Folks,

As a preview to an upcoming episode Anthony and I are going to do related to range finders, I thought I would share the following "shopping list" that was provided by CJ Davis. 

CJ works on the Nikon team, and joins us on next week's episode to talk about all of these considerations (and more) related to  range finders.  CJ is the PR Director for Nikon Optics, however, he is intricately involved with range finders for Nikon - from product inception, field testing, all the way to final production.  We're all in for a treat with a true range finder and optics expert on next week's show!  Be sure to tune in.  For now, check out some of the considerations CJ suggests below.  If you have other questions, feel free to post them to this blog entry and we'll do our best to get them answered.

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Rangefinder Shopping List

From CJ Davis - PR Director of Nikon Optics 

#1 - Determine Price - Set a budget.  It will greatly help narrow down your choices.

#2 - Key Features:

    A)  Do you need waterproof?

    B)  What about angle compensation?

    C)  Maximum yardage?

NOTE:  If you will be using it for gun hunting as well as bowhunting take that into consideration as well.

#3 - Play with different models both in the store and outside of the store (if possible).  Features to try out and see how they work for you:

• Does the unit fit well in your hand and seem intuitive to use?

• Is it confusing or simple to operate? Remember you will be using this in the heat of the moment and simple is usually better.

• Is the display simple to understand?

• Does it give you the range faster or slower than other models?

• What is the accuracy of the unit? Will it read to half yards or less?

• Can you get it to read small items across the store?

• Are the optics multicoated?

• Will it read, or range, by aiming through shoot-thru mesh on ground blinds?

• If it is angle compensated what angle will it read to? This can make a huge difference if you anticipate some steep shooting angles.

Once you answer these questions and anymore you can think of you hopefully you will have narrowed your choice down to the right rangefinder for you.

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