Buying a new rangefinder - what should I purchase?

[CaymanS]

I'm a bit of an equipment junkie, er, enthusiast, and have tried many laser rangefinders, mostly Bushnell.  But for this 68 year old, the image stabilization feature of the Nikon is a game changer.  It is also very good at finding spots everywhere because of the stabilization.  For example, when we stop the cart at my partners drive, I can range my ball up ahead, you know, 30 yards or so beyond his!  Seriously, I find the Bushnell's a bit faster to range, but it does not overcome the advantage of the stabilization function.  I think it great that there are more credible, less expensive rangefinders now in the market.

[m_w]

I have a Precision NX7 with Slope that i bought in 2018 - I really liked it in the beginning but as time went one and I tried lasering stuff that wasn't the flag, I became increasingly disappointed. It picks up flags just fine but its basically impossible to get distances to marker sticks in the ground, small trees or bunker lips. Literally will not provide a reading or it takes forever and a number of attempts. I play with two guys that use Bushnell and Leo and neither have any issue getting the yardages that I'm struggling with.

 

For flag distances its fine, wouldnt recommend it for anything else

[cristphoto]

6 hours ago, m_w said:

I have a Precision NX7 with Slope that i bought in 2018 - I really liked it in the beginning but as time went one and I tried lasering stuff that wasn't the flag, I became increasingly disappointed. It picks up flags just fine but its basically impossible to get distances to marker sticks in the ground, small trees or bunker lips. Literally will not provide a reading or it takes forever and a number of attempts. I play with two guys that use Bushnell and Leo and neither have any issue getting the yardages that I'm struggling with.

 

For flag distances its fine, wouldnt recommend it for anything else

 

This is why I love my Bushnell V4.  I'm starting to see a lot more inexpensive lasers in use but when I watch golfers use them I can readily see how the Bushnell simply works better.  As you said pretty much any laser can pick up a flag, but how does it do reading the edge of a bunker - in poor light?  My V4 gets the job done under virtually any course situation.  Most all pro's can't be wrong.   

[m_w]

2 hours ago, cristphoto said:

 

This is why I love my Bushnell V4.  I'm starting to see a lot more inexpensive lasers in use but when I watch golfers use them I can readily see how the Bushnell simply works better.  As you said pretty much any laser can pick up a flag, but how does it do reading the edge of a bunker - in poor light?  My V4 gets the job done under virtually any course situation.  Most all pro's can't be wrong.   

im not sure if it’s Bushnell or not but there is certainly a difference between a $200 and $400 laser. 

[cristphoto]

On 9/24/2021 at 10:33 AM, m_w said:

im not sure if it’s Bushnell or not but there is certainly a difference between a $200 and $400 laser. 

 

I agree.  Buy a good unit and it should work fine. They all tend to give the same yardage (like a cheap laptop provides same spreadsheet results as a premium one).  But you do get benefits from purchasing a more expensive model.  My very first laser was a Callaway I got maybe 12 years ago.  Then a friend got a Bushnell V2 so I compared the two.  I liked the optics and display of the V2 better so I sold off my Callaway and jumped to Bushnell. Used them exclusively ever since with a brief purchase of a Nikon Coolshot (returned it after a couple weeks for another Bushnell).  Each successive Bushnell model seemed to work better, faster, with good ergonomics so I never found the need to switch.   

Edited September 25, 2021 by cristphoto