Disto D810 Review

[Red Flint]

Whoops, meant the telescopic viewer in the Disto Plus and the brick weight Disto Pro, which still works as a backup, though no telescopic viewer.

Don't want to anger my measurement tools. I could get see the red dot on me, or two, if I am not careful.

 

[Dale Smalley]

The D5 view screen is very hard to see in bright sun. Maybe if you mount it on a steady mono pod it would be more steady. It those casees I will cut the long run into smaller segments where I can see the dot. Anyway we noticed they just opened a Leica store in Coral Gables miracle mile that I need to check out.

 

[TRESinc]

That would depend on how bright is the sun, how reflective is the target, and the target size. For me, in bright sun, shooting at a 90 degree intersecting white stucco wall, 20 feet. Target size in this case means I don't need to see the laser dot and I don't need to use the view screen.

not sure why you are having problems buy i do not with my D5. it has the crosshairs just like the other distos and i have used the camera option, including the 4x zoom, on many occasions with great results.

 

[Randolph Kinney]

not sure why you are having problems buy i do not with my D5. it has the crosshairs just like the other distos and i have used the camera option, including the 4x zoom, on many occasions with great results.

Can't see the screen in bright sun, can't see the red dot in bright sun, and if target too small to hold steady for use of camera with the D5, so either pull out the tape or use the S910 on the tripod.

 

[Mike Ault]

The S910 is bright and bigger and no trouble in bright sun because of camera with 4x zoom - crosshairs marks the spot, not necessary to see the red dot. Used it to measure 88.43 ft on bright day with zoom to target.

For long distances, I use it all the time.

The D5 is more of a problem, older and limited. Good for 20 feet.

I'm curious about this one Randall - it looks like you can transfer distances via Bluetooth to a sketching program however from examining the cursor keys on the device it looks like it's only in 2 axis, does it have the ability to transfer a distance at a 45° angle? I find myself using this feature constantly on my Disto 330, I would love to have a big view finding screen however I don't want to lose any of the Bluetooth sketching functionality of the 330 in the upgrade. From all the information I am able to gather on the web it doesn't appear to be able to transfer Bluetooth angled distances which is very handy for drawing bay windows, angled patios, etc.

 

[Randolph Kinney]

The S910 has both 2 dimensional and 3 dimension ability to measure a straight line. For second and third story work, I stand off at any angle (3 axis) and I can measure the horizontal distance of the exterior wall on the second story, for example. The measurement is called, point to point. All of this measuring has to be on the tripod.

With the D5, using the pythagorean function, I would have to be parallel to the wall measuring horizontal for it to measure accurately.

 

[Mike Ault]

The S910 has both 2 dimensional and 3 dimension ability to measure a straight line. For second and third story work, I stand off at any angle (3 axis) and I can measure the horizontal distance of the exterior wall on the second story, for example. The measurement is called, point to point. All of this measuring has to be on the tripod.

With the D5, using the pythagorean function, I would have to be parallel to the wall measuring horizontal for it to measure accurately.

Thanks for the reply Randall, it looks like the 910 has many advantages over the lesser models however what was concerning me was the Bluetooth transfer function of the 910. It appears that I would be losing the ability to walk around the house and transfer all my measurements into Apex via Bluetooth, it looks like I can transfer straight-line measurements just fine in 2 axis's but when I come to a bay window I would have to manually hit the arrow key in the Apex program on my tablet indicating which 45° angle I was dealing with. I know it's a small matter to be concerned with but the less I have to think about while measuring the better off I am, gives me more time to watch for snakes and keep from falling into holes. I don't know why Leica doesn't put out better information regarding this issue.

 

[Randolph Kinney]

First, if you can walk around a house and take all your measurements now with your current Disto, what's the problem?

Second, I always have to be concerned with and think about how to measure.

I had a very simple geometry to measure yet I could not drag a tape or use the D5.

 

[Mike Ault]

First, if you can walk around a house and take all your measurements now with your current Disto, what's the problem?

Second, I always have to be concerned with and think about how to measure.

I had a very simple geometry to measure yet I could not drag a tape or use the D5.

Just thinking about ways to improve my workflow, I still have the original Disto "Brick" which functions fine, finally broke a D5 and bought another one which I used for years and still keep in the truck as a backup for my 330 (which has occasional hick-ups - error code 220 frequently and error code 240 infrequently) and I was hoping to upgrade my Disto to get the big view finding screen and possibly a device that doesn't generate so many error codes as I never experienced any with the prior Disto models. I'm old school so I still carry a 100 foot fiberglass tape on my belt as well, I find that much faster than picking targets to bounce off of.

 

[Randolph Kinney]

On my D5, the most frequent error code is 255 - Receiver signal too weak, measurement time too long, distance > 100 meters.

This happens because the sun is too bright, the surface is too rough and/or not reflective enough, or I am moving the D5 too much (not steady enough) for ambient light conditions.

Recommended solution? Use target plate.

The distance is never greater than 100 meters!

As you know, signal strength follows the inverse square law and anything that interferes with transmission or reception also affects the signal strength.