Budget Rangefinder?

[J300UM]

I'm in the market for a new set of rangefinders but I'm on a really tight. I'm looking at the Bushnell Elite 1500 or the Nikon Monarch 1200. Has anyone had any experience with one or both of those?

[britz]

I have played around with both a little and have a Nikon Buckmaster as well as a leica CRF 1200. I love the CRF's clarity. One of the bigger drawbacks with either the Nikon or the Bushnell is the light gathering ability. Both suck. Both have reasonably good ranging ability (not far behind the Leica). Of the Bushnell and the Nikon, I favor the nikon because I have more experience with them and their customer service has been great.

I kinda wish I'd have waited another year to get the Swarovski over the leica.

[Crane]

I'm pretty happy with my NEWCON 2000.

[BIG MO]

I have used the nikon 1200 for 3 years. It just will not get the job done on non-reflective targets here in the southwest. I would say after 400yds it gets iffy on a non-reflective target. I tried the leica and it has twice the range of the nikon 1200. I recently purchased the zeiss and it has a little more range than the leica. Save another $150 and get the leica or zeiss. It will save you money in the long run.

[Tyler Kemp]

I have a Bushnell 1500 and on non-reflective targets it isn't so great. You can get 500-600 yards on animals, 800-900 yards on pine trees. But on reflective targets, HOLY COW, it's great! I've gotten it to 1700+ yards on road signs, it will hit 1000 on houses and cars very easily. If you're just gonna use it for shooting and not hunting, as long as you can range a car or metal gong, it works pretty good for the money.

[J300UM]

Thanks for the replies. Are there any other rangefinders out there with similar or greater ranging ability in the same price range. I'm gonna try to squeeze out the extra for the Leica but the extra 150-200 is gonna be needed elsewhere unfortunately.

[Franklin]

I had the nikon 1200 until it quit ranging after only 2 years. I sent it back and they said they would fix it for free until the next day I got an email saying it would cost 275.00,(poor customer service in my mind) so I told them just to send it back. I just bought the elite 1500 and this is alot nicer unit than the nikon. It will hit trees everytime out to 1300yrds in the sunniest conditions and it also tells you the angle, so you don't need an aci. It may not be a leica or a zeiss, but I'd rather have the 250.00-400.00 sitting in my pocket.