in the field, usually multiple times that if I'm ranging trees or rocks. I have an extremely hard time thinking I'll ever bump up against that level of performance, i.e. multiple times what I'd even shoot in a match. The only possible obsolescence I see happening is adding new features like linking with your kestrel or scope, or whatever comes after that. For competitive shooting maybe that makes sense and you "need" that to be competitive, but for hunting that's a personal choice if you want that level of tech and to me would not make it obsolete.