Hand-held observation device and method for obtaining a 3D point cloud

A hand-held observation device includes: a laser rangefinder (LRF) unit configured to measure a distance between the observation device and a target point on a remote target, a camera configured to capture images of the target, a pose detection unit configured to detect a pose of the observation device, a display unit configured to display an image of the target, a user input device and a digital processing unit comprising a memory for storing program data and measurement data. The digital processing unit can receive a measurement request from the user, can receive image data from the camera, can continuously receive pose data from the pose detection unit, can trigger range measurements to target points using the LRF unit, can receive range-measurement data from the LRF unit, can calculate 3D target point coordinates for the target points, can store the 3D target point coordinates in the memory, can compare the stored 3D target point coordinates with the measurement request to determine one or more regions with missing 3D target points coordinates, can monitor the pose of the observation device based on the pose data, can detect when the measurement axis of the LRF unit aims at a region with missing 3D target point coordinates, and can trigger an additional range measurement for measuring 3D target point coordinates.