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S.H.O.T. SHOW NEWS -- PART TWO -- ONS-Jim Matthews -- 03mar04
Sporting optics are going electronic and digital
By JIM MATTHEWS, Outdoor News Service
LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- Changes in the sporting optics field are coming rapidly and with more innovations each year. That was evident in the new lines of rifle scopes, binoculars, and laser rangefinders shown during the 26th Annual Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show held at the Las Vegas Convention Center last month.
Joe Messner, the CEO of Bushnell, said that when he started with the company just a few years ago, their product line was mostly binoculars, spotting scopes, and rifle scopes. There was not a single electronic product in the line -- no laser rangefinders, no red dot or holographic sights, no scopes with illuminated reticles, no night vision products, no image stabilization binoculars, and no products with on-board digital cameras.
"Today, almost 50 percent of our products have some sort of electronics incorporated in them," said Messner.
That is the story for the whole industry. While companies are making the best glass products ever produced, they are also adding electronic elements at the greatest rate ever seen. Two of the biggest trends evident at SHOT were night vision optics that don't use image intensifiers and rifle scopes and binoculars that have digital image capture capability built in.
Several companies this year announced digital imaging night vision rather than image intensifiers for low-light, nighttime viewing. These new night vision optics don't have those fuzzy, green images, and the image quality is richer with more contrast than Generation 3 and 4 image intensifies. Most importantly, they cost much less. Weaver showed its NightView Monocular, and Bushnell has a new nightvision product that also has a 2.0 megapixel on-board digital camera. Nikon's NightSearch monocular is adaptable to 35mm cameras and has an optional 2.8x teleconverter. All offer hunters and other outdoor enthusiasts the ability to view/scout and travel in the field before first light and after last light.
And even bigger move has been the addition of digital cameras into binoculars and rifle scopes. Three years ago, Adirondack Optics was at SHOT with a wooden mockup of a scope and digital camera all in one. Last year, they had a pre-production prototype, and this year they had the first production models of this scope line that can capture 1.2 megapixel images manually or when the gun is fired. These are admittedly very low resolution images, but they are fine for small prints or e-mailing an image.
Several companies have announced binoculars with on-board digital cameras, and the resolution quality on these its climbing almost daily. Bushnell said it would have 3.0 or more megapixel camera/binoculars by the end of the year, and it already has 1.3 and 2.1 megapixel versions in 8x30 binoculars. The Simmons Capture View camera/binoculars are both well-made and affordable. The new 8x30 Waterproof 2.0 megapixel binocular that can do both stills and up to 60 seconds of video.
Another area growing in products and popularity is image stabilization in binoculars. When Zeiss first came out with its 20x60 stabilized and very expensive binocular several years ago, it started a trend that has spread into even affordable products. Cannon and Nikon are two of the biggest players in this market today, but Burris announced a stabilized binocular this year and others are sure to follow suit. Cannon has one of the broadest lines, with glass from 8 to 18x, but Nikon is catching up with 12, 14, and now 16x stabilized glass. Burris enters the marketplace with 12 and 16-power models.
Virtually every optics company now has at least one laser rangefinder in its line, and Leica, the company first to enter this market with its expensive Geovid binocular, showed its next generation Geovid. The binocular has a 1,300 yard laser rangefinder built into an 8x42 or 10x42 binocular. But the binocular looks and weighs about the same as a standard binocular in this class at just under 32 ounces. The retail price for these two quality instruments in one will be from $1,800 to $1,850. The original Geovid was closer to $3,000.
In regular rifle scopes, Leupold announced its next generation of Golden Ring riflescopes that feature new lens coatings, innovative reticles, finger focus adjustments, fast-focus eyepieces, and side focus on some models. All changes are aimed at improving the product line for hunters and shooters. The new lens coatings improve light transmission to the point where 98 percent of the light entering the scope reaches the eye in some models. This is state of the art.
Lastly, Browning has entered the optics marketplace with a new line riflescopes, binoculars, and spotting scopes under its own brand name. The line is limited to four of the most popular scope sizes, three binoculars, and one spotting scope. Made for Browning by Bushnell, they are in the same league at Bushnell's 4200 and Elite lines.
Sporting optics are going electronic and digital
By JIM MATTHEWS, Outdoor News Service
LAS VEGAS, Nev. -- Changes in the sporting optics field are coming rapidly and with more innovations each year. That was evident in the new lines of rifle scopes, binoculars, and laser rangefinders shown during the 26th Annual Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show held at the Las Vegas Convention Center last month.
Joe Messner, the CEO of Bushnell, said that when he started with the company just a few years ago, their product line was mostly binoculars, spotting scopes, and rifle scopes. There was not a single electronic product in the line -- no laser rangefinders, no red dot or holographic sights, no scopes with illuminated reticles, no night vision products, no image stabilization binoculars, and no products with on-board digital cameras.
"Today, almost 50 percent of our products have some sort of electronics incorporated in them," said Messner.
That is the story for the whole industry. While companies are making the best glass products ever produced, they are also adding electronic elements at the greatest rate ever seen. Two of the biggest trends evident at SHOT were night vision optics that don't use image intensifiers and rifle scopes and binoculars that have digital image capture capability built in.
Several companies this year announced digital imaging night vision rather than image intensifiers for low-light, nighttime viewing. These new night vision optics don't have those fuzzy, green images, and the image quality is richer with more contrast than Generation 3 and 4 image intensifies. Most importantly, they cost much less. Weaver showed its NightView Monocular, and Bushnell has a new nightvision product that also has a 2.0 megapixel on-board digital camera. Nikon's NightSearch monocular is adaptable to 35mm cameras and has an optional 2.8x teleconverter. All offer hunters and other outdoor enthusiasts the ability to view/scout and travel in the field before first light and after last light.
And even bigger move has been the addition of digital cameras into binoculars and rifle scopes. Three years ago, Adirondack Optics was at SHOT with a wooden mockup of a scope and digital camera all in one. Last year, they had a pre-production prototype, and this year they had the first production models of this scope line that can capture 1.2 megapixel images manually or when the gun is fired. These are admittedly very low resolution images, but they are fine for small prints or e-mailing an image.
Several companies have announced binoculars with on-board digital cameras, and the resolution quality on these its climbing almost daily. Bushnell said it would have 3.0 or more megapixel camera/binoculars by the end of the year, and it already has 1.3 and 2.1 megapixel versions in 8x30 binoculars. The Simmons Capture View camera/binoculars are both well-made and affordable. The new 8x30 Waterproof 2.0 megapixel binocular that can do both stills and up to 60 seconds of video.
Another area growing in products and popularity is image stabilization in binoculars. When Zeiss first came out with its 20x60 stabilized and very expensive binocular several years ago, it started a trend that has spread into even affordable products. Cannon and Nikon are two of the biggest players in this market today, but Burris announced a stabilized binocular this year and others are sure to follow suit. Cannon has one of the broadest lines, with glass from 8 to 18x, but Nikon is catching up with 12, 14, and now 16x stabilized glass. Burris enters the marketplace with 12 and 16-power models.
Virtually every optics company now has at least one laser rangefinder in its line, and Leica, the company first to enter this market with its expensive Geovid binocular, showed its next generation Geovid. The binocular has a 1,300 yard laser rangefinder built into an 8x42 or 10x42 binocular. But the binocular looks and weighs about the same as a standard binocular in this class at just under 32 ounces. The retail price for these two quality instruments in one will be from $1,800 to $1,850. The original Geovid was closer to $3,000.
In regular rifle scopes, Leupold announced its next generation of Golden Ring riflescopes that feature new lens coatings, innovative reticles, finger focus adjustments, fast-focus eyepieces, and side focus on some models. All changes are aimed at improving the product line for hunters and shooters. The new lens coatings improve light transmission to the point where 98 percent of the light entering the scope reaches the eye in some models. This is state of the art.
Lastly, Browning has entered the optics marketplace with a new line riflescopes, binoculars, and spotting scopes under its own brand name. The line is limited to four of the most popular scope sizes, three binoculars, and one spotting scope. Made for Browning by Bushnell, they are in the same league at Bushnell's 4200 and Elite lines.
