I'm sort of shopping around for a rangefinder so I took a look at a bunch of them today at Cabela's. Here are my thoughts, in case anyone else is in the same boat:
1) Nikon Prostaff 3i/7i: image is somewhat dim, but sharp. Distance is displayed quickly. Black LCD readout could be difficult to read against bush.
2) Nikon Aculon: image is dim, not as nice as the Prostaff. Hard to see readout against clutter.
3) Bushnell Scout DX 1000: image is somewhat dim, but sharp. Distance is displayed quickly. Black LCD readout could be difficult to read against bush.
4) Bushnell G-Force DX: red LED display is easily visible, but I couldn't get the internal display to focus at the same plane as the image. One or the other was always blurry. Also, for some reason it simply refused to range a couple of stuffed black bears at ~23 yards. The tan-coloured bear right beside them was ranged just fine.
5) Vortex Ranger 1000: nice bright image, somewhat blue tinge. Red LED display is easily visible, nice and crisp, not too bright or obtrusive. Noticably slower to display a range reading after the button was pushed. (Like 1.5 seconds or so.)
6) Leupold RX-1200i TBR DNA: nice bright image, slightly more accurate colours than the Vortex. Red LED display is too bright even on "low" setting, would be blinding at dawn/dusk. Very quick to display a range reading.
7) Vortex Ranger 1500: best of the ones I tried, clearly has upgraded electronics from the Ranger 1000. Clear bright image, nice red LED display that wasn't too bright in the store, very fast to display a range reading.
All in all it was sort of frustrating. I'd be happy with the Ranger 1000 if it was as fast as the others. I'd be happy with the Leupold if it could go a few steps dimmer. The Ranger 1500 was nice, but is a big jump up in price from the Ranger 1000, and I don't actually need the extra range.
I guess now I need to decide which compromise to make...
1) Nikon Prostaff 3i/7i: image is somewhat dim, but sharp. Distance is displayed quickly. Black LCD readout could be difficult to read against bush.
2) Nikon Aculon: image is dim, not as nice as the Prostaff. Hard to see readout against clutter.
3) Bushnell Scout DX 1000: image is somewhat dim, but sharp. Distance is displayed quickly. Black LCD readout could be difficult to read against bush.
4) Bushnell G-Force DX: red LED display is easily visible, but I couldn't get the internal display to focus at the same plane as the image. One or the other was always blurry. Also, for some reason it simply refused to range a couple of stuffed black bears at ~23 yards. The tan-coloured bear right beside them was ranged just fine.
5) Vortex Ranger 1000: nice bright image, somewhat blue tinge. Red LED display is easily visible, nice and crisp, not too bright or obtrusive. Noticably slower to display a range reading after the button was pushed. (Like 1.5 seconds or so.)
6) Leupold RX-1200i TBR DNA: nice bright image, slightly more accurate colours than the Vortex. Red LED display is too bright even on "low" setting, would be blinding at dawn/dusk. Very quick to display a range reading.
7) Vortex Ranger 1500: best of the ones I tried, clearly has upgraded electronics from the Ranger 1000. Clear bright image, nice red LED display that wasn't too bright in the store, very fast to display a range reading.
All in all it was sort of frustrating. I'd be happy with the Ranger 1000 if it was as fast as the others. I'd be happy with the Leupold if it could go a few steps dimmer. The Ranger 1500 was nice, but is a big jump up in price from the Ranger 1000, and I don't actually need the extra range.
I guess now I need to decide which compromise to make...
