HankB
Member
In the latest issue of Safari Times there are ads for a couple of new riflescopes.
The Zeiss Victory Diarange M3-12x56T incorporates a laser rangefinder and incorporates a reticle in the second focal plane. The time to measure distance is about 0.5 seconds. A couple of videos are available at the Zeiss website www.zeiss.com/sports. (IIRC, Swarovski may have been the first to incorporate a laser rangefinder in a commercial riflescope, but theirs was even bulkier than this current Zeiss offering, which is a long way from being compact.)
The DigitalHunter by ELCAN (www.elcansportingoptics.com) is basically a video camera shaped somewhat like a boxy riflescope. Zoom is electronic, the reticle can be customized and, once your trajectory table and zero distance is entered, the reticle will move when you enter a range so that you can aim "dead on" at your target. A few seconds of video can be captured, so you can generate a record of your shot.
Bulky? You bet. And operation appears to be TOTALLY dependent on batteries.
But consider . . . electronics will come down in size. And just think - if one incorporated the Zeiss' laser rangefinder into a unit with an Elcan automatic reticle, you wouldn't have to worry about any adjustment except windage.
And with image amplification like the Weaver Nightview, hunting well into twilight would be possible.
My opinion?
Someday when the technology matures, I may consider something like this . . . but regardless of price, regardless of the "gee whiz" high-tech aspects, neither one of these heavy, bulky, awkward current offerings will grace any of my rifles. (And if I won one in a drawing, you'd soon see it up for sale on Ebay or Gunbroker.)
The Zeiss Victory Diarange M3-12x56T incorporates a laser rangefinder and incorporates a reticle in the second focal plane. The time to measure distance is about 0.5 seconds. A couple of videos are available at the Zeiss website www.zeiss.com/sports. (IIRC, Swarovski may have been the first to incorporate a laser rangefinder in a commercial riflescope, but theirs was even bulkier than this current Zeiss offering, which is a long way from being compact.)
The DigitalHunter by ELCAN (www.elcansportingoptics.com) is basically a video camera shaped somewhat like a boxy riflescope. Zoom is electronic, the reticle can be customized and, once your trajectory table and zero distance is entered, the reticle will move when you enter a range so that you can aim "dead on" at your target. A few seconds of video can be captured, so you can generate a record of your shot.
Bulky? You bet. And operation appears to be TOTALLY dependent on batteries.
But consider . . . electronics will come down in size. And just think - if one incorporated the Zeiss' laser rangefinder into a unit with an Elcan automatic reticle, you wouldn't have to worry about any adjustment except windage.
And with image amplification like the Weaver Nightview, hunting well into twilight would be possible.
My opinion?
Someday when the technology matures, I may consider something like this . . . but regardless of price, regardless of the "gee whiz" high-tech aspects, neither one of these heavy, bulky, awkward current offerings will grace any of my rifles. (And if I won one in a drawing, you'd soon see it up for sale on Ebay or Gunbroker.)
