Stinky Coyote
WKR
Have only unboxed, put the battery in, and adjusted diopters at 475 yards to house shingles down the block and switched to imperial units, quick test of the true horizontal range up a tree and quickly compared to my long time existing love affair of my 10x32 Leica Ultravid Hd's and Leica CRF-1600 rangefinder. Sadly they didn't show up before the bear hunt so didn't get a chance to field yet, front street only so far.
I didn't want to miss capturing my initial thoughts and forget what they were, so they are to be in this first post and I'll follow up with more in depth thoughts after getting more time behind the wheel. Ultimately I will compare this to the new PRO's but first they have to see how they do against my high bar Alpha's.
Ok, I'm used to those tiny ultravid hd's and you can't really speak to just how small and compact those are until you put a full size bino up next to them so initially I was like wow these things are chunky. I know that I'm coming from maybe the most compact alpha option going though so not a big deal. They certainly won't fit in my small SG bino harness lol, the Large FHF is on the way. Having said that however the range finder must be compared as well so the bulk becomes more moot point with the two pieces vs the one and the second case on my SG bino harness as well.
Both units brow weld equally, the 2700 has longer eye relief so the cups have come out a peg or two where the ultravids are screwed all the way in for same positioning and filling the fov.
Initially noticing a slightly more stability handholding with the larger size/weight.
Image is great in the 2700, really close on initial compare to the ultravid, but like always happened over last 10 years with the tiny ultravid every time I bring those little boogers up to my face I get that sh1t eating grin of disbelief at how incredible and comfortable that image is.
The FOV is slightly larger with the 2700's, initial look appears maybe 5-10% however I never really look other than center and move Bino's to suit, have always seen more than enough in the little 32's.
So the ultravid hd initially still gave me that wow factor as it always has, the 2700 didn't but it's as research is expected, we're very close, and very Leica...so similar color/hue etc. so felt good to my Leica eyes. These 2700's are alpha level to me so I'm very pleased and appears I could spend a lot of time behind them happily. That leads to next step and get them afield in varying conditions.
They ranged within 1-2 yards of the CRF handheld at 475 yards. It was a little easier to range accurately with the 2700 as both hands already supporting, the CRF I usually have to use 2 hands for anything over bow or pbr ranges anyway. The handheld will rule for bowhunting so you lose some versatility with the combo unit if you're a combo hunter. I don't do as much bowhunting now but can afford both systems so will likely use the Ultravid/CRF combo for stick and string but can see no issue using the 2700 for mountain hunts and all other rifle duty.
Weight, 1 lb 11.5 oz for Ultravid/ CRF combo (27.5 oz) and 2 lb 4 oz for 2700 (36 oz), for 8.5 oz difference and I'm guessing if I took the Aziak off the 2700 it would be exactly an 8 oz difference.
Thanks for the tips on the Aziak tripod mount, it went on right after the battery went in, slick bit of kit.
It may take some time before you hear more on this. I've seen enough initially that it warrants a lot finer comparisons and testing, so this is great initial impression, otherwise you'd see an add in the classifieds, I'm not going to be easy on these...they have big shoes to fill.
And if they survive to stay then I'll be looking for some PRO 32's to compare to see if they have some sort of optical voodoo magic other than size/weight.
I didn't want to miss capturing my initial thoughts and forget what they were, so they are to be in this first post and I'll follow up with more in depth thoughts after getting more time behind the wheel. Ultimately I will compare this to the new PRO's but first they have to see how they do against my high bar Alpha's.
Ok, I'm used to those tiny ultravid hd's and you can't really speak to just how small and compact those are until you put a full size bino up next to them so initially I was like wow these things are chunky. I know that I'm coming from maybe the most compact alpha option going though so not a big deal. They certainly won't fit in my small SG bino harness lol, the Large FHF is on the way. Having said that however the range finder must be compared as well so the bulk becomes more moot point with the two pieces vs the one and the second case on my SG bino harness as well.
Both units brow weld equally, the 2700 has longer eye relief so the cups have come out a peg or two where the ultravids are screwed all the way in for same positioning and filling the fov.
Initially noticing a slightly more stability handholding with the larger size/weight.
Image is great in the 2700, really close on initial compare to the ultravid, but like always happened over last 10 years with the tiny ultravid every time I bring those little boogers up to my face I get that sh1t eating grin of disbelief at how incredible and comfortable that image is.
The FOV is slightly larger with the 2700's, initial look appears maybe 5-10% however I never really look other than center and move Bino's to suit, have always seen more than enough in the little 32's.
So the ultravid hd initially still gave me that wow factor as it always has, the 2700 didn't but it's as research is expected, we're very close, and very Leica...so similar color/hue etc. so felt good to my Leica eyes. These 2700's are alpha level to me so I'm very pleased and appears I could spend a lot of time behind them happily. That leads to next step and get them afield in varying conditions.
They ranged within 1-2 yards of the CRF handheld at 475 yards. It was a little easier to range accurately with the 2700 as both hands already supporting, the CRF I usually have to use 2 hands for anything over bow or pbr ranges anyway. The handheld will rule for bowhunting so you lose some versatility with the combo unit if you're a combo hunter. I don't do as much bowhunting now but can afford both systems so will likely use the Ultravid/CRF combo for stick and string but can see no issue using the 2700 for mountain hunts and all other rifle duty.
Weight, 1 lb 11.5 oz for Ultravid/ CRF combo (27.5 oz) and 2 lb 4 oz for 2700 (36 oz), for 8.5 oz difference and I'm guessing if I took the Aziak off the 2700 it would be exactly an 8 oz difference.
Thanks for the tips on the Aziak tripod mount, it went on right after the battery went in, slick bit of kit.
It may take some time before you hear more on this. I've seen enough initially that it warrants a lot finer comparisons and testing, so this is great initial impression, otherwise you'd see an add in the classifieds, I'm not going to be easy on these...they have big shoes to fill.
And if they survive to stay then I'll be looking for some PRO 32's to compare to see if they have some sort of optical voodoo magic other than size/weight.
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