I bought a diamondback spotter, did i mess up?

[Treeratslayer]

For binoculars and spotting scopes - After years of wasting money and time - wondering why people could see things I never did - I came upon the conclusion if it doesn’t say Swarovski or Leica - I am not allowed to buy them -
My wife told me that is the rule… I gave away one of those vortex spotters this deer season to a new guy so he didn’t waste his money . I have vortex and Steiner binoculars that will be given away also.

As great as that is in theory, not all of us can afford multi thousand dollar products that sit on a self 11 out of 12 months. The same goes for cars. Sure, a Bentley rides like a cloud, but I don’t see one in my driveway anytime soon.


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[TheHammer]

I have the diamondback mentioned. I use it at the 600yd rifle range, works great for that. I also use it to look out the front window at deer. Pictured is my 11-33 on the mentioned tripod. I enjoyed this combo this fall, had 13 days with it on my elk hunt and I turned up a ton of elk daily with this combo. Knowing it’s middle of the road equipment, I have no experience with high dollar heads or tripods and can’t say anything bad in my experience with this combination. That being said, personally I would not lug around anything much heavier.

 

[Ultracarry]

As great as that is in theory, not all of us can afford multi thousand dollar products that sit on a self 11 out of 12 months. The same goes for cars. Sure, a Bentley rides like a cloud, but I don’t see one in my driveway anytime soon.


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I mean - some people have car payments, some people go out to dinner, some people east fast food - then some people only want to go hunting to look for things they may or may not see -
I’ll drive an older Toyota, have renters pay my mortgages, free up my time so I can spend august - February hunting and use my gear. Lower your overhead and 2500-4000 is nothing compared to what you end up saving.

 

[Yukon Cornelius]

Honestly if I remember the deal correctly, it is good enough to sell the scope and end up with a cheap carbon tripod. I have that tripod with a VA5 head and it’s great even with the weight of my Kowa 77.


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That tripod is about $300? That’s not a bad idea.

 

[Treeratslayer]

I have the diamondback mentioned. I use it at the 600yd rifle range, works great for that. I also use it to look out the front window at deer. Pictured is my 11-33 on the mentioned tripod. I enjoyed this combo this fall, had 13 days with it on my elk hunt and I turned up a ton of elk daily with this combo. Knowing it’s middle of the road equipment, I have no experience with high dollar heads or tripods and can’t say anything bad in my experience with this combination. That being said, personally I would not lug around anything much heavier.

It’s not a bad tripod by any means, it’s just my sirui is solid and already paid for, so didn’t make sense to keep the carbon. If I didn’t have one, it would be a heck of a setup. However, I really suggest you get a fluid head, it’ll change your life. My buddy used mine for about 2 minutes and was on his phone looking for one.

So you’re a fan of the 11-33? A lot of articles I read put it equal or even slightly ahead of the Nikon 50. It’s really gaining popularity in the bird communities, and they seem to be the snobs of glass, even compared to some hunters lol


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[JRay]

So let me add a new layer to this. Part of the reason I’m looking for a new one, is I’m a bit of an ounce counter. Originally I was looking for a compact until I found this deal and couldn’t pass it up. Now that I’m sending it back, I’m back on the size/weight game.

I found several vortex razor 11-33x50s for close to my price range on here used.

Good move? Bad move? Someone sell me one way or the other lol


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This pic is through my 11-33 razor at a mile. I was hand holding my phone as I forgot the adapter. Sept 13, 4:30pm, south facing and overcast.

Out to 1.5mi or so in the described conditions, it sufficed for determining if we wanted to go after an animal or not

 

[Treeratslayer]

This pic is through my 11-33 razor at a mile. I was hand holding my phone as I forgot the adapter. Sept 13, 4:30pm, south facing and overcast.

Out to 1.5mi or so in the described conditions, it sufficed for determining if we wanted to go after an animal or not View attachment 636176

That’s solid for such a small spotter.


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[TheHammer]

It’s not a bad tripod by any means, it’s just my sirui is solid and already paid for, so didn’t make sense to keep the carbon. If I didn’t have one, it would be a heck of a setup. However, I really suggest you get a fluid head, it’ll change your life. My buddy used mine for about 2 minutes and was on his phone looking for one.

So you’re a fan of the 11-33? A lot of articles I read put it equal or even slightly ahead of the Nikon 50. It’s really gaining popularity in the bird communities, and they seem to be the snobs of glass, even compared to some hunters lol


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Yeah it’s not perfect but I’ll be hard pressed to get rid of it. The new 13-39 is supposedly superior in about everyway and is highly regarded. Haven’t got behind one of them yet, I’d like to get one next to the 11-33. I was pretty happy with it, especially when packing it up. Swift and easy.

 

[Marshfly]

Another scope that people seem to love for the price is the Kowa 601. Not much more weight than the Vortex or Nikon 50mm.

 

[4th_point]

So you’re a fan of the 11-33? A lot of articles I read put it equal or even slightly ahead of the Nikon 50. It’s really gaining popularity in the bird communities, and they seem to be the snobs of glass, even compared to some hunters lol

The ED50 has 40x capability, which is very usable for my needs. Out to a mile, I don't feel the need to use my bigger scopes. The fixed 27x is really good too. The bigger scopes are more enjoyable to use though, especially viewing past a mile or so.

When the 50mm Razor came out, some considered it better than the ED50, but I don't hear too much about that anymore.

I have tried a few 50mm Razors and none were very sharp. Not even close to a good ED50. But there seems to be some really good samples of the Razor around, based on feedback from others. I know that there's a member or two here that seem to have good ones.

If I found a good sample of the Razor, and was OK with only 33x, I would keep it and use it! With "only" 33x, it might be hard to quickly determine if it's a good sample though. Optical problems are more easily noticed at higher magnification. You would need time to run through a series of tests.

The downside to the ED50 is related to the light duty build. There were problems with the mounting foot threads, and some scopes separating at the seam. Some of the original Razors separated too, but I think those were the larger models.

An EDIII is another scope that you may want to consider. You'd have 60x capability with the MCII zoom. They tend to be well corrected. I've owned a few of those as well as the ED50.

 

[Marshfly]

You don't hear much about the ED50 anymore because it's not imported if I'm not mistaken. I bought mine grey market from a Japanese eBay seller. Shipping was faster than had it come from the east coast. My kids got a kick about the tracking showing it arriving in America "before" it left Japan.

The ED 50 is shockingly clear. My other main use optics are EL10x42s and the Kowa 77 so I'm no stranger to high end glass.

I have both the MC2 eyepiece and the straight 27x. It wears the straight 27x almost 100% of the time.

 

[4th_point]

You can still buy an ED50 from places like B&H, but eBay and other sources have better prices.

I would just get one with the updated foot/thread insert.

 

[Marshfly]

The BH packaged ED50 comes with a far inferior eyepiece to either the MC2 or the 27x. I would not buy that setup.

This all reminds me how much of a pain in the butt choosing a quality spotter on a budget was when I did this last spring for the 50.


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[PredatorSlayer]

The new diamondback hd spotters are actually not that bad. Pretty comparable to the gen 1 viper spotter. I would check it out before you dump it and move on to something else.

 

[4th_point]

The BH packaged ED50 comes with a far inferior eyepiece to either the MC2 or the 27x. I would not buy that setup.

No argument on the 13-30x eyepiece!
It sucks but the scope is still imported. I bought my last one dirt cheap but since it's grey market I don't think it would get warranty service by Nikon USA.

 

[Marshfly]

No argument on the 13-30x eyepiece!
It sucks but the scope is still imported. I bought my last one dirt cheap but since it's grey market I don't think it would get warranty service by Nikon USA.

Yeah. I don’t think warranty is a thing for us. I tell everyone I hunt with to be fricking careful with it if I have it with us.


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[Treeratslayer]

Yeah. I don’t think warranty is a thing for us. I tell everyone I hunt with to be fricking careful with it if I have it with us.


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I picked up a razor on a good deal in the classified for this reason. I’m sure the Nikon is nice, but it’s hard to pass up that vortex warranty. Crap happens in the back country.

It seems like the 11-33 is being done away with anyway, so worse case it breaks and they send you the newer and better replacement. Nikon breaks, you’re screwed lol


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[4th_point]

Good deal. Let us know how you like the Razor 50mm. I tried the new 56mm and it wasn't very good.

I think I paid $200 for the last ED50, so not too worried about warranty.

 

[Marshfly]

Good deal. Let us know how you like the Razor 50mm. I tried the new 56mm and it wasn't very good.

I think I paid $200 for the last ED50, so not too worried about warranty.

Yeah the bodies are cheap. I don't care about $200 or $250 for appreciably higher quality glass.

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

As great as that is in theory, not all of us can afford multi thousand dollar products that sit on a self 11 out of 12 months. The same goes for cars. Sure, a Bentley rides like a cloud, but I don’t see one in my driveway anytime soon.


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True but folks tend to piss away multiples of the one time purchase cost of a quality optic with incremental upgrades.

Not saying you personally, but many folks on this site have a large fortune spent on firearms and scopes but are miserly when it comes to optics purchases.