I have tried the
Nikon 500G,
Bushnell Medalist, and the
Bushnell 1500 Tournament rangefinders. After trying all of these I purchased the
Nikon 500G. My biggest reason for selecting the 500G is that it is by far the smallest of the 3, with the 1500 being the largest. My biggest concern with picking the 500G (until I tried it) was that it may not be able to measure the flags from far enough out.
Nikon states that it can measure a pin up to 160 yards away. Keep in mind that is just the pin, not the flag. We have reflectors on the pins on our course and I have been able to get the yardage on both the flag and the reflectors on the pins at well over 300 yards. I have also been able to read trees as far out as I need. I am an 8 handicap and I hit my drives 260-270 yards, and I have had no problems determining any distances that would come into play with my game. Both Bushnells also handled all of the yardages that I needed.
About the only drawback to the 500G over the Bushnells is that I found it harder to get a yardage reading on the
Nikon when trying to keep the crosshairs on a very distant object. I am not sure why, but I think that the yardage numbers are displayed higher above the crosshairs with the
Nikon than with the Bushnells. This requires you to take your eye off the crosshairs that are on the
target in order to read the distance, and at long distances it is not always easy to keep the crosshairs on your
target (due to slight movement in your hands).
Another concern with the
Bushnell was how long the
battery would last, as it is not a common
battery that you can get at any store, but I did see them at Walgreens. I have used my
Nikon G for 5-6 rounds, and several practice sessions on the range, and it still shows a full
battery charge. By the way, the Bushnells do not have a
battery gage on them, they just tell you when the
battery is low. That happened to me in a tournament and I didn't have a replacement
battery with me.
The last comment on the 500G (and the
Bushnell Medalist) is that they are near
target priority only rangefinders. That means if you have 2 objects in your line of sight, it will only give you the yardage to the closer object. This is what you typically want for golf, i.e. you want the distance to the flag and not to the tree behind the green. The
Bushnell 1500 can switch between near and far
target priority.
Waterproof - The
Nikon 500G and
Bushnell Medalist are Water Resistant. The
Bushnell 1500 is Waterproof.
I have tried the [url=http://www.opticsplanet.com/nikon-brand.html]Nikon[/url] 500G, [url=http://www.opticsplanet.com/bushnell.html]Bushnell[/url] Medalist, and the [url=http://www.opticsplanet.com/bushnell.html]Bushnell[/url] 1500 Tournament rangefinders. After trying all of these I purchased the [url=http://www.opticsplanet.com/nikon-brand.html]Nikon[/url] 500G. My biggest reason for selecting the 500G is that it is by far the smallest of the 3, with the 1500 being the largest. My biggest concern with picking the 500G (until I tried it) was that it may not be able to measure the flags from far enough out. [url=http://www.opticsplanet.com/nikon-brand.html]Nikon[/url] states that it can measure a pin up to 160 yards away. Keep in mind that is just the pin, not the flag. We have reflectors on the pins on our course and I have been able to get the yardage on both the flag and the reflectors on the pins at well over 300 yards. I have also been able to read trees as far out as I need. I am an 8 handicap and I hit my drives 260-270 yards, and I have had no problems determining any distances that would come into play with my game. Both Bushnells also handled all of the yardages that I needed.
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