Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics swaro el range WOW!!!

ok keep in mind this wasn't a field test. just my thoughts about looking at some and comparing them to what I normally run leica geovid HD's. I spent probably about 30 mins drooling over the swaros.

leica has its work cut out for them. they are more comfortable in the hand. the bumps on the bottom of the barrel I found in no way got in the way of my hands, in fact they may be more comfortable that way because my hands rest right comfortably against them. I also preferred the rubber on the outside of the swaros its a tad softer more texture and as a result you get a better grip on the units.

I like that the diopter adjustments lock into place on the swaro unit. these can get moved on the leicas, especially because there is 2 of them and focusing these RF binoculars is somewhat complicated. I also think the range on release of the bottom is going to make ranging small distant targets easier, because it will make it easier to hold on the target right when you get the range.

the swaros have the inclination feature which will be very very nice using as a bow hunting ranging unit in the moutains I hunt. in fact the best buck I have ever shot at might be on my wall if I had angle compensation on my leicas, I was taking a longer shot and the angle was pretty extreme. I had no idea how much off the adjusted range should have been and thus the arrow sailed right over the bucks back.

the only thing that concerned me was the hinge was a tad looser than I would have liked. not a big deal and very well could be the particular unit I looked at. as to the glass, WOW its very easy to see these are a lot better than leica's HD units. I would have loved to have done a low light test, but I can say that in the store they were noticeably clearer and brighter.

bottom line is I want some. I am very interested to see how actual field use of the rangefinder compares to leica and zeiss. a guy like john burns needs to give us a full report.

Glad to see Swarovski finally in the game. One thing I wish they would've changed is to somehow cover the metal parts with rubber armor rather than paint, as it doesn't take long before EL's start to look rough along the hinges.

Would love to get my mitts on one to give it a workout.

Dont you think ONE is enough at the cost of these unit's ?
btw: where did you find one at Cabela's ?

Been anxiously waiting for some reviews to come out on these. I know of one dealer who got some in already, and is shipping. Probably others as well. Shouldn't be too long and the reviews will start coming out. My main concern is how the rangefinder works. I can't imagine it will suck, but best to be sure.

sportsman's wharehouse in midvale had some 10x42's in stock. the local cabelas didn't have them. I think they have a big hit on their hands with these. I really want some. I just wanna see someone review them that would know the difference. it needs to be someone who has extensively used the leicas and zeiss units. its going to have to be a western hunter. if someone wants to send me some I will do a video of them being used for long range coyote hunting.

when my source gets them in stock, I may trade up, I can get some for about $400 less than the street price. but they haven't got them in yet.

I went and looked through the same one you did today, I have to admit they were better than I thought they would be.
At $2870 I just want "1" not "some".

i've got some time behind the zeiss. i haven't used the others, so i can't compare the glass.

but the RF function on the zeiss was outstanding on soft targets out to 950. that's as far as i was able to find an animal to range, but it was absolutely no problem whatsoever. i had a leica LRF900 to compare with, and there was absolutely no comparison. so much so, that i would never consider NOT buying a combo RF unit. in a good harness, the weight was not an issue for the 6 hours i used them. if you hunt that way, you gotta have good glass, and you gotta have a good rangefinder. no brainer in my opinion.

hard targets to 1200 first push every time, over that it got iffy.

started out at daylight, ended the day with bright sun in my face glassing into deep shadows.

the glass was very good. these were the 8x56 models, and really IMO it's all pretty damn good in that price range. to me it's more about which ones fit you best, which kind of eye cups etc. i didn't care for the zeiss eyepieces and adjustments, but that's just me.

some days it seems like my leicas work great others it seems like no so much. I wanna be able to range a coyote to 1000 yards the first time everytime unless its raining, snowing or fog.

I bought the Leica's when they first came out and sold them when the Zeiss RF's came out. I have the Swaro Range on order. I can't wait to try them. Both the Leica's and the Zeiss are great glass. The rangefinder function may be a little better on the Zeiss but not by much imho. The display can be faint on the Zeiss on a bright day. The Zeiss are obviously a little brighter because they are 10/45 versus 10/42 on the Leica's. The Zeiss are also a little heavier. The Leica ranging button is on the left side and the Zeiss ranging button is on the right side which is favorable to a right handed bowhunter. I am hoping that even though the ranging button on the Swaros is on the left side it is close to the middle of the bino and can be reached with my right hand. They are all great glass imho and you can't go wrong with any of them. It's just splitting hairs. I've used the Leica's and the Zeiss on multiple hunts through out the West, Canada, and Mexico. Sheep, elk, antelope, deer, etc. Hot days, cold days, rainy days, snow, ad infinitum. PS The focus is a little touchier on the Zeiss than the Leica's at least on my pair.

one thing I forget to add about the swaro units, when I was looking at them in the store I noticed no stay light, I think this is called flare, whereas with the leicas I noticed a teeny tiny bit. at certain angles to the lights. so the swaro's should work better if the sun is at the wrong angles.

I have looked at the zeiss quite a bit, for me the eye relief is just a tad short. they are also bigger and more bulky. the swaro unit is about .5" shorter than the geovids, the rest looks about the same size.

Sounds good. I have a pair on order hope they get here soon. Sounds like they are starting to show up at the retailers.

Our first EL Range 10x42 delivery arrived the other day and is now sold out. The EL Range 8x42 delivery came in on Wednesday afternoon and we still have a couple left for those that are looking

This product has me very interested. I want to upgrade both my LRF and my bino's. This could be a home run.

This product is a homerun, but like Albert Pujols is over priced (Waaaaaayyy over priced).
If you can afford to over pay for the best then buy this product, if you cant then other options that will work as well are out there.

if you are a western hunter, using them one time in the field will tell you they are not overpriced. its just a matter of if you can afford them or not. having that range button under your finger is priceless, once you have had it you will not EVER go back.

I am a western hunter (just live 15 miles south of you). They are OVER priced !!!!
I can afford them I own a 10x42EL and a Swaro LG.
I have a range button under my finger............priceless(overly dramatic).
once you have had it you will not EVER go back. Never had black dick as you suggest, will have to take your word for it.

I was playing with some today at work. I'm not sure if something was wrong with them or on the wrong mode maybe? But they would hardly pick up anything. We tried ranging some of the mounts in the store and it wouldn't read them. It would only give us a reading on super reflective objects. And when it did give a reading it was slow to do so. I imagine something probably was wrong with that pair because I'm sure swarovski wouldn't put out a product that was sub par.

If you were using it less than 30m (33 yards) the EL Range don't mesure the distance. Hunted with them for more than a month and ranged game to more than 700m close to 800m (around 880yards).
Dom

I don't know where you take the idea Swarovski used paint on EL Range?

What is that along the hinge and around the button, kryptonite? In fact, that pair in your picture already shows wear on the opposite side of the button, so thanks for reinforcing my point.