What the hell is going on at Leica at the moment?

[wabbit evaporator]

Leica apparently had a deal on whereby you exchanged ANY pair of binoculars or rangefinder for £500 quid off a new pair of Geovid HD-Bs....... Simon Barr was promoting this on his Facebook page and I saw an ad. on gun trader to the same effect.

 

Problem is not one Leica dealer I have spoken to has heard of the promotion and Leica UK are absolutely bloody useless at engaging in any type of communication with customers- phones and emails unanswered!

 

Its a crying shame as I do like some of the Leica products. Stark contrast to Swarovski UK who often bend over backwards to help, guess where I just ordered my new rangefinders from.

[gun nut]

Uttings are doing the £500 trade in deal on the Leica geovids, take it you didn't try them?

[fizzbangwhallop]

Uttings are doing the £500 trade in deal on the Leica geovids, take it you didn't try them?

Apparently Sportsman are a bit cheaper for the same deal.

 

Saw a post on another forum where the poster bought the cheapest pair Uttings had and immediately used those as the trade in... all over the phone.

 

Cheers

 

Fizz

[Hatzi]

I have been at a Leica event at WMS for the last two days and many of these matters have been discussed. The changeover has left some gaps in the sustem to say the least but I think this will rapidly have to get sorted out. The £500 trade in has been very popular but we were told yesterday that there is still a limited amout of stock left to keep the ball rolling in this offer. Try some more dealers!

 

They need to sort this out asap and it sounds like they are short staffed and a little bit manic, especially coming up to 'show season' but the product is looking good and we have benn stretching it's legs a little too, a certain UKV member brought his shiny new 50 for the event

[wabbit evaporator]

To be fair to Leica, i was onto dealers at the beginning of last week when I first saw the offer. I am now talking to Swillington about a set of the Geovids. Still no word from Leica main office though!

 

I have to say though that I am really torn between the Swaro and the Leica...... I love the idea of the inbuilt ballistics calculator in the Geovid but it completely depends on just how decent a calculator it really is! The Istrelok system i currently use on my iPhone is brilliant with both my 6mm and .204 but the Geovids would remove that extra step of punching the data in.

 

Finally, and probably most importantly, i know that if i ever have a problem with the Swaros it will be dealt with without fuss......

 

Hatzi, would love to know your thoughts on how the two compare in your opinion. Are there any real differences in the 2015 Geovid model vs its predecessor? I read a great write up in precision rifle blog that really rated the Leica but one thing that did concern me was the MOA readout only being to the nearest whole number, probably doesn't matter in the real world IF the onboard ballistics calc. is up to speed.....

[Danpd]

I bought the new Swarovskis after much deliberation. It basically boiled down to a few things. Firstly customer service (already proven as I lost an eyecup during a safari a few weeks back) a quick call to Swarovski on my return let me know that the eyecups were too new to be held as a spare part, but they would send some out directly from the factory, which duly arrived 5-7 days later.

 

Secondly optics, I've handled both binoculars side by side and to my eyes and to all those I've shown both pairs to the Swarovskis had the edge on brightness and image detail. Not saying the Leicas are rubbish but not quite as good.

 

Thirdly form factor, the Leicas feel large and a bit cheap and plasticky to me, the Swarovskis felt solid, compact and perfectly balanced in your hand.

 

Whilst the ballistic features on the Leicas are interesting, I feel they are geared more towards "prosumer" type hunters and shooters and whilst they offer decent solving abilities out to 6-700 yards, if you truly want good data at long range you will still be using a ballistic solver to get accurate data.

[wabbit evaporator]

I bought the new Swarovskis after much deliberation. It basically boiled down to a few things. Firstly customer service (already proven as I lost an eyecup during a safari a few weeks back) a quick call to Swarovski on my return let me know that the eyecups were too new to be held as a spare part, but they would send some out directly from the factory, which duly arrived 5-7 days later.

 

Secondly optics, I've handled both binoculars side by side and to my eyes and to all those I've shown both pairs to the Swarovskis had the edge on brightness and image detail. Not saying the Leicas are rubbish but not quite as good.

 

Thirdly form factor, the Leicas feel large and a bit cheap and plasticky to me, the Swarovskis felt solid, compact and perfectly balanced in your hand.

 

Whilst the ballistic features on the Leicas are interesting, I feel they are geared more towards "prosumer" type hunters and shooters and whilst they offer decent solving abilities out to 6-700 yards, if you truly want good data at long range you will still be using a ballistic solver to get accurate data.

 

 

Decision made! Thank you.

 

Your concerns with the Leica product echo mine. I should probably say that I owned a pair of Swaros until they were stolen a few weeks ago and was extremely happy with them but being a bit of a gear-geek i couldn't possibly ignore the opportunity of a new and different piece of kit.

[Danpd]

Decision made! Thank you.

 

Your concerns with the Leica product echo mine. I should probably say that I owned a pair of Swaros until they were stolen a few weeks ago and was extremely happy with them but being a bit of a gear-geek i couldn't possibly ignore the opportunity of a new and different piece of kit.

I don't think you will be disappointed, the Bino Pro accessories are excellent as well.

 

I had Leica Rf Binos 7-8 years ago, then went over to Zeiss Victory RFs for the last few years, so I had no allegiance to either brand, and this was purely just my own decision based upon factors I felt were pertinent to me.