Customer Reviews

Nikon 8358 Monarch Gold Laser1200 Rangefinder

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Just used this Nikon LR1200 today for the first time. Specific likes:
- well made, compact size fits easily in my golf bag- no larger than my open hand; made by Nikon, who know something about optics...what more could you want?
- waterproof construction- Nikon claims you can old it under 5' of water for 5 minutes without damage.
- easy to use; 1 button point and shoot.
- I have the co-branded Calloway unit, which comes with a nifty little pouch that slips around the unit to protect it and has cover to protect front optics. Lacks one for the rear eyepiece but I found that a soda cap fits perfect.
- Image is clear and sharp; 7x optics quickly pick up distant objects; worked well on the white pin flags at a local course. Quickly picked up a flag at 525 yds! Zeroed in on a truck at 735 yds. Pins within 250 yds easily detected.
- unit allows you to "pan" your field and will display the closest object first. Very neat when you need to resolve a pin flag with a bunch of trees in the background.
- the optics have a diopter adjustment to compensate for vision.
- the battery compartment is very secure. (screw on cover with o-ring, that you can tighten/loosen with a coin
- after some on-line searches, picked it up new for $289, free shipping and no-tax... Great buy; compared to the $400+++ Bushnell 1500/1600 units.
- tried a Bushnell 550 before this... dont even bother thinking about using their 4x model... not suited for golf. And read reviews on some of the other Bushnell units before you buy.
- based on my two experiences, this LR1200 wont disappoint;
- hopes this helps; I am a real hacker (bogey golf) and was disappointed when I went searching for reviews.

My wife bought me the Nikon Monarch 1200 Rangefinder for shooting 1000 yard targets at my gun club and for hunting. While rangeing out to 800 yards it works perfect. Anything past that a person has to have a steady hand or use a tripod and the 1200 works great! I can't wait to use it this hunting season! So far the 1200 is a great product and I am very happy with it. Doug Taylor Butte, Mt.

Wanting to shoot at long range targets (500-1000)yd I thought the Nikon was perfect in that it had a 1200 yard range limit. Testing the range at three different locations it had trouble with any range past 500 yards. I did get it to range a 920 yard house but it took 5 tries. Was also a bit disappointed because the view was somewhat dark. Returned it and purchased a Zeiss Victory which has no problem with ranges up to 1200 yards with very fast readings, and has a very clear 8 power view. You get what you pay for!

I purchased one of these of these 3 years ago. It's been out of the case about 10 times at best. I never took shots over 400 so I never ranged much further than that. I took up long range shooting and low and behold it would not range more than 630yds. I sent it back to nikon to have it checked and got an estimate to 186.00 for service & cleaning.(I would have paid this to have it replaced with a new model). Cleaning, it better he able to handle the minimal dust that it has seen. I assume they were going to have to recalibrate the laser/receiver but 180.00. I'm done with Nikon's service. I'll going with something better and more reliable for long range shooting. I build Titegroup rifle rests and require precision accuracy, and this doesn't live up to my expections. It should be listed as a 600yd unit.

The view port is extremely small and hard to use with glasses. It also has an extremely dark display because there is no back lighting. This makes it frustrating in low light and impossible to use in the dark. Very unsatisfied, will return and get a different item altogether.

I bought this rangefinder to replace a competitor's model that frankly didn't work well. This one however seems to perform flawlessly. As usual with Nikon products the optics are clear and sharp. So far I've only used this rangefinder out to about 400 yds. on fixed targets (trees, etc.), but it works perfectly. I even tried it on a couple targets that I could use to verify distance using a tape. The rangefinder was as accurate as the tape measure! The only negative comment I feel should be included is a lack of really good instructions. This seems to be a problem common to most Nikon products. However a rangefinder is a pretty easy unit to operate without detailed instructions, and they weren't really needed.

This rangefinder works very well in my boating applications. It has measured the range of pilings and other boats in every case I have tried from the minimum range of 11.5 yards to the maximum of 400 yards that I have tried. The eye relief and diopter adjustment allow clear views for my eyes. The only improvement would be a smaller minimum range. Another example of a great optical product from Nikon.

My friend said this rangefinder provides distances faster than his, and I've used the rangefinder to lower my golf scores. I'm very pleased with my purchase.