Need good binoculars with rangefinder feature

S

scorn

New member
I am looking for a rangefinder.
I also want a good pair of binoculars.
Does anyone make a really good pair of binoculars that also has a laser rangefinder builts in? I don't mind spending some money, within reason (I am not spending $2500 on the Leica setup though).

What do I look for in a good pair of binoculars, and what makes a good rangefinder?

Thanks
 
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Scorn,

Until recently Leica was the only one to market a combo bino/laser range finder. A company named Newcon has annouced a unit this year but it does not look to promissing.

Your best bet right now would be to get a good binocular and a good laser range finder seperately.
 
Steiners military model has a reticle rangefinder.

They are great optics, don't require focusing, and would be considerably cheaper and more reliable than a laser.
 
The steiners work excellently -- lots of FO's can testify to that. You can also do a search on IOR optics (or look for the review over at www.snipercountry.com); this is a Romanian company that's been in business forever (on the other side of the iron curtain) that seems to have excellent glass and coatings. They have some 8x30's and 7x40's with rangefinding reticles.

I also think the concept of binos that can see the IR light on your TV remote control seems really cool, but I can't for the life of me figure out why I'd spend extra for it...
 
Another vote for the Steiners with reticle. When at work I prefer to grab them rather than than the gyro-stabilized binocs sitting next to them. With a little practice you can get pretty fast at doing the size/distance math in your head while you're still looking at an object.
 
Can you tell me exactly which Steiners have the reticle? I have looked at a couple sites and I can't seem to find which model have them and which don't.

Rumor has it that they have ones with reticles for hunting rather than military use.

I want something with power and view, like 8x40 minimum, 8x50 or 10x50 (approximately).


Also, what does the reticle use to find range? Does it go off the size of the animal's torso fitting in between some lines, like rangefinding scopes? What objects do you use in the field, the animal, or bushes (if there are no animals) etc?

Thanks!
 
You're looking for something with the same rangefinding reticle as the M22 binoculars have.

It's 2 intersecting lines, each of which is marked in mils. If you know the size of the object you're measuring and you know its size in mils, you know the distance.
 
There are quite a number of range finding binoculars in the market today.

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/t...nt=1&parentId=cat20714&parentType=subcategory

What makes the Lieca more costly is its higher quality in build and materials as well as its more accurate range finding abilities. The main reason is its tighter laser focus, IIRC.

I also like the reticle range finding models also and have Tasco's Offshore (got mine before they started calling it Offshore) copy of Steiner's Commander series. It has a graduated reticle and illuminated compass within the housing. No exactly sure how the Steiners work but for the Tasco, you know the height of and object, you find the height gauged by the reticle, adjust a sliderule-like ring on the objective bell to correspond with those two values, read off the distance. It has actually worked very well.

Steiner also sells a line of binos that have Mil-dot reticles.




Is 'reticle' correct or is it 'reticule'?
 
Reticle. But we hear everything like recitle, rectile, reticule, retisle even rectum. A guy wanted to know how much a Leupold with the heavy duplex rectum was.
 
Can you tell me exactly which Steiners have the reticle?
Click to expand...

Scorn,

The Commander II and IIIs have the compass/rangfinding reticle. The IIs are liquid filled, the IIIs are electronic ( I think I have the numbers right, they're not in front of me right now). They're a 7X50. There is also a Navigator model that has them. They're not the lightest things around, but CRYSTAL clear optics, and not having to focus helps a lot for quick acquisition.
 
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