Kilo, Leica, Leupold Rangefinder?
Equipment
Contributors to this thread:
I have narrowed my choice for a new rangefinder down to the Sig Kilo 2200, the Leica 1600 - R, and the Leupold 1600 rx tbr/w. Does anyone have any experience with any of these?
Leupold 1600 w/dna is a great Archery rangefinder. I was totally happy with the predecessor 1000 w/dna then the display started acting up at 6 years old. Warranty was 2 yrs but Leupold took care of me with the 1600 for a nominal charge.
I’ve had the Leica 900 for about 10 years. It’s been flawless.
I really like my Sig kilo 2200, both for archery and rifle
I have the Leupold and love it
I also have a the Leupold 1600 . It has never failed me.
Leupold does not belong in the same conversation as the Leica and the sig. great units.
I hated my Leupold. Love my Leica.
Have tried using Leupold range finders several times. Not impressed. Leica has performed flawlessly for many years.
I have the Sig 2200 and like it over the others that I tried.
I’ve owned all three. If you’re interested in angle compensation the Leica only gives it after the line of site range is displayed for a moment. The Leupold is a fine range finder but the display doesn’t automatically adjust to ambient light conditions. I settled on the SIG 2000 and I’ve found no weaknesses with it.
If you want a rangefinder for long range rifle hunting, I agree, the Leupold isn't optically as good as the Leica, nor will the rangefinder range as far (Leica meets stated yardage, Leupold came in at 80% for my 1000 yard units). However I have a Leica 1000R and it is my backup for BOWHUNTING to my top of the line Leupold. I like Leica optics, but not the angle correction programming in the two Leicas I've owned...the 1600B from 2012 wouldn't angle correct for less than 110 yards and the 1000 R from 2014 takes about 3 seconds to give the angle corrected yardage after the actual distance is displayed....seems like an eternity on a stalk. Also, in scan mode, the Leica only reported actual yardage, no angle correction. The Leupold 1000 and 1600 with TBR/DNA give instant angle corrected yardage and angle corrected yardage in scan mode.
That said, I believe the latest Leica rangefinders have corrected the issues noted above, but I have no experience with them.
FWIW my buddy left his Leica on his ATV, then promptly ran over it. They fixed it, no hassle
I have no complaints with my Sig.
Better get Kota-man’s input before you purchase. He is official “consumer reports” for Bowsite !
LOL Buffalo1. Agreed, but I think Corey is chasing sheep right now.
You guys have confirmed what I have found in talking to others and reading reviews, there is no clear cut winner here. I've read so many good and few bad about all 3 of those rangefinders. I might to just pick one and go with it.
I'm running on about 10ish years on my Leupold RX1000tbr. It's been flawless the entire time and I still love it.
APauls, I agree, my main rangefinder for...........at least 8 years has been a Leupold rx ? It still works fine and has never let me down while bowhunting, but I am looking to upgrade to something that is faster and has a red LED. I will give my old one to my son. I also have Leupold binoc's and rifle scopes and all have been great.
I went and looked/tried all 3 today. I have eliminated the Leica 1600-R, but added the Vortex Ranger 1800 to the short list. It is hard to get passed their impressive warranty. I think it has come down to the Sig Kilo and Vortex, the Leupold has slid to 3rd.
I played with the older vortex and it was slooooowwwww, not sure if they fixed that issue. I went with the rx1200tbr. Very happy after 3 years.
If you’re planning to hunt open country in bright sunlight be sure to check the display outside against light colored backgrounds to ensure you’re able to read it easily. The Vortex fell short in that area for me while the SIG was slightly behind the Leica. One other item to check is whether or not the unit is waterproof or weatherproof. I chose the SIG because of the angle comp, how quickly it provides the range, and the display but when I bought mine it was only weatherproof. There wasn’t one unit at that time that met all requirements so I ended up compromising.
I've owned 4 range finders, couple bushnell where good but my last was getting old and not waterproof, then I got a vortex ranger 1000, what a POS, was slow, really slow, sold it and got a leopold rx something, its awesome
Most of the beefs against the Vortex are with the older Ranger 1000. The 1500 was an upgrade due to the slow 1000, the 1800 is supposed to be as good as the 1500 with a bit more range.
Tilzbow - That is interesting cuz I thought the Leica had the weakest display out of all of them.
I own a Sig and a Leica. Both of them are phenomenal but the Sig is my favorite. It's fast, the scan mode is awesome and i like the display. I have owned Leupold and Vortex in the past and I don't believe either of them are in the same class as the Sig and Leica.
If it’s strictly for bow hunting the Leopold is more than enough. It’s what I use for archery and coyote hunting with a rifle as well. If you need quick readings out past 400 for long range rifle shooting it’s hard to beat a Leica.
you don't need much of a range finder for archery....I like my Leupold. been a decent unit for both archery and rifle out to about 1000 yards or so, which is 300-400 yards farther than I need.
OFFHNTN,
Leica and SIG both had two display settings. One automatically adjusts display brightness to ambient light. The other has a manual setting with few brightness levels that are user selectable. The Leica you tried out might have had the display set on manual.
All that said I’m color blind so what I see in a red display is way different than most.
Leica has been great for me
I have the leupold 1200 and really like it. 100x better than my Nikon that I had prior to it.