Had some more time to test out the 7i. My job consists of patrols of a large industrial complex so I took it there to test it on several types of buildings and other stuff. I should have started the first post but explaining that I have little experience with a range finders. This is the first one I have owned. I have used my brothers Leopold RX 1000 on a couple deer hunting trips but never really tested it. The best I ever got with it was just ove 800 yards on a horse. He is going to bring it up with him when he comes to visit in mid February so I can do some side x side comparison.
Anyway going on to my new testing. As I said I took it to work with me and tested it on two different days. The first one was clear and sunny and the next was an overcast cloudy with very light snow. The kind of day that makes the distant objects appear to be a bit lighter or faded kind of a look. To my surprise the range finder worked equally well in both conditions with no issues reading the same objects at the same distance on both days. On both days I ranged building out to 1246 yards with ease. These were metal clad building. There is a concrete smoke stack on the property that stands at 825 feet tall. The 7i had trouble ranging it out to distances past 500 yards. Not sure if it was the concrete or the round shape that was causing the issue. There are an abundance of power pole which I could range out to past 800 yards easily. Ranging bush (spruce trees)and rock ridges was easy out to the high 800s as long as the bush was thick. When I scanned over the thinner sections of bush it had trouble reading. Furthest I could get on thin leafless willow clumps was low 500's. Hills with snow was a hit and miss out to 800 yards. It seemed that the angle of the hill might of had something to with it but it would range any thing with snow out to 500 yards. Again I had no animals to test it on but I did try to range a raven sitting on the ground but it wouldn't do it. It was a long ways away though, probably 500-600 yard and was very small. The only problem I had between the two days of testing was the sun. If the bright sun hit the laser lens while ranging it wouldn't range but if I put my hand up to block the sun from directly hitting the Lens, it would range easily. This range finder may have ranged some of this stuff out to further distances but I was more that happy with it's performance. So far it seems like a great range finder at a great price. I will admit that I was a bit sceptical of nikons claims because of it's price, but it seems to be performing without issues. Now I don't do a lot of shooting of buildings, so that is irrelevant in the hunting world, but I'm hoping if it will range this stuff with ease it will range deer size and larger animals out to decent distances as well. As soon as I find some I will report back
Edit: just wanted to add that all things ranged on these two days were ranged form sitting inside a vehicle with the windows down and through the rangefinder lens there was a bit of a mirage effect from the escaping heat inside the vehicle to the cold outside. Not sure if a mirage will affect a rangefinder but thought I would add it just in case.
