Vortex Razor???

[Desert Dan]

I'm a little surprised at all the negative comments about Vortex. I admit I'm not very experienced in high end glass but I thought they were a little better received than they seem to be. I posted a similar discussion asking for some advice on the razor 65 vs the 85 but would love to jump up to a Swarovski. I just can't justify the extra couple thousand so I'll have to upgrade eventually. But I'd be interested in a follow up post about what you go with and what your thoughts are.

dan

 

[dotman]

What’s up with these Kowa scopes. That little Prominar 55 looks very slick.

Kowa is considered to have the best glass of any spotter with their pure fluorite crystal glass in their 88 series (debatable between this and the Swaro ATX/STX), the 55 has the same glass as the 88 and it was good enough for me to sell my Swaro ATS 80 HD spotter. Some will say nothing can beat Swaro etc but I’m not a fan boy to any brand, I go with what my eyes like.

S&S archery compared the Kowa 55 to the Swaro ATX 65 and it was very close.

 

[dotman]

I'm a little surprised at all the negative comments about Vortex. I admit I'm not very experienced in high end glass but I thought they were a little better received than they seem to be. I posted a similar discussion asking for some advice on the razor 65 vs the 85 but would love to jump up to a Swarovski. I just can't justify the extra couple thousand so I'll have to upgrade eventually. But I'd be interested in a follow up post about what you go with and what your thoughts are.

dan

Because for the price there are better options today that were not there 3 - 4 years ago. Vortex needs to step up its game and not use its warranty to sell their brand. The Kowa 55 for me has made the 65mm spotters from Leica, Zeiss and Swaro obsolete and even the ATS/STS HD line from Swaro really doesn’t out perform it, there are some amazing optics out in the mid and high end range.

The little Kowa is only $200 more msrp then the Razor 85 and is crazy clear at 45x.

 

[gr8fuldoug]

Because for the price there are better options today that were not there 3 - 4 years ago. Vortex needs to step up its game and not use its warranty to sell their brand. The Kowa 55 for me has made the 65mm spotters from Leica, Zeiss and Swaro obsolete and even the ATS/STS HD line from Swaro really doesn’t out perform it, there are some amazing optics out in the mid and high end range.

Exactly. IMO, Athlon came along wanting to be the next Vortex. They offer very similar products, however, Athlons quality control seems better and their prices are lower and in some products their optics are superior. All a great thing for a company looking to make a name for themselves.

BTW, the best warranty is the one you know nothing about because you and none of your buddies ever needed to use it. Just sayin'

 

[dotman]

Exactly. IMO, Athlon came along wanting to be the next Vortex. They offer very similar products, however, Athlons quality control seems better and their prices are lower and in some products their optics are superior. All a great thing for a company looking to make a name for themselves.

BTW, the best warranty is the one you know nothing about because you and none of your buddies ever needed to use it. Just sayin'

Exactly, the best warranty does nothing for you when the product fails while in use on a hunt. Just recently we saw in the AZ coues deer live hunt where the razor 65 failed Jimmy mid hunt.

 

[Desert Dan]

I'm really glad I took a look through this post. I'm going to look more into the scopes that were discussed on here.

 

[Ronb]

Here’s the final comparison chart from the S&S archery review and it was the Swaro ats line not the atx. There are many more things to consider than just clarity and brightness. Things like eye relief, field of view, and depth of field. All of these things are extremely important. Lets not forget warranty and resale value. The Kowa looks sweet for a 55mm scope that weighs 29oz. But, I have yet to see any review that thinks its superior to a 65mm from one of the big three, including the S&S archery review. Except of course in the weight category.


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[dotman]

Here’s the final comparison chart from the S&S archery review and it was the Swaro ats line not the atx. There are many more things to consider than just clarity and brightness. Things like eye relief, field of view, and depth of field. All of these things are extremely important. Lets not forget warranty and resale value. The Kowa looks sweet for a 55mm scope that weighs 29oz. But, I have yet to see any review that thinks its superior to a 65mm from one of the big three, including the S&S archery review. Except of course in the weight category.


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Read the first review where Rob compared it to the ATX, pre this review. I compared it to my ATS 80 HD with 25-50 wa and it was close, yet the Kowa blew it away in size and weight. My next spotter will be either an ATX 85 or Kowa 883 with an extender added. The 80 did have better low light then the 55 but no it didn’t blow it away and the extra 5x in zoom wasn’t worth the added weight and bulk. I don’t think anyone is saying it’s superior to the 65’s but it’s so close in performance, I don’t see why I would go with a 65 over it that is more expensive, bulkier and heavier. I also glass behind binos the majority of time and only use a spotter to get a better view of located game so fov isn’t a huge factor for my style.

Look back at the old Kowa release threads Rob started, I was very skeptical and didn’t believe it could be as good as it is, after getting one it didn’t take long to realize just how good it is.

Just a little size difference between the ATS 80 HD and Kowa 553, which would you rather pack with similar performance out of both?