Stars aligned and I was fortunate to receive a Vectronic Vector X rangefinder this afternoon (thanks, Sendero_
Man!). It's a very capable unit and will require some study but my major goal for this upgrade was to be able to range small targets at distance without the unit picking up the foreground or background. The weather hasn't been cooperating but I did a quick test off my deck before dark. This is a 12x SMR unit. It happily ranges the sagebrush foothills to 2400 yards. The more distant hills are several miles away.
A cooperative dove perched on a power line 425 yards out. The cross-shaped aiming reticle subtended just a little further than the dove. If the reticle area "box" contained the dove, it ranged 425 yards. If the dove was just outside the box, it ranged about 1700 yards to the foothill. As best as I could determine the laser beam was quite well aligned with the reticle center and the tight collimation meant the unit ranged the dove without being confused by the background. In the lower left you can see the milliradian reticle. Pardon the quality--those photos were taken with my phone instead of a proper camera.
I have plenty of study to understand the full capabilities of the Vector X. However, I used the supplied tripod mount with a decent ballhead tripod, and it was easy to "level" the Vector X as you'd want to use if spotting. This avoids the $100-$130 expense of the 419 or RRS adapter!
A cooperative dove perched on a power line 425 yards out. The cross-shaped aiming reticle subtended just a little further than the dove. If the reticle area "box" contained the dove, it ranged 425 yards. If the dove was just outside the box, it ranged about 1700 yards to the foothill. As best as I could determine the laser beam was quite well aligned with the reticle center and the tight collimation meant the unit ranged the dove without being confused by the background. In the lower left you can see the milliradian reticle. Pardon the quality--those photos were taken with my phone instead of a proper camera.
I have plenty of study to understand the full capabilities of the Vector X. However, I used the supplied tripod mount with a decent ballhead tripod, and it was easy to "level" the Vector X as you'd want to use if spotting. This avoids the $100-$130 expense of the 419 or RRS adapter!
