Leica Geovid HD-B 10×42 Rangefinder Binocular Review

Leica Geovid 10×42 HD-R Yards Binocular 40059 has been tested over a period of 3 months by three different precision rifle shooters as they used this rangefinder-binocular device for observing targets from close range to long range again and again. If the need is accurate ranging up to 1 mile along with a great quality optics, Leica Geovid HD-B 10×42 Rangefinder Binocular is the right device for you.

These Geovid HD-B models are high priced products. It is mainly because of the incorporation of advanced technology as well as high end parts in them. These products are manufactured in Germany by the experts and are quality checked rigorously before releasing them in the market. This binocular-rangefinder combo is priced way above the $2,000 mark but after you use it on field you you will feel that the high price is not unjustified.

Before going into details of the findings, it’s important to start with pros and cons of the device. If the need is accurate ranging up to 1 mile along with a great quality optics, Leica Geovid HD-B 10×42 Rangefinder Binocular is the right device for you.

What’s good about it?

• Best aspect of Leica Geovid HD-B 10×42 Rangefinder Binocular 40049 is the optics that is made up of HD fluoride glass along with incorporated advanced Perger-Porro prism system.

• On 2 MOA targets, you will get true 1 mile ranging performance. When the target sizes are larger, ranging performance can go beyond 2000.

• It comes with a very wide field of view, which is significantly large when compared with that of other similar 10x magnification binoculars.

• Leica Geovid HD-B 10×42 has a great ergonomics.

• With the help of micro-SD card, ballistic curve of the shooter’s load can be customized.

• Additional but important atmospheric conditions including inclination, pressure, and temperature are available, which you can input in the external ballistics app.

What are the aspects that could have been better?

• Incorporation of premium glass has not only increased the quality of product but also price of the same.

• Besides main ranging button, you will find secondary menu button and it may create confusion.

• The lens covers slips off easily.

How’s the Optical Performance?

This new Geovid HD-B is actually a complete redesign over its predecessor Geovid HD. They have replaced the earlier roof prism design with new Perger-Porro prism. Test on the device was done by following a data driven approach for testing clarity of the optics and then combined all the data in a single score. The most important aspect here is the field of view which is the largest among the similar other binoculars. The FoV is 374 inches per 1000 yards.

How’s the Ranging Performance?

When compared with original Leica Geovid HD, this new Geovid HD-B comes with almost double the ranging power than its predecessor. Most important observation during the test is that a relatively smaller target of 2 MOA was ranged accurately to 1950 yards. That’s quite impressive to say the least. When the ranging is done on larger objects, accurate reading was obtained beyond 2200 yards.

Most encouraging aspect of this device is that the incidence of incorrect reading was very rare. At the same time, we hardly got any no reading message in lowlights conditions. The reading accuracy missed the 10 out of 10 reading by a whisker. On small one-mile target, the displayed unit is accurate for 9 times out of 10.

When it came to bright light conditions, it took a couple of attempts to get the accurate reading. We found out that the readings in bright light conditions are perfect at 1200 yards or nearer. When checked off-hand, there were hardly any no reading. This is a major advantage of this Leica product over other products.

Equivalent Horizontal Distance

There are two settings that can be done at Leica Geovid HD-B 10×42 Rangefinder Binocular 40049 and they are equivalent horizontal distance and line of sight distance. Whether you are a bowhunter or long range shooter, this aspect is important. Information about equivalent horizontal distance is important because this needs to be included in the ballistic calculator. If you are shooting in hilly areas, this information is especially important because it lets you know distance’s horizontal component on which gravity acts on. Until and unless you are shooting in steep angle, this will not show any big difference in the ballistic calculation.

Ballistic Functions

This binocular-rangefinder device gives shooters with robust ballistic functions. There are multiple sensors (angle of incline, atmospheric pressure, and temperature) that have been integrated in Leica Geovid HD-B. Therefore, the ballistic calculations at a hilly place and sea level will be different because this Leica device will sense the environmental parameters and will provide ballistic figures on the basis of that.

If you want to get more details about the specifications of Leica Geovid 10×42 HD-B Yards Binocular Rangefinder 40049, check this Scopelist page.

There are many other similar and superior binocular-cum-laser rangefinder devices available in the market. You may be interested to take a look at Leica Geovid 10×42 HD-R Yards Binocular 40059 and other Leica Geovid HD range devices.