Originally Posted by broomd
Originally Posted by cumminscowboy
I used both models of geovids for years. I have not used the newest HD-b's. frankly the geovid glass was nothing to get particularly excited about. comparing it to the victory isn't accurate. I would say even the old first generation EL's were better. probably comparable to trinovids from 12 years ago. YES having lesser glass with a RF is still way worth it though.

if your looking on the used market there is a step up from the geovid to the geovid HD's. the RF function is about the same between those 2. basically plan on ranging to 800 ish on big game size animals. that will probably take several tries to get that BTW. Yes it can range further in certain conditions. you may need several tries to pull a range on big game animals over 500 yards.


Sounds like you had/have defective geovids...abused maybe?
I have two pair, 8x42 HD and 10x42 HD and they are stellar to 1300 yards on even small targets.
I've owned the Zeiss 10X45 rf, the EL range Swaro, and the Leica...all three at the same time.

Time and time again the Geovid proved to be the best all around performer.
The Zeiss were my faves ergonomically but didn't view as well as the flourite-lensed Leicas.
The Swaro's viewed beautifully, but were anchors weight-wise with undependable up-close range capabilities.


not exactly I owned 2 different pair of the non HD and 1 of the HD models. 3 total pair. all bought new. The HD I actually had to send back to leica because the RF had issues ranging past 500 yards. I ended up sending it back for repairs and it returned as having the best RF of the 3. my brother in law also owned the non HD we bought at the same time. that is 4 total pair.

ranging to 1300 yards is optimistic even in excellent conditions. I would not ever rely on getting a range at any type of animal at that distance. Infact I would bet anyone given 3 tries with those units would be unable to do it. on a plain ole given day. in fact the longest yardage I ever pulled with any of those was around 1400 yards. My experience spending about a month in the field a year was on a deer with several tries they are good to about 800 yards. in perfect conditions it would read further, but that is average conditions. often times when ranging a target like a deer it took multiple tries if I was over 600 yards away.

the swaro EL's they are in a totally different class when it comes to ranging performance. most of the time they are pulling readings easily to 1000, the very first time. I have ranged stuff at 1900 yards with them. The first shot performance of the EL's is way way better.

The glass on the EL's compared to the HD's isn't as much different as one might think. The EL's are a tad brighter they also have a sharper image that is filled with more detail. It is a noticeable difference but not that much.