New Stabila Laser Distance Measure - 650 feet

[tbellemare]

Stabila has a new Laser Distance Measure, the LD500. It measures up to 650 feet. That's so far that they have a target screen/camera with a 4X zoom so you can see what you are measuring.

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Tom

 

[cdconey]

When is this available?  Does it store the photo of the measurement?  The rep at Gary Katz's Roadshow said it would, just curios.  Not much inof online yet. 

 

[tbellemare]

It is available now. It doesn't store the pictures but it stores the last 20 measurements. It also can be used on a tripod, which at 200 meters matters unless you have something to rest it against.

Tom

 

[Sean7a]

Stabila rep brought one by maybe 2 weeks ago.  Very very very very cool.  Like really really cool.

Stabila is a great company and make some seriously solid tools.  Tom, have you had a chance to play around with it?  My only gripe was the quality of the video, very choppy.  For the price, you'd hope it would have a "video" (I should just say viewfinder) capability that my $100 phone has.

 

[tbellemare]

It isn't designed to be a video or a camera for that matter. It's designed to be an aid for spotting what you are measuring to at a long distance (Camera Target Locator). It can be used at the normal view, 2x closer, or 4x closer to make it easier to spot the laser exactly where you want it.  

It is accurate to 1mm at 200 Meters (~650'). We've gotten it to acquire targets around 800'. As one can imagine, at a long distance, it's pretty hard to keep steady enough to hit a target so it can be tripod mounted or you could lean against something.

This little thing has more bells and whistles than most people could imagine.

Tom

 

[Sean7a]

Sure Tom, I understand it's not a video or camera but consider the viewfinder on your cellphone when preparing to take a picture or video.  Not too sure about yours, but mine is steady, secure and not choppyb y any means, it's smooth.  That was my only gripe about the Stabila.  Couple that with the difficulty in finding a target at a distance when you're zoomed in....it makes it somewhat tough to "lock on."

Don't get me wrong though, awesome tool, very handy.  So many buttons, like you said, so many bells and whistles.

 

[cdconey]

It would be great for me doing site surveys, but I would need a video capture or photo with the measurements imposed for my clients to accept the reading and build verification.

 

[joraft]

I just got a Leica Disto D8, very similar, although with a little higher cost. This device is incredible!

Leica DISTO-D8

 

[ForumMFG]

I own the Bosch DLR165K.  It's not as nice as some of the others but it is incredibly accurate.  For what I need it for, it does the job.  I'm on job sites often taking field measurements for our millwork and it's always been dead on and not to mention how much faster I get done at the job site.  It's selling for $100 now but when I bought it; it was $150.  Good laser at a good price.  Hilti also makes 3 distance measures and they are all nice.  The basic version sells for $200.