My wife and I would like to get her Dad a laser range finder for Xmas.  He does a lot of hunting up here and has always talked about how nice it would be to have one.  Anyway, I don't know that much about them.  Figured I'd ask the AR15.com Army....

Thanks for the help.
DG84

I've had a couple different brands and now have a LEICA. Really happy with this one. Good optics, accurate, and good battery life. All around, hard to beat. Depending on model, you're looking at a 300-500 dollar range. (no pun intended) Good Luck!

Depends what he's going to use it for. No sense getting a 1000yrd rangefinder if he's only going to use it for bow hunting ;)
They all pretty much work. I prefer one with any other color but black for the readouts. It's real hard to read them in low light.

Don't screw around , just get him the Leica rangefinder . I have gone thru many binocular until I coughed up the money for a pair of Leicas . Sorry I didn't do it 25 years ago !

And now I'm about to upgrade rangefinders .
You can't beat Leica PERIOD. And you may never want to shoot an animal at 600 + yards but the thing is great for OTHER USES in the field. I'm going to get myself the new 1200 yard/meter version because of the several reports I've read , Leica upgraded the electronics to make it work "perfect in all conditions" compared to their 1000 yd. model which is rated the best out there .
There have been complaints by some writers that these have no neck straps or attachment points for such a strap. They want to hang a rangrfinder on their neck ALONG WITH BINOCULARS ? At 4"X4"X1" the things will fit in your pocket ! Can't do that with my Bushnels !
So pop on the dough, Dad will love you for it !

Another vote for LEICA.

ARH

I used the Nikon800 and had good luck.

Is the Leica better? Is is available in Rubber Armoured?

This should help in your decision making process.
Here's the main page for snipercountry's 'In Review':
[url]http://www.snipercountry.com/inreview.htm#Optics[/url]

Scroll down the page for Laser Range Finders:
[url]http://www.snipercountry.com/BushnellYP400.htm[/url] Bushnell
[url]http://www.snipercountry.com/InReviews/Leica_LRF800_LRF1200.htm[/url] Leica
[url]http://www.snipercountry.com/NikonCompact800.htm[/url] NIKON

I like NIKON stuff, so, that's what I'll get.
Whatever you choose, Dear Old Dad's gonna love it!

hey, thanks for the help guys.  

Is the range readout illuminated for low light use in the Liecas?

The Leica uses LED technology as opposed to LCD (Bushnell & Nikon), which makes it easier to read in bright daylight as well as at dusk.

The only drawback to that is they have a very simple readout. Not as much information is presented as with the Bushnell.

I still want to see a comparison to Newcon Optik, the Canadian product.

Mine is a Leica. My hunting buddies with other brands of range finders that have used mine for a little bit to check it out all say that their next one will be a Leica!
Tuco

Is there any visible light from the front side of the unit that would give away your position? Does it use a visible laser or IR?

Another vote for Leica here.  Mine's an 800 but I'd get the 1200 if I were buying one now, the newer ones have improved electronics and work better in bright sunlight.

I have the bushnell Yardage Pro 800. Works just great. Has a backlight for low lighting conditions.

The early ones had the illuminated display feature. For some unknown reason it was dropped on all subsequent lots and models.

If someone is looking at you with NV they will be able to see it as long as it is "on". My son and I have verified it using our NV and a Leica 1200 yard model.

BTW, We both really like the Leica. I found the read out and optical clarity much better than the Bushnell products, and slightly better than Nikon.

Backlighting eats batteries a lot faster.