New Leica Bino/rangefinder

One of the things i'm excited to see release at SHOT this year. The Geovids have been do for a redesign for a couple of years now and the new product from what I've seen will be worth the wait.

This year's SHOT is going to be a good one. From Nightforce to Leica to Zeiss and everything in between, we're going to see some good awesome products this year industry wide.
 
I'm dying to know what they've come up with. I was just about to pull the trigger on a new pair of Geovids. I suppose I'll wait a bit now. Hopefully someone in the know will chime in.

Jason
 
that would be a bummer. although it does have an impressive list of features despite the poor laser performance. looking forward to hearing more about these. problem is the el ranges will be here in a couple days:)
 
I am just learning about better lasers. These numbers at this point mean nothing too me. I understand it is the size of the beam. With that said the G7 which every thing I have read so far is good has a 2x4 Mrad. Now the Leica 10x42 have a 2.7x 1.5 so that would be quite a bit smaller?
 
Here is some info on Beam Divergence. It looks older but explains why certian beam divergences may be chosen. Looks like manufactures have to weigh the pros and cons to their choices.

Laser RangeFinders

I read in one of my college physics books that the size of the beam and the sensor can play a big role on how much divergence can occur and still get longer range reliability. This was information on much larger rangefinders though including aviation technologies. Not sure how much could be applied to handheld optics.

I cannot wait till we get some reviews on this bino. I really need a new rangefinder and the larger field of view would be great + less gear to haul around and much faster calcs for long range shots.
 
Thanks that did help a bit. I also think having one package is a big advantage. I have an Leupold RX-IV it is 8x but it is very hard to pick out game. I am sure one of the reasons is the glass quality. But by having a 10x42 bino with ranging would be nice. The only thing I worry about is when this new ranging becomes old technolgy will your optics depreciate more so than if they are just an older pair of high quality binos? I also wonder if it at all lessons the over all quality of the bino? Does anything suffer by adding a rangefinder to the optics?
 
Found the patent for the Perger Porro Prism design that is being used in these binos. Here are the most relevant parts with regards to our concerns:
"Due to the oblique arrangement of the connecting surface, the central section of the beam path usually no longer passes through said connecting surface perpendicularly. According to some embodiments of the invention, the connecting surface therefore can be used for decoupling and/or coupling part of the light from/into the beam path by making the connecting surface partially reflective. ln this Way, it is possible, for example, to decouple a measuring beam for a measuring instrument from the beam path or to couple an image of a display into the beam path. lf the coupling and decoupling angles are chosen accordingly, it can he ensured that the coupled or decoupled light beam perpendicularly emerges in a lossless fashion from one of the surfaces of the reversing prisms."
"Due to the oblique arrangement of the connecting surface, the cross section of the light that respectively is incident on and emerges from the outer (exposed) entry and exit surfaces is preserved While a continuous reduction or narrowing of the beam cross section toward the center of the prism is achieved, Which on the one hand causes the beam offset of the Porro prism to be reduced because the beam cross sections that are narrowed in opposite directions lie closer to one another than in a conventional Porro prism, and on the other hand does not lead to a noteworthy impairment at the conventional installation site of the prism between the lens and the focal point in binoculars or a lightbulb telescope, but merely to a slight decrease in brightness toward the edge of the image field ("vignetting"). Consequently, a reduced beam offset can be achieved without significant disadvantages."
Here is the web address: https://docs.google.com/a/google.com/viewer?url=www.google.com/patents/US20120140349.pdf

Anyways looks like they are able separate out isolated light spectrums independently and add or remove them from the ultimate field of few. If it works as described the display system for readouts should not affect the quality of the image unless the readout is actually appearing at that point in time and able to interfere with other wavelengths of light. The same should also hold true for the laser. The design also allows for HD (fluoride lenses) to be used (the Swarovski el ranges did not work with the HD fluoride lenses and rely on coatings) which should work well at counteracting "vignetting". I know that if you look at the edge of an HD version of a bino that it will be brighter than a non HD. Most of the image will look identical though so you have to have them side by side to ever tell the difference.

Seeing the word "telescope" here makes me wonder if Leica will have a new spotting scope for the Shot Show next year. lightbulb

As far as depreciation of value the closest rangefinder available would be the G7 BR2 Rangefinder for $1600. This effectively means that the binocular portion cost $1400 (3000-1600=1400) today; which is an awesome deal for high end optics. If down the road this technology is able to be marketed for a hypothetical $400 then the binocular portion costs $2600. A new pair of ultravid 10x42 hd's costs around $2200 today. If you take $2200 (+some unknown inflation rate and changes in coatings and lenses) and add $400 you are at $2600+. This is only hypotheticals but I think the most would be a $400 "loss" (if inflation counter acted the "used" factor).
The decision is easier for me since I need a new rangefinder anyways & want to upgrade from Leupold Gold ring 10x42 HD binos (clarity excellent but tired of sun halos when glassing in the morning and evening / will be my future backup binos) (Warning: never look through binos unless you can afford them :) made that mistake. Watch out for your hunting buddy saying "take a look through these"). I am looking at it this way: $2200 ultravids + a $1600 rangefinder = $3800. I am saving $800 by buying them together and don't have to save more money for the bino & rangefinder fund. Now I can start saving for the other wish list items.

Hope all this info helps and doesn't confuse. I am personally going to "try" and wait till I can look through a pair and read field test reviews before buying to verify claims of functionality. Too bad they couldn't just let us field test them.
 
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