CA in Razor HD 12x50

[Browninglover1]

I just picked up a new pair of Razor HD 12x50's and took them out to look for deer in the snow yesterday and was shocked at the amount of CA I was seeing. With any white background (snow or the clouds if I was looking at the horizon) I was getting lots of CA when looking at sage brush, cedar trees and pine trees. There was a noticeable yellow hue where the edges of green would meet the white. This happened across the entire FOV not just at the edges. By comparison we had an original set of 8x32 EL's and a Minox 15x56 with us and neither of these two binos exhibited this phenomenon. Is this something that is common in this configuration of the Razor line, or should I be sending them back in to have Vortex warranty them?

 

[Shrek]

The nature of the beast. I've never been very impressed with the Razors. Mid range Asian glass is all it is backed with a great warranty. If you are sensitive to CA then they will not make you happy.

 

[Browninglover1]

I never felt I was sensitive to it till I looked through these. I am a little bummed I got rid of my Kaibabs for these at this point.

 

[Shrek]

Return them and get something better.

 

[Browninglover1]

I've got some 8x32 ELs and wanted a 12x bino for glassing up rock chucks. I doubt I can find anything better in that price range without going up to a price range I can't currently justify. I wish I had the coin for some 12x50 ELs-they're simply beautiful.

 

[AGPank]

It may be worth reading up on the Meostar 12x50 HD. The 10x42 control ca very well, maybe it's another option in the price range.

 

[WRO]

The meostars are heads and shoulders optically above the razors, or buy a set of used alpha glass.

 

[Browninglover1]

When I compared the 12x50 meoptas in the store against the Razors the Meoptas really lacked in resolution. I know you can't get everything you want in the $1k price range but I am dumbfounded how bad these are compared to what I'm used to. Maybe I just got an especially bad sample of the Meoptas when I was in Cabela's. Conversely maybe this is a terrible sample of Razors.

 

[69ChrisCraft01]

The disappointment in the Razors doesn't surprise me....frankly, the fact you liked the Kaibabs does. I haven't looked through Kaibabs myself but the consensus on CouesWhitetail is that the Kaibabs are not on par with the Meopta or Zeiss offering.

My buddy picked up the 12x50 ELs last week on sale for $1999 then returned them today for the 12x50 razors.....I want to kick him in the teeth.

 

[Browninglover1]

I ran my Kaibabs side by side to the original Swaros one morning and there was very little difference to either of us that were looking through them. I peaked through a new pair of the Swaro HDs and they're a whole new animal!

The one Conquest HD I was able to handle inside a store appeared like it would be better than my Kaibabs but never got a chance to give it a good test. Frankly I love my Meopta spotter but the 12x50 and the 15x56 HDs I looked through at cabela's were both very dissapointing. I walked in prepared to buy the Meopta but left feeling the razors were noticeably better; both guys running the optics counter agreed even though they both thought I should buy the Meopta.

I might just keep my 8x EL's and my S2 sporter and get rid of my desire to own higher powered binos.

 

[5MilesBack]

Frankly I love my Meopta spotter but the 12x50 and the 15x56 HDs I looked through at cabela's were both very dissapointing.

I have the Meopta Meostar 15x56's and they are fantastic. Not sure if the Cabela's branded ones are identical in optical quality or not, but the Meopta branded ones are great.

 

[Shrek]

I spent a little time behind some 12x50 EL's looking at elk at 1500-2000 yards and they're fantastic binoculars but I felt they left me in a no mans land. Just enough to tell they were branch antlered elk but not enough to really compare them. There were seven or eight bulls we were looking at and in the end we went back and got the spotter. It cured me of wanting to try and rely on 12's or 15's. I'll take my 8-10'sx42 and a spotter and know I've got it covered.

 

[5MilesBack]

I spent a little time behind some 12x50 EL's looking at elk at 1500-2000 yards and they're fantastic binoculars but I felt they left me in a no mans land. Just enough to tell they were branch antlered elk but not enough to really compare them. There were seven or eight bulls we were looking at and in the end we went back and got the spotter. It cured me of wanting to try and rely on 12's or 15's. I'll take my 8-10'sx42 and a spotter and know I've got it covered.

Even when I'm trophy hunting, I don't carry a spotter for elk hunting. If I see 7 or 8 branch-antlered bulls through the bino's, I'm going after them. Then make a determination when I get closer.

 

[Shrek]

We were long range hunting. See the 1583 yard thread about Ryan's bull in the long range hunting section.

 

[Browninglover1]

I used the 15x Kaibab exclusively for years and when I finally was able to buy a good spotter they stayed home on my big game hunts. However, on long range varmints the 12-15x binos are awesome for glassing them up instead of using a spotter all day. The big binos also are incredible when you're sitting on your butt trying to glass up big bucks bedded down across the canyon. Even at distances as close as 500 yards I was blown away how many more bedded animals I glassed up with my 15x over my 10x.

 

[5MilesBack]

We were long range hunting. See the 1583 yard thread about Ryan's bull in the long range hunting section.

Everybody has their own ways, but I'd still go after them. Chasing them down is half the fun.

 

[Shrek]

The question that comes to mind is how many more bucks would you find by sitting on your butt and meticulously taking apart the canyon with your spotter on 30x vs your 15x binoculars ?

 

[WRO]

The question that comes to mind is how many more bucks would you find by sitting on your butt and meticulously taking apart the canyon with your spotter on 30x vs your 15x binoculars ?

I'm not the best glasser, but I use 8s first, 12s second, and then finish up the grind with the spotter. I personally think the 12s are good to a mile or darned close.

 

[luke moffat]

I'm not the best glasser, but I use 8s first, 12s second, and then finish up the grind with the spotter. I personally think the 12s are good to a mile or darned close.

Agreed 100%. But I am not as experienced as many here and more content with my "cheapo" Razor 12X50s than my Mid 2000s 10X42 Swaro SLCs and 2010 ELs and Zeiss Victories. And I bring a spotter depending on the species and goal of the hunt these days. Some hunts require a spotter others don't and most of that comes down to determining legality of the animal more so than "trophy quality" so I am easier to please than most I guess.

 

[Browninglover1]

I can glass way longer sitting down with my 15x than I can looking through my spotter. This year I hunted with 8x30 SLCs and my spotter and never missed the 15x due to the style hunting I was doing. In years past I would have been real sad to not have my 15's.

I'll hopefully find another sample of 12x50 Razors to compare mine against. I truly don't think mine are up to snuff to normal Razor standards. I didn't expect Swaro quality when I bought them but I also didn't expect quality lower than a $500 set of binos either.