New Vortex Razor HD 13-39x56 Spotters

[4th_point]

On the road to our hunt area today my buddy and I stopped for about a half hour to glass with the Gen 1 Razor 50, Maven CS.1, and the new Gen 2 Razor 56.

We both agreed that the Gen 1 Razor 50 resolved better, was easier to focus, and caused less eye strain. It also resolved better than the Maven CS.1, and we were hard-pressed to pick a winner as the Maven went to 45x and the Razor 50 stopped at 33x which tilts the favor one way or another depending on the situation.

My buddy was more adamant than I was about the two Razor spotters, saying that the Gen 1 was noticeably better in resolution, slightly but obviously better in CA, and better in edge-to-edge clarity than the Gen 2 Razor. We agreed equally about the eye fatigue, felt like your eyeball was being sucked out of your head within about ten minutes (that came out a bit more harsh than I meant it to; it was more something discomfiting than painful).

Sorry I couldn’t spend more time with it, we’re hiking in about six hrs from now so I’m off to bed! Hope that little test helps someone.

Thanks for the post, with comparison to the 50mm Razor and Maven.

There have been fairly credible reports of really good 50mm Razors. I would not be surprised if one would out resolve the 56mm Razor.

I don't have much experience with the 50mm Razor but when it came out it was considered the ED50-killer scope. Then it sort of faded away, and people went back to claiming that the ED50 was/is the best compact.

I have not posted this yet, but while I was trying the 56mm Razor I was thinking that an ED50 at ~40x would easily out resolve the 56mm Razor. The Razor would definitely win for a more usable eyepiece though.

I have a couple of ED50 and may try to compare to a different 56mm Razor. The scope I tried might have been a poor sample.

 

[Hurley88]

Interesting point, and it got me thinking about comparisons I’ve done in the past. I’ve compared this Razor 50 to a Kowa 55 and come away wondering why anyone would spend that kind of money for such a marginal gain.

Went out this morning bc curiosity got the better of me. I put the Razor 50 against two of the Gen 1 Razor 65 scopes, one Razor 85 (also 1st Gen), the Maven CS.1, and the Swaro STC.

If there really is such variance in quality between the Vortex spotters I wanted to have multiple Razors to compare. Well…yeah I guess there is. The little 50 definitely resolved better than the 85, it equaled one of the 65s, and beat the other 65.

Then I moved to the Swaro STC & the Maven. It was a toss-up between the Razor 50 and the STC. For resolution testing I used a warning sign at about 740yds. The Swaro STC resolved the letters to a greater degree than the Maven, but it was difficult to keep the edges crisp with either of them. As though your one eye was slightly being crossed. I have my own theory about this, as I’ve noticed this with wide angle vs standard eyepieces, but be that as it may I can’t say (without using a resolution chart) that the STC outperformed the Razor 50. The image brought by the little Razor was of equal clarity/resolution but never showed the edge blending that the other two did.

I’m no expert, so any thoughts/comments/interpretations are welcome. I will say that the Swaro STC is easily the best of the compact spotters. Top tier resolution, wide FOV, small size, etc. But personally I would buy the ATS 65 for that money. At the least, I like my little Razor 50 more now lol. Would still pick the Maven as the one that gets packed in though.

 

[4th_point]

Thanks for the info. It sounds like you have a really good sample of the Razor 50mm. I've heard of others but have not seen one myself. The one or two that I tried were unremarkable. I'd keep that 50mm!

I still haven't tried the STC. The magnification is too low for my needs especially at that price.

Regarding the fuzzy edges, were the lighting conditions close to being the same when you compared the three scopes?

 

[Hurley88]

Oh

Thanks for the info. It sounds like you have a really good sample of the Razor 50mm. I've heard of others but have not seen one myself. The one or two that I tried were unremarkable. I'd keep that 50mm!

I still haven't tried the STC. The magnification is too low for my needs especially at that price.

Regarding the fuzzy edges, were the lighting conditions close to being the same when you compared the three scopes?

Yessir, they were right next to each other. Same exact time. I can’t put my finger on it exactly, and would never have noticed it if I weren’t testing so many scopes right next to each other, but I’ve been seeing something slightly downgraded in the image with wide angle eyepieces. Except for the Kowa TE-11WZ. That one is like a standard eyepiece just with…more. The best way to describe it is that the edge of the black letters on the sign seemed to want to “multiply” versus the standard eyepiece. But the flecks of paint and small amounts of wear in the letters themselves were more discernible with the STC versus the Razor 50. I could get the edges to stay crisp with more strain on the eye, but with the Razor they were just crisp the whole time.

Maybe I’m crazy. But it seems that your eye strains more to get the same level of detail that you get with ease when using a standard eyepiece. Ever hear of this? Or am I just an anomaly.

I’ve tested the Swaro ATS 65 & 80 with both eyepieces, the Meopta S2 with both eyepieces, The Maven S1.A, all Vortex Razors, Zeiss Gavia, Kowa 55, and many others. I’m just wondering what this is that I’m noticing. It’s very slight but it’s there. Like something was given up in order to achieve the wide angle view. Again very slight.

 

[4th_point]

Yessir, they were right next to each other. Same exact time. I can’t put my finger on it exactly, and would never have noticed it if I weren’t testing so many scopes right next to each other, but I’ve been seeing something slightly downgraded in the image with wide angle eyepieces. Except for the Kowa TE-11WZ. That one is like a standard eyepiece just with…more.

Maybe I’m crazy. But it seems that your eye strains more to get the same level of detail that you get with ease when using a standard eyepiece. Ever hear of this? Or am I just an anomaly.

That's very interesting. Thanks for the extra details.

Do you see the same problem, with wide angle EPs, using your other eyeball? Has an optometrist ever pointed out anything special about your eyes?

Although not the same, I can see what I call a hotspot in some scopes but they are generally older narrow angle EPs. Cheap or poorly corrected scopes really stand out, but some really good scopes do too but I can deal with those with a work around. I have a theory but need to ask an optometrist. I don't see it with my other eyeball either, nor do other people that I ask to look into the scope.

Weird stuff, right?! I think it has contributed to my fascination with optical devices.

 

[Hurley88]

That’s pretty interesting actually. No, I’ve never tried using my other eye. I can close/open my left eye as little or as much as I want without any tension in my face so using a spotter isn’t an issue at all. I’ve watched animals for up to three hours at a time through a spotter with no fatigue. But using my off eye instantly scrunches my face. So, I’ve never thought to try it. But I will now!

As far as an optometrist, nothing of note. I did have PRK done about 14yrs back so maybe that contributes. Like you I’m fascinated. The last couple of years I’ve tried a ton of spotters & binos. Started as an effort to find that point where price spikes and you get into diminishing returns, but now it has turned into something else entirely. I get to see some pretty interesting results from my testing.

For instance I’ve seen the Zeiss Gavia spot deer in the last 30min of light way more easily than both the Meopta S2 and Kowa 88. Probably bc the CA was so bad that they looked radioactive, but there it was. You could see them with all three but the view was more akin to what you’d see with your naked eyes using the the Meopta or Kowa; meaning the deer were muted and meshed well into the background. But with the Gavia you could easily count how many deer were in the field. And I think that scope is atrocious in most lighting conditions when compared to others in its price bracket. I’ve seen the Maven S1A resolve the ridges on a green 50-gallon drum under tree canopy noticeably better than the Meopta S2, Kowa 88, or Swaro ATS in the 30min after sunset. Three different nights. Which is a heck of an impressive thing. But in all other lighting conditions the others were better.

And that’s just a couple of unexpected instances, to say nothing of the form factor and differences between each scope that cause you to like or dislike them irrespective of optical quality. So yeah I’ve become fascinated. I’ll test out your idea of using the other eye and get back to you.