Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Glass comparison Swaro SLC vs Leica Geovid R

I am currently using SLC's for my binos with a separate LRF. Was considering buying the Geovid R to consolidate the 2. How's the glass in the Geovid R compare to the SLC? Would I be giving up anything clarity/low light wise? Thanks

I have quite an array of high end optics. Zeiss, Swarovski, and Leica. Several pairs of binos, spotting scopes, rifle scopes, and range finders. I seem to favor Swarovski optics as I own mostly Swarovski.

I bought a pair of Swarovski SLC NEU 15x56 back in 2007. Use the heck out of them.

About a year ago, I came across a guy who was selling his Leica 15x56 Geovid HD R for $900. As I typically hunt with my son in laws and they didn’t have good optics, I bought the Leicas so they could use them. Besides, for $900, how could I go wrong. And the Leicas had that rangefinder to boot.

I side by side compared the Swarovski 15x56 and Leica 15x56 looking at the mountains about 3 miles away, and other objects (pine trees with their pine needles) about 300 yards away from my back porch for a couple hours. Also compared them both in low light.

I found the image color in both to be neutral. The edge image clarity in the Swarovski might be a tad better. The center image clarity of the Leica seemed to be a tad better. Low light clarity was the same in both, which was obviously good. Brightness was the same. Overall, I think I preferred the Leicas maybe a tiny bit better.

As mentioned, I own more Swarovski optics than any other brand. But that said, I think I might be grabbing those Leicas when I head out in the woods. But you couldn’t go wrong with either pair.

The above is just my opinion and what I saw through my eyes, and you got what you paid for in my opinion, which was free.

I have owned both in the 10x42's and optically they are very close but I like the Leica image better and if rifle hunting I will always have a LR bino, for me that means Geovids.

I went on a hunt last year and there were Swaro ELs, SLCs, and Leica Geovids. Of the three optically, the Leica was at the bottom for me, but only slightly. It came more evident right at dusk observing some oryx at about 900.