The new Vortex Razor HD 13-39x56mm, The Mini Razor

[4090Sharps]

This sample did not come to sharp focus at 39x though, and resolution was not great compared to a 60mm I had on hand.

FWIW, I’ve found it a bit finicky to get focused in just right. There’s a VERY narrow window.

 

[Bump79]

I'd like to see this compared to the Hawke Endurance

 

[GambelOak]

I picked one up because it was in my price range and the right weight. It had to be better than the heavy hand me down Simms, and it was. It is a great upgrade for me and I'm not going to try and compare because it isn't a comparison. I'll focus on what I would like to see different. My wish right away would be that the magnification and focus knobs would be a little smoother. Easier to turn. The reason why is that it is paired with a light Sirui tripod with pan head and every time I need to mess with the focus or magnification settings things move more than I would like. This could be inexperience with scopes. Maybe it is me needing a more comfortable position while spotting. Don't take this as nit picking, it is a great upgrade for me. It's the small things, just a little smoother magnification and focus settings would greatly improve my comfort while spotting.

 

[kanetownclown]

Tag

 

[4th_point]

FWIW, I’ve found it a bit finicky to get focused in just right. There’s a VERY narrow window.

Yep, we're on the same page regarding the focus difficulty. I just think about it a little differently, but we are experiencing the same thing.

To me it has a wide window, with no distinct point of best focus. The reason is either due to the design or assembly quality, and the end result is degraded resolution.

A dual speed or fine focus knob, that many seem to love, would not help. It's not a matter of the mechanism, but the optics.

The one that I tried might be a bad sample out of a population of better units. But... we know that there are at least two duds out there now! Maybe it was a defective run that escaped the US facility? Or it simply meets Vortex's quality standards and they expect consumers to not know any better and simply accept it.

Overall, it's a decent scope. And it might be worth having for some people. I value high levels of resolution, and if an optic can't deliver, especially at $999, then I move on. There's no amount of good FOV, color, contrast, etc. that make up for poor resolution.

Others may see it differently, so take my opinion with some salt!

 

[4th_point]

I'll focus on what I would like to see different. My wish right away would be that the magnification and focus knobs would be a little smoother. Easier to turn.

Have you tried exercising the focus? I mean a bunch! That might help reduce the effort.

Compact scopes have low mass, and are obviously easy to move unless on a very stable and rigid mount.

 

[GambelOak]

Have you tried exercising the focus? I mean a bunch! That might help reduce the effort

Now I’m working some, listening to a podcast, and fiddling with my spotting scope. It’s worth a try. Thanks.

 

[4th_point]

Now I’m working some, listening to a podcast, and fiddling with my spotting scope. It’s worth a try. Thanks.

Can't hurt! Please let us know if it helps.

 

[elkeaterco]

Thanks for the review. I wish more companies would follow Kowa micro adjustment knob. Until then, Kowa will continue to be my spotters of choice for how easy and crisp you can focus. Plus glass is top tier. 773 tsn 553 tsn
Respectfully
Jake

 

[gearhead7]

Thanks for the review. I wish more companies would follow Kowa micro adjustment knob. Until then, Kowa will continue to be my spotters of choice for how easy and crisp you can focus. Plus glass is top tier. 773 tsn 553 tsn
Respectfully
Jake

Do you have any experience with the new Mini Swaro spotter?

 

[donrleonard]

It’s funny. I read so much negative stuff about my old Vortex 11-33x baby razor on Rokslide that I had really started convincing myself that it was trash. Having taken the spring and summer off from shooting, and being a new hunter, I had little observational memory to convince me otherwise. As I was reading through the recent Rokslide article on digiscope adapters I even thought, ”Geez, why would I ever by an adapter for such a crappy spotting scope…”

Then I started reading reviews by folks who digiscope with it. Qualified positive reviews. Then I started reading more detailed reviews from optics experts like Ilya over at Opticsthoughts and these were equally positive. https://opticsthoughts.com/?p=1499

Vortex Nation’s own podcast release of the new Baby Razor had Remmy Warren singing the praises of the old one. Reading here about focus issues on the new 13-39x, and remembering how well I liked the two stage focuser on the old razors, I’m now excited to get a digiscope on it and go hunting.

They say that happiness isn’t getting what you want, it’s wanting what you’ve got. I’m sure theres better glass out there. But it’s safe to say that the old baby razor is still a better spotting scope than I am a hunter.

Or, as Bobby DiNero put it…. https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxoH_MCvUZ51clWC4_2tGIDG5G0umCpV3c?si=gM_sZrLOXK0UdY3u

Now, a pair of Razor UHD binos on the other hand…..

 

[Kurts86]

Does anyone have experience with how this compares with the Vortex Razor gen 2 22-48x65mm spotting scope?

 

[Touchdown88]

I took mine out this morning at first light. The best thing I could do to simulate a hunting situation is glassing a nearby school that is under construction.

There was a lot of dark shadows in the early morning light and I was surprised at how well I was able to pick up little details of in the shadows.

Like others have stated, the focus is a little finicky, but this is in no way a deal breaker for me.

Overall, I'm excited with the purchase. This scope is a big upgrade over my current Leupold 15-45x BX-4.

 

[jloflorida]

sweet

 

[4th_point]

Thanks for the review. I wish more companies would follow Kowa micro adjustment knob. Until then, Kowa will continue to be my spotters of choice for how easy and crisp you can focus. Plus glass is top tier. 773 tsn 553 tsn
Respectfully
Jake

In my experience, a well corrected scope can snap into focus with coarse adjustment. The optical quality is such that finding perfect focus is easy and fiddling or fine focus are not needed.

Where fine focus is helpful is for less movement/vibration and actually poor optics where there is a wide band of sorta-in-focus-but-not-quite.

A scope with poor optics and only coarse focus would be a bad combination!

 

[darcytribe]

I tried the straight model today, outdoors for 20 - 30 minutes.

Noticed the Assembled in U.S.A. marking, mentioned earlier. The ARCA foot fit the VA-5 that I have without fiddling, which is set for a SIRUI plate (RRS style plate takes a quite a bit of adjustment due to the difference in geometry).

Overall, it was better than I expected. The image seemed decent with nothing major jumping out during casual observation. ER was good too, for my eyeglasses.

This sample did not come to sharp focus at 39x though, and resolution was not great compared to a 60mm I had on hand. I expected this, but was hoping for better especially since it is assembled in the US.

I might try another one, or compare to a couple ED50 that I have with 13-40x.

I’d be interested in your comparison to the ed50

 

[Happy Antelope]

How does it rate against a Kowa 554/553? Seems like the most direct comparison.

Even the Leica guys say that Kowa is the way to go.

 

[UpTop]

It’s funny. I read so much negative stuff about my old Vortex 11-33x baby razor on Rokslide that I had really started convincing myself that it was trash. Having taken the spring and summer off from shooting, and being a new hunter, I had little observational memory to convince me otherwise. As I was reading through the recent Rokslide article on digiscope adapters I even thought, ”Geez, why would I ever by an adapter for such a crappy spotting scope…”

Then I started reading reviews by folks who digiscope with it. Qualified positive reviews. Then I started reading more detailed reviews from optics experts like Ilya over at Opticsthoughts and these were equally positive. https://opticsthoughts.com/?p=1499

Vortex Nation’s own podcast release of the new Baby Razor had Remmy Warren singing the praises of the old one. Reading here about focus issues on the new 13-39x, and remembering how well I liked the two stage focuser on the old razors, I’m now excited to get a digiscope on it and go hunting.

They say that happiness isn’t getting what you want, it’s wanting what you’ve got. I’m sure theres better glass out there. But it’s safe to say that the old baby razor is still a better spotting scope than I am a hunter.

Or, as Bobby DiNero put it…. https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxoH_MCvUZ51clWC4_2tGIDG5G0umCpV3c?si=gM_sZrLOXK0UdY3u

Now, a pair of Razor UHD binos on the other hand…..

This forum notoriously hates vortex with a passion. Some probably warranted. BUT some are also probably just joining the bandwagon. One thing I know for certain I know a lot of very successful hunters personally who love their Vortex stuff. So far the praise for these new little scopes has been overwhelming positive. I plan to pick one up in the next few weeks and see for myself.

 

[North61]

I have the baby Razor and the dual focus on it is by far its best feature. It is very easy to use and I won't be upgrading to the newer 56mm because I like it so well.

 

[Walkstoomuch]

I have been wanting a spotter for a couple years but haven’t really had the “need”. We almost exclusively backpack hunt so the compact scopes are what have interested me. This year my wife drew an elk tag in some wide open desert country and there are a lot of wild horses (elk and horses are hard to tell apart from 5 miles away, or that’s what I told my wife) and I could finally justify the investment. I have a few vortex products (razor uhd binos 10x & 12x and a couple rangefinders). The warranty is a huge selling point for me, also the used pricing makes it so we were able to purchase above our budget as we couldn’t justify alpha costs for the type of hunting we do.

We went and looked through a mini razor at our local shop. From the parking lot looking at a butte in town about a mile away we were impressed with the vortex side by side with the Swaro atc and didn’t see the need to spend more than double. The Swaro seemed better in the lot comparison but that’s a big step up and didn’t seem necessary. A few days later we went hunting and had a friend join who has the atc and we were able to look side by side at greater distances and in varying conditions. We went back to our shop and upgraded as soon as we were back from our trip. The big differences that we noticed were the edge to edge clarity, the refined movements in the zoom and focus wheel, and the focus/clarity at greater distances. To be clear I don’t have much experience with optics and this is only one sample, perhaps we got a “bad” scope.

It seems like a good scope for the price point and I’m sure I would’ve been happy with it had I not had more time with the Swaro.

Its ridiculous the Swaro doesn’t come with an arca plate in the box!