Missing niche in the market....20X bino-rangefinder-reticle??

[Texaslongshot]

Seems like the rifle scope world has most every niche covered with a scope of some sort but seems like there is something missing in the bino world.

I think a 20X bino with a rangefinder and reticle would fill a void in the market. The PRS seems to have a lot of people moving to binos for spotting. I see a lot of hunters moving towards binos as well for extended glassing and reduced eye fatigue.

If you had someone like Leica, Swaro, Kowa or lets give ZCO a new product line that had top tier glass a great rangefinder, reticle, 20X it would appeal to tactical shooters and hunters alike and fill a void in the market in my opinion.

Seems like Leica has several of those pieces they just need to put them together.....

Thoughts?

 

[Birddog6424]

Just had this conversation with the guys at Burris. There's practically no market for that. The PRS and precision rifle shooting of our nature is an extremely niche market.

Steiner makes bunches of binos of this nature for military and law enforcement sales. They have no use for a 12x or greater. I have the M1050r LRF from Steiner with the mil reticle and LRF, they dont make a higher magnification version.

In all honesty, I ditched a 15x56 for the 10x50, and like the 10x better. And its most definitely top tier glass.

 

[jbailey]

Leica has (or had) a very nice set of 15x binos with a decent (not Vectronix good) LRF. I have a friend with a pair. They are very good, very useful, but, and here is the problem, on the big side. Not sure what the weight or objective lens size is, but it feels heavy and large in the hands. On a tripod is its natural setting. A 20x would be even bigger and less mobile.

 

[Texaslongshot]

Yea i should of prefaced by saying i see 15-20 x binos as mounted on a tripod 100% of the time. I would view them as a replacement to the spotting scope. While you give up higher magnification of a spotter you get more field of view and much less eye fatigue. I use my spotting scope 90% of the time on 20x anyway.

 

[rydah]

I think 20x is too high 12-15x would be good though for a compact reticle and lrf bino.

 

[6.5SH]

20x is way too high

 

[RTH1800]

I have been calling Swarovski for several years asking about a 15x56 RF. They are very nice but say it’s not at all likely. Not even being discussed. I broke down and bought the non RF 15x56. Great glass, great company.

 

[gnochi]

20x is nice in theory. Holding a set of 20x binoculars steady, though…

A rifle is fairly long and heavy, which means a lot of rotational inertia. Little twitches in your muscle fibers don’t misalign a whole lot. Binoculars are ~6x shorter and 5x lighter, meaning ~1000x more twitchy.

Yeah, you can use a tripod to be a little bit more stable. Just don’t touch the thing.

 

[Texaslongshot]

Yea thats why i clarified my post to say it would be mounted on a tripod 100% of the time and view them as a replacement for a spotting scope. Spotting scopes do fine on tripods and so would 20x binos.

 

[carbonbased]

Using the 18x Maven's (usually on a tripod, but not always…sometimes via elbows on a table) during a PD shoot last month opened my eyes. Total replacement for a prairie dog spotter at 300-400 yds and so, so, so much nicer to use. Just needed an integrated LRF. Returned the demos (great program, btw) and am seriously eyeing the Leica 15x rangefinder binos. I hope that dropping 3x wouldn't impact the "spotter" performance in my application.

I believe Leica is the only one at that mag for LRF binos in the consumer market.

And yeah, not sure how many people would use a 15-20x LRF binocular. Sure would save time shooting PDs as it'd cut out a 1/3 of my current process (find PD via spotter or 18x binos > re-find PD with rangefinder binos > re-find PD with riflescope, then shoot).

Don't need a reticle, so if there is one, I'd want an option to turn it off or buy a model without one.

 

[Texaslongshot]

What were your thoughts on the Mavens...? I don't really expect the optic i described to come out the leica is close but i have considered getting rid of the spotter and going with the mavens. Would be interested to her more thoughts on them.

 

[carbonbased]

What were your thoughts on the Mavens...? I don't really expect the optic i described to come out the leica is close but i have considered getting rid of the spotter and going with the mavens. Would be interested to her more thoughts on them.

I bought the Vortex Razor UHD 18x from Cabela's and the Maven 18x B.5 demo. To me, the Maven won out.

Caveats: I have slight cataracts forming in both eyes. I do not own Swaros, but my dad owns an older pair (8x or 10x) and I'm not blown away, but I am not a low-light hunter.

Maven's color/contrast just "popped" a bit more. I liked the fast focus ratio of the Mavens vs the Vortex. But the vortex had a locking diopter. Liked the grip on the Mavens more. Check my posts, I have a more detailed rundown somewhere. I can handhold for only a minute, but elbows on the table is no problem.

 

[carbonbased]

Ok, I found it elsewhere. My review of the Maven 18x & Vortex Razor UHD 18x:

Maven pros: image looked a bit sharper, colors popped better. (Note: all during bright sunlight). Rubber surface grippier yet didn’t attract dust.

Maven cons: no locking diopter

Maven misc: I believe you can screw in skylight filters to the front. Nice customization options. Focus wheel is grippy metal and focuses quicker than the Razor.

Vortex pros: nicer to handhold, but one doesn’t handhold 18x binos much. Locking diopter. Comes with case.

Vortex cons: case is massively & comically undersized. As mentioned, image didn’t have as much pop. It’s fairly close, but others who tried the pair noticed the same thing.

Vortex misc: focus wheel is plastic and focuses slower than the Maven.

The Mavens completely replaced my Razor 27-60 spotter. Much more comfy to use than a spotter. I shoot out to 500 yards, but this trip I stopped at 400 due to high number of good targets! I think I’ll digiscope with the Razor spotter from now on.

If only they included a rangefinder in the Mavens…

 

[_Windrider_]

Fuck all that. I want a competitive product to the RAPTaR with a gun mounted LRF

 

[carbonbased]

Fuck all that. I want a competitive product to the RAPTaR with a gun mounted LRF

I first thought, “This so cooool.”

Then I thought, “This get close to fish-finder that crawl up fish butt hole and read fish brain thought and tell fish to kill self and float to boat.”

I don’t know why my internal monologue sounds Chinese Neanderthal.

But, still cool. And I cannot believe modern fish-finders!

 

[Jumper]

I've got a set of Steiner 8x30 bino RF: m830 lrf 1535nm. They've got a reticle built in which is helpful to aim the laser. I use the binos for scanning and range finding and the rifle scope for positive ID. The Steiner's glass is top tier but the laser is phenomenal! I ranged a boat off the coast of the Outer Banks this weekend at 9108 yds. It was good conditions, overcast and a reflective target and they were on my tripod but that's over 5.1miles.

 

[Birddog6424]

I've got a set of Steiner 8x30 bino RF: m830 lrf 1535nm. They've got a reticle built in which is helpful to aim the laser. I use the binos for scanning and range finding and the rifle scope for positive ID. The Steiner's glass is top tier but the laser is phenomenal! I ranged a boat off the coast of the Outer Banks this weekend at 9108 yds. It was good conditions, overcast and a reflective target and they were on my tripod but that's over 5.1miles.

Those binos are badass..

Is yours the Bluetooth version?

 

[GenericBadGuy]

Pentax and Nikon make 20x binoculars. Pentax model SP 20X60 WP and Nikon Monarch 5 20x50. These are intended more for astronomy.

 

[Jumper]

Those binos are badass..

Is yours the Bluetooth version?

Bluetooth requires an add on dongle that plugs into a port that I think all the Steiner's have. The dongle is on order. ~5 month backorder though. @cschastain2 hooked me up.