Vortex Razor HD Spotting Scope

This is an excellent spotting scope for olympic-style recurve archery 90 meters. Great light return and no color distortions. This means you can easily distinguish between the color of your nocks and the target face colors. Lens cap is NOT too tight. I wear glasses and able to get full view of image through the eyepiece. I've spent most of my life working in laboratories with microscopes so I have the advantage of knowing what numerical specs I need in an eyepiece. This scope is likely to work well for most people wearing glasses. If you wear glasses and have never used a scope before I recommend visiting a shop somewhere to see what you can and can't see through a couple of different scopes or binoculars. There are physical limits to what smaller lenses inside an eyepiece can do, getting some hands on experience with these limits will let you know what to expect out of scopes in general as well as help you find what works for your eyes. If deciding between this scope and a Leica, Swarovski, Zeiss or other top manufacturer, price is the obvious factor. Understand that optics grow exponentially more expensive after a certain point as they begin pushing limits of physics where the precision and materials necessary start becoming insanely difficult to manufacture. The top companies all make amazing optics and have the skill and ability to push those limits. Be sure you buy a scope to fit the job, do you need to see 100 meters or push the limits and see 100 light years, they make all types...for a price. The Vortex Razor HD 20-60x85 exhibits superb craftsmanship and unbeatable warranty. After making my purchase and liking the scope I tried to learn more about the company as I had never head of Vortex before and had made my purchase based on high ratings in reviews. I found Vortex Optics is a DBA (Doing Business As) of Sheltered Wings, Inc. which is listed as a Veteran Owned Business in Wisconsin.

Really for the money this can't be beat for mid-range spotters. It's super clear with either the stock eye piece or the wide angle 23x power optional lens. I like the body that is coated with a textured paint that feels solid with thick rubber inlays for grip. To me this is hardier than the rubberized Pentax method of weatherizing. The 65mm model still retains the adjustable/lockable tripod base whereas the 50mm mini model has a fixed base. This model also allows Vortex eyepieces but the 50mm model won't. Also this one has the pull out sun shade. Focus is nice on both versions. It's made in China but high quality with a great warranty. This is quality though with great colour in all light conditions. I feel this 65mm lens does the work of the major league players but is portable and balanced for actual field use. An 80mm scope is very large by its nature but without amazing optics inside the advantage won't play out. Pay little mind that this one 'only' goes to 48x. 60x is very difficult to manage, and needs optimal conditions to be of any use. Remember the higher the power the less eye relief there is (eyeglass wearers take note). This zoom lens did not give me much grief at full power if that helps.

Ordered 2 scopes, deciding which one to take to Yellowstone: * $550 - Vanguard Endeavor HD 82A angled with 20-60X, and * $1195 - Vortex 20-60x85 Razor HD spotting scope. Both are 60x, 85 mm scopes. Ended up keeping the more expensive Vortex, and returning the Vanguard. 2 issues on Vanguard: * Could not (3 of us tried) get the case on the Vanguard. Could get it over the lower body but could not get the upper section to zip up over the angled part of the scope, even with the eyepiece removed (it would not fit over the scope). Either the case was badly designed, or I was sent a case for a straight scope when what I ordered was an angled scope. This order was fulfilled by Amazon, but the case came in the box with the scope, so it was odd that it did not fit. Did not have time to resolve because I was leaving for a Yellowstone trip and needed to pick only one scope to bring. * Digiscoping - Had wanted to do digiscoping with these with my iphone. On Amazon, found iphone 6 Vortex digiscoping set-up by Phoneskope and got that within 2 days via Amazon Prime. Could not find digiscoping option for Vanguard on Amazon. Later on, realized on the Phoneskope web-site itself, there are all sorts of options (including for Vortex and Vanguard) and various phone models, but only a very few of these Phoneskopes are listed on Amazon, so you don't realize they exist. You would not find the others without going to Phoneskope site. Could not get the Phoneskope model for the Vanguard in time before my trip. These are not interchangeable - depends on the lens size (could not fit the Vortex Phone Scope case on the Vanguard). If I had had more time, both to work out why the Vanguard case wouldn't fit (replacement case?) and to work out an order delivery of a Phone Scope matched to the Vanguard, I may very well have preferred the Vanguard due to price ($550 Vanguard vs. $1195 Vortex). As it was, I was unable to get the set-up in time to compare the 2, and returned the Vanguard and kept the Vortex. With respect to the scopes themselves, I therefore did not try these outside, but only in my apartment, across a 40 ft distance. For that distance, they were visually the same, but that distance is of course not the main use & I did not do longer distance comparison. I preferred the lens cap of Vanguard over Vortex (Vanguard has a snap lens - easier & quicker to place than working the stiff Vortex rubber cover over the 85 mm lens). I preferred the Vortex case over Vanguard (Vortex was padded & actually fit), and I preferred the Vortex coarse/fine adjustment knobs over Vanguard (Vanguard was slightly stiffer to move). However, these scopes were overall very similar (feature-wise), though quite different price-wise. Highly recommend the Phone Scope attachment - had a crowd of people every place I set up the scope in Yellowstone, with many comments both on the set-up (use of iphone) and the quality of the picture (and it was much easier to share views with the phone attached, since it was like looking at a mini-TV screen rather than having everyone duck down to the eye piece). Got some great pics.

Great scope

This scope has very high quality optics, it is well put together and operates smoothly. It easily stands comparison with any "top of the line" spotting scope that typically cost over twice the price. Don't be put off by the fact it's made in China, they have really got their quality sorted. The image is really bright with pin sharp resolution across the whole field of view. Excellent chromatic performance even in low light. No noticeable flair when operating towards a low winter sun even without the lens shield extended. The mounting ring is good and solid and is well balanced on my tripod. It comes with a soft case that's easy to fit and can be left on in use. The eye relief is good for me, I think a soft rubber cup could be a useful addition for spectacle wearers - I'm not sure if that is available Save yourself £1000 and check out this scope, you won't be disappointed.

nachdem ich schon die Swarowski ATS 65-20-60x hatte bin ich doch richtung Vortex gegangen, super bild, 85mm also besser für Digiscoping, Swarowski verkauft aber habe es nie bereut, vielleicht etwas schwerer aber das stört nicht, preis leistung geht nicht besser

Superb optics at a great price - the best value for money high-end optics you can buy. This scope is extremely well built and feels very sturdy. It comes with a case which is a bonus, but this is not of the highest quality and the scope is somewhat difficult to use with the case attached. The only real downside is that the lens and eyepiece caps do not have tethers, moreover, there are no convenient places on the body of the scope to attach tethers. Overall highly recommended.

Well made, glad I bought it, very clear close up and at full zoom.