Bushnell Pro 1600 Tournament Edition Laser Rangefinder with Pinseeker Overview
Level the ups and downs in your quest for perfection. Built in the legacy of our venerable PinSeeker 1500, the new Pro 1600 is the world’s only golf laser rangefinder to compensate for the changes in elevation. Using a digital inclinometer, it determines distance based on the degree of elevation change. It doesn’t just tell you how far-it tells you exactly how far to play it. So you’ll never again question the range at the top of your swing. And nothing cuts strokes, and eliminates the peaks and valleys of your game, like confidence. Completely Waterproof, Rainguard HD, 12oz 9 volt batterand premium carrying case included.
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| Brand: |
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| List Price: |
$599.95
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| Our Price: |
$348.49
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| Total Price: |
$348.49
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| Usually ships in 1-2 business days |
I am anal when it comes to making comparisons. Especially if I am buying through mail-order. I will research items for a long time.
When it came to picking a range finder I had it narrowed down to the Leupold GX 1 and the Bushnell 1600. The first comparisons I did were at my house.
The Leupold was small and lightweight,about half the size of the Bushnell. The first thing I noticed was the Leupold had a slight yellowish tint when looking through it. If I didn’t have the Bushnell to compare it to (very bright and clear),I probably wouldn’t have noticed it. Leupold said it was the coating on the optics. Whatever it is, I didn’t care for the tint. I then started taking measurements outside my window. My neighbors house is brick and the Leupold would NOT read the brick at all. I then “shot” their front door and got a 50 yard reading. I then shot their awning which overhangs their door and it wouldn’t give me a reading. After the 4th attempt it finally said 52 yards. That’s impossible since the awning is in front of the door.
The Bushnell: has much larger, clearer and brighter optics. The eyepiece is larger also. I did the same test and the Bushnell gave me a reading off the bricks. Off the front door it told me 48 yards (2 yards different than Leupold) but more importantly, it read the front of the awning (46 yards). I then shot my neighbors shutters and it gave me a reading; I then shot their bricks right next to the shutters and it gave me a reading of 1 yard more. That was impressive. I really wanted to like the Leupold because of its size/weight but the Bushnell was winning.
I then took it to the golf range. The Leupold continued to give me slightly different readings than the Bushnell but what really bothered me was the Leupold would (sometimes)not give me a reading to different parts of the ground. Many times I wouldn’t get a reading shooting the ground at 50 yards. The flag, yes, no problem; but the ground no. The Bushnell gave me a reading EVERY time,no matter what distance to the ground I aimed.
Also the pinseeker on the Leupold was questionable. It’s not a mode like the Bushnell. The Leupold is supposed to not give you a reading until you hit the flag, at least that’s what their video on their web site says, but I would definately get background readings no matter what. In fact, their manual does not even mention anything about pinseeker. Nothing. Nor does the box have anything on it either. I called Leupold about this and they said that their pinseeker “mode” is really ONLY for flags with prisms on them. None of the courses I play have prisms so this does not interest me at all.
The Bushnell, in pinseeker mode, shows a flag on their display and when it “hits” the flag,on the green, a circle goes around the display flag verifying that you captured the flag.
The other thing that botherd me about the Leupold was the readout is on the top of the display. When reading a flag and you have dark trees behind the green, the read out is hard to see. The video on their web site shows this also. They are scannning targets and the read out completely disappears when it its the treeline.
The Bushnell displays it’s #’s at the bottom and they are more easy to read since the background will always be the grass. The display #’s also are blacker than the Leupold. The Bushnell, so far, is definately better.
One last test – At my house it was raining and I tried shooting through my window SCREEN. The screen has water droplets all over it and the Leupold would not read through the screen at all… but the Bushnell did, every time. That was the deciding factor. I know that some will say that you are not shooting bricks, windows, awning on the golf course. But to me, if the Bushnell could do all these things and the Leupold couldn’t, then that shows me that the Bushnell has better optics. Also the Leupold had trouble reading the ground at short yardages where the Bushnell had no trouble at all.
The one thing that bothered me was if the Leupold was defective and that was the reason for the yellowish tint. I went to a sporting goods store and although they didn’t have the GX 1, I tried their 750 model… same thing. A slight yellowish tint.
The Bushnell is a much better unit, in my opinion. Brighter/clearer optics, the field of view is larger, 7x mag compared to 6x on the Leupold, better pinseeker technology and better accuracy at reading mounds and small bumps. What impressed me was the door/awning test. The Bushnell gave me the accurate readings whereas the Leupold couldn’t read the awning at all.
The only slight negative of the Bushnell, is the size/weight. If all range finders were the Bushnells size, nobody would complain at all. The Bushnell is technically NOT large or heavy, it’s just larger/heavier than the Leupold or the V2 for that matter.
The other positive the Leupold had was it was steadier than the Bushnell. The Bushnell shakes a little bit more but it still is no problem getting the flag at 200 yards.
In summary – I am very happy with the Bushnell. I can’t tell you how impressed I was when I was able to get a reading,of a tree,through my rain soaked window screen. I have sinced used the Bushnell for two rounds and get very accurate readings. How do I know their accurate? Because I also use a Sonocaddie V300 GPS. Originally, I was going to buy the laser and sell the GPS. The GPS gives a view of the entire hole with readings to all hazards. For the green, it gives readings for the front, middle and back of greens. Many times, I thought the pin was in the front of the green when it was in the back (aging eyes). With the GPS it will tell me, i.e. the back of the green is 170 yards and the laser will tell me the pin is 165 yards. That tells me the pin is in the back and I only have 15′ of green behind the pin. That, to me, is invaluable information, especially since I am trying to get into single digit handicaps. Is this over kill? Probably. But it definatley gives me more confidence knowing all that information.
If I didn’t have a GPS now, I would at least get an app for a smart phone and buy the laser. Best of both worlds.
Great product.
Technical Details
- PinSeeker mode- zeros in on flag
- Standard Scan mode, built in Reflector
- Reads distances in both yards and meters
- Ranges (5 yards minimum) : Reflective surfaces: 1,600 yards, Trees: 1,000 yards, Flag: 400 yards
- Fully multi-coated optics, Twist up metal eyepiece with oversized ocular
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