I typically always hunt with a range finder around my neck, and when in the stand I use it like most use binoculars. However, my current one, a Leupold RX-600, is absolutely pitiful in low light. I mean absolutely useless in the first and last 15-30 minutes of shooting light. And I love Leupold, not bashing them, are the new ones good in low light? Any recs?
My Leica CRF 1600B has excellent optics and has very good definition in low light.
get either the geovid, or swaro el range, you will never want to hunt with anything else. the leica and swaro seperate RF units do have much brighter glass too.
Range finders tend to do better in low light, sometimes there is more moisture in the air in the late evening and that may be part of your problem. And it may just be the unit you have. I am using a Leica CRF 1200 and it works really well in low light.
Things that are hard on the laser beam are snow, sleet or rain, very bright conditions and poor reflective surfaces (like most animals)
I'm not referring to the laser, I'm referring to the optics. It may as well be painted black once the sun goes behind the trees.
Small ocular lenses. My Sig's viewer isn't the best in low light. But during the time it's unusable, It's not legal to shoot either.
Maybe yours is damaged or fogged a little?
If you want a rangefinder that can offer you some decent
optics in low light, that means you need a larger objective.
I agree hard to range something you can't see.....
Look for at least 25 mm, and quality models that have that are:
Nikon Monarch, Sig Sauer, Leica and Swarovski.
Leupold does not have anything in this category.
No complaints about my Sig Kilo 2000 so far.
I have the rx 1000 and a zeiss 8x30 range finders and the zeiss blows the leuapold away in lowlight. The leuapold is much smaller and easier to carry but lacks in low light. I generally take the leapold To bow hunt and zeiss to rifle hunt
The Leica crf series is very good in low light better than Nikon, Leupold or the Sig to my eyes. My dog ate the ocular on my crf1000R after 4 or 5 years of good use and Leica sent me a new 1600R - both are good to past shooting light and then some.
I'd cast another strong vote for the leica Rf's as well.
leica geovids are incredible.
Looking into this again. Leaning towards Leica CRF1000-R. Still just a 24 mm objective. Did find Zeiss 8x26 too. Looking for any other input.
So I got to reading into it more and it seems that my RX-600i should have the same optical quality of a RX-1200i, so today I ordered a Leica CRF-1000R. Will do a side by side comparison in low light when it comes in and report back.
Alright, big thanks to those who recommended Leica. Exactly what I was looking for!
So, to compare I took my Leupold RX-600i and new Leica CRF 1000-R outside. I walked down my driveway to where I was about 65 yards from a neighbors chain link fence that has thick trees behind it from the ground up.
Half an hour before the end of legal shooting light: Both perform very well. The Leupold is a hair darker, but nothing most would notice. Leica is noticeably sharper, but not by a lot. I'll note now that the FOV's are near identical, but the Leupold is 6x magnification while the Leica is 7x.
15 mins until illegal shooting: The brightness difference is very noticeable, however both are still serviceable. It becomes difficult to read the black readings on the Leupold with a dark background.
10 mins until the game wardens go nuts: I can no longer see a the chainlink fence at all with the Leupy. Leica is still bright and crisp. Readings on the Leupy are bordering impossible, red on the Leica still as clear as can be.
5 mins until big boy steps out: The Leupold has become useless. I see two colors: the light grass and the dark trees. The Leica is still bright as you could ask for, but can no longer see the chain links but still easily renders the posts and top bar. At this time I also turned around and looked across a field with a treeline 205 yards away. The Leupy is again in bi-color while the Leica can actually see into the treeline some with detail.
End of legal light: Leupy is unusable. I actually found it difficult to keep my eye open when I brought the ocular to my face as it is pitch black. The Leica meanwhile hasn't lost any apparent clarity or light from the last test period.
5 mins into outlaw time: Leupy is a paperweight, Leica is still no apparent difference, very impressive for such a small objective optic. I can still see small branches on trees across the field 205 yards away.
They are almost the exact same size and weight. I should note I use my left eye for rangefinding as it is corrected to 20/15 vision. My right eye meanwhile is 20/25, may be why I like a monocular vs binos.
At three times the price of the Leupy the Leica shines, thanks again for those who recommended it.
I'll also note it was a cloudless sky for these tests. I imagine overcast/cloudy evenings/mornings is when the Leica will really shine through past what I'm used to with my Leupy.
The Leupy was perfectly acceptable and functional for all but 30 minutes of a clear day.
Good write up and report Chris. Fooisly sold my older Leica because it didn't have angle compensation.....
Oh yeah, one notable difference, the Leupold will range lower while the Leica's lower range is 10 meters. I know I've had the Leupold show me 5.3 yards, I've used it to see how far up I've climbed.