Antarcher

I have them and in a word they are awesome. You won't need anything else after this once in a lifetime purchase. Have had them up against the Swaro EL's and there is no real discernable difference. Swaro is probably a little smoother on the focus, but the Leica are shorter and more compact meaning they don't hit the ground when I have to crawl when wearing a harness, plus this makes them lighter, hence why I went for those. The colours you see are also awesome and looking at birds and the like, they actually seem to bring them more to life than looking at them through the naked eye. The clarity is unreal and low light performance is as good as it gets for a 10x42. You will not regret buying them, just the same as you wouldn't if you bought the swaro or Zeiss

No worries mate, it definitely becomes a personal preference thing when you get up into that class of glass, but there is definitely no substitute for quality and you do get what you pay for, especially for optics

I have a pair of Leica Ultravids in 10x42 and have used them side by side and can see no difference in image quality, brightness and colour. I would imagine that Leica have used the same lens in both models, hence they are the top of the line models with the Geovid's being a tad more expensive due to the rangefinder. Zeiss have now bought out a rangefinding bino in their Victory series and I think they have done the same. There is a fair difference in the light gathering capabilities between a 10x50 Swaro and 10x42 Leica, so to compare them on this front is not apples to apples. As stated above, the top binos have very little difference in optical quality, some say Leica have finer optical performance and have better colour retention, some say Swaro are brighter and some say Zeiss are better overall. Ergonomically in the hand they vary too. In the end it is up to the person forking out the big bucks for a once in a lifetime purchase, which is what all these top of the line binos are. You cannot skimp on quality that will last (hopefully) forever If I was a rifle hunter (I am a bowhunter) I would have forked out the extra for the Geovids for sure as having the one unit to lug around is a huge advantage and there is plenty of time if you are taking a longer shot with the rifle to steady the binos to get a good range on them. However given the close quarters I need to get into, I use a smaller compact rangefinder, as I need one hand operation and minimal movement when it comes time to range my target. I could use the bino RF but choose not too, though I have friends that do. While on this point, I do not think that you will find a better rangefinder than the Swarovski Laser Guide 8x30. This unit has an optical quality that has to be seen to be believed. If only it was not a monocular, I think this would be the only optic I would use, bar a spotting scope for long range glassing. The brightness and sharpness are awesome and the rangefinder has a scanning mode that is very handy indeed. It is very easy indeed to locate your target due the larger objective lens, particularly when hunting in low light or in thick and dark bush. Most other rangefinding units have a small objective lens and they simply do not have the capability to gather as much light in these situations.

G'day all. I am a bowhunter through and through and love to hunt Rusa. Be seeing you all around the site.