Alpha glass vs Razors......

[TexaninSconny]

That story would’ve been a lot better if your brother made that shot, haha.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[chasewild]

Timely thread.

I have Vortex Razor HD 10x42's from 2011 (first gen model). They are "fine" but nothing amazing. The first generation razors were made in china correct?

 

[nobody]

Timely thread.

I have Vortex Razor HD 10x42's from 2011 (first gen model). They are "fine" but nothing amazing. The first generation razors were made in china correct?

They were originally made in Japan, now made in China.

 

[Boonie327]

I agree.

allbinos ranks them right with the slc, Ultravids and ahead of a bunch of others.

robby from this site has done quite a few comparisons on video with vortex vipers and Kiababs and they are always right there. And the razor glass is better. S and S ranked the slc better but it damn close especially with the uhd.

razors are dang good, with a company that is all about customer service. I look forward to putting the 10x42 Ultravid through the paces and see how close they are. I’m guessing I will like the Leica glass quite a bit. But I’m pretty dang happy with razors

So I guess you didn’t like the Leica as well as you hoped? I was interested in your opinion and saw you have a pair for sale.

 

[atHomeintheWoods]

Also interested to hear your comparison !


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[golfbum]

So I guess you didn’t like the Leica as well as you hoped? I was interested in your opinion and saw you have a pair for sale.

I haven’t had a good chance to compare yet.

First glance they are pretty good. Ergos I’m still a fan of the razors more.

haven’t been able to put them on a tripod as I have run the outdoorsman with my razors and had to get a plate adapter for the Ultravids, it will be here today or Monday. I will do a good comparison next week.

at first glance, for the price difference, I’m okay keeping the razors. The Leica’s are brighter at last light but without putting them on a tripod my eyes don’t see much difference

 

[sektr]

I bought some Razor UHD 10x42s that are still new and unopened. In reading up on things I’m leaning towards moving them instead and getting some Maven B2 9x45s and B3 8x30s. Mostly whitetail hunting in WI, but hope to get out West to hunt soon, too. This will be my first foray in to any type of serious glass. I honestly could afford to drop the coin for some upper echelon glass, but I feel better about starting a little lower so I can appreciate the journey into something better, haha.
Do you recommend two sets for different situation, or starting with something top line in the typical 8x42 or 10x42?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

You’d be fine with just one pair particularly if mostly out east. Eastern guy here as well, I went from the B3 8x30 to B1 10x42 and finally have settled in at a B1 8x42. 10x was too much mag for me both out east and in terms of stability. I’d probably take an 8x out west even though.

Loved my B3 but had some issues with glare and eye placement. B1 corrected those problems and made for a more comfortable view.

If you don’t think the B2 9x45 is going to be too large for your preference, I’d grab that and run with it. There’s nothing you’ll see with a 10x you won’t with a 9x and they are phenomenal binos. I only got the B1 because I don’t like the AK prism form factor.

 

[RealtreeJB]

I noticed the same thing when I compared...the Alpha glass is much better at low light compared to the Razors.

 

[golfbum]

So after comparing the two, I think I’m going to keep the Leica’s. They are super sharp and handle glare better for sure. They are also a little brighter in low light.

With all that said, they are closer then they should be IMO. Retail the Ultravids are just over 1k more and the razors are easily 90-95% of the Leica’s to my eyes. I could use the razors as my only bino and be completely happy. Luckily I made a good buy on the Leica’s and I love to change gear (especially optics) so for now I’m going to move the razors and use the Leica’s for a while.

I still stand by my comment that alpha glass does not blow razors out of the water, but I do agree the Leica’s are better.

 

[golfbum]

Bumping this back to the top with another comparison.

for the last 5 months or so I have been using and enjoying some Zeiss SF binos and Gavia spotter. The optics itch got me thinking again so I bought another pair of China razors and and razor Gen 2 65mm spotter. I just got done comparing them. My thoughts are if I didn’t own the Zeiss, I would 100% buy the razors. While I do think the Zeiss are better they are not worth the extra $ to my eyes. Center resolution, I couldn’t tell a difference. The Zeiss bested the razors on the edge to edge clarity and were maybe 2-3 min brighter right at dark. This was done from a tripod. The spotter was again right there with the midrange Gavia especially being 65 vs 85.

while I am keeping the Zeiss, man the razors fit my eyes…..

my conclusion is if you own mid range to upper end sub alpha glass, I don’t think the investment is worth it!

I am certain I would not miss a single animal with the razors that I would see with the Zeiss SF.

I know people will disagree with me, but I have now compared the vortex to almost every alpha bino except the Nl’s and I’m a razor fan.

flame suit ready….

 

[scott_co]

Bumping this back to the top with another comparison.

for the last 5 months or so I have been using and enjoying some Zeiss SF binos and Gavia spotter. The optics itch got me thinking again so I bought another pair of China razors and and razor Gen 2 65mm spotter. I just got done comparing them. My thoughts are if I didn’t own the Zeiss, I would 100% buy the razors. While I do think the Zeiss are better they are not worth the extra $ to my eyes. Center resolution, I couldn’t tell a difference. The Zeiss bested the razors on the edge to edge clarity and were maybe 2-3 min brighter right at dark. This was done from a tripod. The spotter was again right there with the midrange Gavia especially being 65 vs 85.

while I am keeping the Zeiss, man the razors fit my eyes…..

my conclusion is if you own mid range to upper end sub alpha glass, I don’t think the investment is worth it!

I am certain I would not miss a single animal with the razors that I would see with the Zeiss SF.

I know people will disagree with me, but I have now compared the vortex to almost every alpha bino except the Nl’s and I’m a razor fan.

flame suit ready….

I have been using 10x42 Razor HD's for several years, and I had the urge to upgrade this year to Swaro NL Pure 12x42. The Razors are good in bright sunshine, but the NL's really shine in lower light.

 

[Gatorgrizz27]

I have never owned or used a Vortex product in the field. Where I feel they do well is in the “value for $” lines like the $200 Diamondbacks or $500 Viper HD’s.

Once you get to the $1,000 range I cannot fathom why someone would choose Razors over Zeiss Conquests, Leica Trinovids, Meopta Meostars, etc.

Even if most people agreed that the glass was identical, the build quality, durability, and resale value are almost assuredly going to be lower.

 

[JeffRaines]

In my testing vs. the SLCs I wouldn’t say the Vortex Razors were blurry, but the difference was apparent and skewed towards the SLCs.

How I described it at the time was that the Razors were like looking through a really nice pair of binoculars, and the SLCs were like actually being there.

 

[bmanb940]

One of the guys on our lease has the Razor's and thought they were the cats' ass until he checked out my Meopta MeoStar B1 Plus 8xx42 bino. There is a definite difference in the low light visibility and the image is more clear on the B1 Plus binos. That is not just my biased opinion but 3 other guys we hunt with too.

 

[Redwing]

man the razors fit my eyes…..

That statement is the key takeaway from this entire thread. They fit YOUR eyes, and that is excellent. This may not be unlike boot fit, or shotgun fit. They work best for you, they fit YOU well! Be grateful that the best pair of binos for you are less expensive than others.

After hunting with a handful of different binos over the last few years I settled on a certain pair. They are "alpha glass". Compared to any generation of Razor I've ever used, the pair I settled on are much easier for me to look through for long periods, they work better with my eyes in low light, they provide better color, they are clearer edge to edge, and they don't require me to ride the focus wheel constantly. That's what works for ME.

I don't know if it's fair to lay down blanket statements like "...'alpha glass' isn't worth it...". For some people, it is. For some people, it's not.

 

[ZackP]

I was a fan of the Razor bino’s until I looked through some HG Monarch’s. It’s been a never ending rabbit hole since then. Same can be said for the Kaibab. Loved them, then decided to try the Meopta and SLC. It ruined the Kaibab’s for me.

I do feel the UHD fits a niche though, besides the size, the glass in my opinion, is phenomenal.

As far as range finders go though? The Razor 4000 has suited me best, even with the 2 Leica’s i tried to replace it with. The Razor 4000 is just flat out my favorite

 

[golfbum]

That statement is the key takeaway from this entire thread. They fit YOUR eyes, and that is excellent. This may not be unlike boot fit, or shotgun fit. They work best for you, they fit YOU well! Be grateful that the best pair of binos for you are less expensive than others.

After hunting with a handful of different binos over the last few years I settled on a certain pair. They are "alpha glass". Compared to any generation of Razor I've ever used, the pair I settled on are much easier for me to look through for long periods, they work better with my eyes in low light, they provide better color, they are clearer edge to edge, and they don't require me to ride the focus wheel constantly. That's what works for ME.

I don't know if it's fair to lay down blanket statements like "...'alpha glass' isn't worth it...". For some people, it is. For some people, it's not.

I agree, use what works for YOU.

you missed the part of my statement in the above quote of I don’t think alpha glass is worth it. I’m not saying some won’t think that extra 5-10% is worth it.

to my eyes, the fact is, glass in the 1k price point seems to be the perfect balance of great glass and saving a ton of cash.

just ordered a set of conquest HD’s to compare so will be excited to see how they compare to the SF’s and razors

also on a side note, it’s crazy how both Zeiss and Leica can be so far behind in their service. Recently I needed an eyecup for a pair of Zeiss I own (year old and under the 5 year no fault warranty, plus has a lifetime warranty against defects). They wanted to charge me $25 dollars which they ended up waiving after asking them why it was not covered, and it took almost 6 weeks to get. I had to call/email several times before finally getting someone that assured me they would get it out (which they did). I was told it would be to me in 3-4 days by the First Lady…….

I almost bought some noctovids that were new but not from a dealer, I called and checked the serial and find out what was needed to get them registered for the lifetime warranty (not the 10 year no fault as I knew that would not apply) and was told because they had not been registered by the owner they would have zero warranty and to not buy them. Unreal to me that a top end manufacturer won’t stand behind their warranty and glass. They even confirmed it was bought from a Leica dealer but because someone didn’t fill out the registration the binos would not be covered……

I know Swarovski is amazing!

 

[Wrench]

I handed my pard my 8x42 noctovid to compare against his 12x vortex.....he was stunned. At 8x and in good light, cheap glass can shine. Change the above and it takes bucks to be considered alpha.

 

[Fins_N_Tines]

I would definitely checkout the Kowa Genesis 10.4x44 before making decision. I just used them on last couple hunts and thought they didn't give up much to the EL's. Now they are closer to SLC's as for as they don't have field flattening, but I used EL's last year. Only bino I would upgrade from Kowa Genesis would be NL Pure.

They flat out are amazing optically.

 

[Matt G.]

I cannot believe the kowa has a tripod mount on 32mm but not on the bigger 44...I think this steered me away.

Sent from my SM-G981U using Tapatalk