Anybody else out there tried a set yet? I did and although they are top notch in a lot of things, I didn't like them very much. Quality? First rate on the optics, the laser worked very well in all kinds of conditions, but there were things I didn't like about them.
One is they were bulkier than I thought they would be. They spec'd out to be a tad smaller than the Leica's, but in reality they were just a touch bigger. Like I said, the optical quality of the monocular was first rate, and you could easily get by without carrying separate binos if you had these along, although I wouldn't do that personally. My biggest gripe with the things was the laser readout. The little round target aquisition guide was fine, but what got me was the way it looked grainy and in low light, you could "see" the while electronics "grid" inside the viewfinder. It wasn't so bad you couldn't see through this, but it was very distracting at times. I thought the laser to be very accurate, but much slower than the Leica's I used to have. The scan feature worked very well, and it was nice to be able to attach bino straps to the unit. They also gave you this cool protective case to carry it in, and a rubber cup to go over the eye piece keeping it clean and debris free. One other thing that was extremely distracting was the unit has a feature that in low light it shines just a little so that it is easy on your eyes and is not so bright. The problem was that in bright light, it was supposed to shine bright so you could read the display. Well, several times in bright light the unit was stuck in low light mode and I couldn't read the display quickly. If I lasered the object again most time it would read brighter but not always.
So my review may be somewhat biased or off, but I sent this pair back to the company I bought them from as they offered a 30 day satisfaction guarentee, and I had a 1/2 hour left on that when I mailed it back. I am going to upgrade from the Leica 800 I did have before someone thought they needed them worse than I did, to the 1200 scan model. If I could convince myself to get crazy enough, I would put the dinero down for the Leica Geovid 10x42 laser binos, but choking down $1750.00 is still a bit much for me right now.
I am going on another Elk bow hunt this Fall and I am gearig up now. Good binos are a must, lasers sure help you learn the terrain out West, and a good GPS is the next thing on my list. But the Swarovskis still have a way to go to beat the Leica's in my opinion.
One is they were bulkier than I thought they would be. They spec'd out to be a tad smaller than the Leica's, but in reality they were just a touch bigger. Like I said, the optical quality of the monocular was first rate, and you could easily get by without carrying separate binos if you had these along, although I wouldn't do that personally. My biggest gripe with the things was the laser readout. The little round target aquisition guide was fine, but what got me was the way it looked grainy and in low light, you could "see" the while electronics "grid" inside the viewfinder. It wasn't so bad you couldn't see through this, but it was very distracting at times. I thought the laser to be very accurate, but much slower than the Leica's I used to have. The scan feature worked very well, and it was nice to be able to attach bino straps to the unit. They also gave you this cool protective case to carry it in, and a rubber cup to go over the eye piece keeping it clean and debris free. One other thing that was extremely distracting was the unit has a feature that in low light it shines just a little so that it is easy on your eyes and is not so bright. The problem was that in bright light, it was supposed to shine bright so you could read the display. Well, several times in bright light the unit was stuck in low light mode and I couldn't read the display quickly. If I lasered the object again most time it would read brighter but not always.
So my review may be somewhat biased or off, but I sent this pair back to the company I bought them from as they offered a 30 day satisfaction guarentee, and I had a 1/2 hour left on that when I mailed it back. I am going to upgrade from the Leica 800 I did have before someone thought they needed them worse than I did, to the 1200 scan model. If I could convince myself to get crazy enough, I would put the dinero down for the Leica Geovid 10x42 laser binos, but choking down $1750.00 is still a bit much for me right now.
I am going on another Elk bow hunt this Fall and I am gearig up now. Good binos are a must, lasers sure help you learn the terrain out West, and a good GPS is the next thing on my list. But the Swarovskis still have a way to go to beat the Leica's in my opinion.
