New Vortex Viper HD 11-33x50 Spotter

[csrichardson97]

What do we think? New Vortex Viper HD Mini 11-33x50 being released. Dual focus, 27 oz. Kind of hits that middle market between the crossfire and razor mini's. Price point is $850 on Vortex website, I would anticipate 500-600 on Cabelas/Bass Pro... I would still be tempted to opt for the higher end Razor mini (when on sale) instead.

 

[Brusso89]

Why couldn't they put that dual focus on the new mini razors

 

[BroccoliRob]

Why couldn't they put that dual focus on the new mini razors

100% agree - I briefly tested the new mini Razor, and by far the biggest drawback was the stiff & finicky focus wheel on the body (combined with a very shallow depth of field). Image quality otherwise was great, the addition of dual focus knobs would've made it incredibly hard-to-beat in the 50mm class especially for the price.

If the glass quality on this new Viper is comparable to Razor then I'd still be interested in giving it a try, looking forward to some reviews.

 

[ChrisAU]

The price difference between it and the 13-39x56 Razor doesn't really make sense IMO.

 

[CFMT]

I just picked up the viper. It seems to be a gen 1 Razor for all intents and purposes. I haven’t gotten to compare it with the razor in low light scenarios. I did compare them mid day, I found them both to resolve equally. I spent some time with the viper in the evening hours on its own. The viper darkens up at 30x plus. Missing out on some magnification, but I love my 12x Binos on a tripod, so the spotter is just there to check legality/see if I want to lace up and head after something. 98% binos/2% time behind a spotter. With a scheels gift card I didn’t see the need to spend the extra 500 bucks. If you spend the extra cash for the razor, why not save a little more and grab a Kowa, if you have cash for the Kowa…. Etc. I do prefer the dual focus knob myself.

TLDR: I wanted to not like it and liked it quite a bit. I wouldn’t shy away unless you are vortex phobic.

 

[Ferrulewax]

Anyone compared the viper 11-33 to the maven CS1? It would be interesting to know what the best low price lightweight spotter is.

 

[nagibson1]

The Razor version is $649 at Sierra right now. I used one on my last hunt and I was real happy with it. A lot lighter than my 65 objective viper.
I agree that the focus knob is the worst feature. I definitely preferred the index finger knobs on my nikon- they were much better at getting accurate focus and not moving the scope. However, the borrowed unit fit my needs, and I was able to spot up some stuff my 10x UHD's couldn't get at or identify.