Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Rangefinding Binoculars - Best on the market

I spent a lot of time and money on these binoculars and have come to my conclusions over 2 years of use in the field and not 10 minutes in a sporting goods store looking at grids. I am first a fan of Swarovski due to their quality and acceptance by the everyday hunter.

Swarovski is the best optical company when you compare all aspects of product, use and customer service. Leica makes some top tier stuff as well, but lacks the backing of the consumer and the Leica company to some extent. Zeiss is another great company, their customer service is excellent as well. I don't think Zeiss has really gotten the whole rangefinder concept down as well as Leica or Swarovski in either the binocular or just the LRF.

I have had every Geovid, from the very first, which were state of the art when they arrived, but technology as left them in the dust. The later Geovids were much better, but they still weren't what the new HD-B generation is.

Some people don't understand that the binocular in a rangefinding binocular, just isn't the same glass and quality of optics that exist in their mainstream binoculars. They have come a long way, but they still aren't Ultravid or Swarovision optical quality in the rangefinder.

I had the later version of the Geovids after they came out, but still was happier with the rangefinder in a separate package and used the Swarovski rangefinder and EL binoculars. They were even better when Swarovski came out with the Swarovision in their binoculars, I had the best of both worlds.

When Swarovski came out with the rangefinding EL's I decided to give them a try. They were a bit bulky with the lumps under the barrels but they were great glass and the rangefinding capabilities out-performed the Swarovski LRF. The optics were not Swarovision, however. It was a matter of sacrificing something to gain an advantage somewhere else, by having everything in one package.

When Leica announced the new HD-B, I got a pair of them, knowing I could still sell them if I didn't like them as they were so hard to come by, everybody wanted them. I still have them and would rate them better than the Swarovski overall, but they still have become about as big as a person could really tolerate to use in the field.


Their optics are excellent and the rangefinding capabilities are better than the Swarovski. We do have to realize also that the rangefinding EL is now several years old and Swarovski has to be working on producing something better than the HD-B. The HD-B has Perger Porro-Prism integrated into the binocular which is an improvement to the roof prisms that have become so popular in hunting binoculars. That is the reason for the sweeping look of the barrels of the Leica.

After a day outdoors with the HD-B and comparing them to the optics of the Swarovski 8X32 EL Swarovision, I almost considered selling the HD-B and going back to the Swarovski LRF in a separate package, the view is that good in the Swarovision and this was in the smaller 8X32 size.

Optics will keep on improving, they just won't get cheaper. My analysis of these optics is owning them and using them for years. Everyone has what they like and that is what choice is all about. The question is what is the best on the market below the Vectors, and I would stand firmly behind the Leica HD-B for now...