Vortex Viper vs Razor binos? --- Updated with Review

[ssramage]

I started out with Vortex Diamondbacks, then to Vipers for the last several years. I'm thinking of upgrading again specifically for low light performance when whitetail hunting. I need something that can help me identify animals at the last minute of last light and the Vipers just aren't getting me there anymore.

Is the Razor HD a significant step up from the Vipers? I've also considered the UHDs but prefer the smaller size/weight of the HDs I think.

HDs are on sale right now for about $850.

 

[mizzippi jb]

It's really a crew cab vs extended cab kind of thing.

 

[Dirtroad Johnson]

I started out with Vortex Diamondbacks, then to Vipers for the last several years. I'm thinking of upgrading again specifically for low light performance when whitetail hunting. I need something that can help me identify animals at the last minute of last light and the Vipers just aren't getting me there anymore.

Is the Razor HD a significant step up from the Vipers? I've also considered the UHDs but prefer the smaller size/weight of the HDs I think.

HDs are on sale right now for about $850.

I have the vipers & really like them, don't have any experience with Razor HD'S but if they are a significant step up ---- I would like to know also.

 

[Jim Boyd]

I love Vortex but if I was gonna step up like that, it would be Meopta.

Other great glass out there also but I would def at least look at the European stuff.

Good luck.

 

[chrislibby88]

So this is what I’ve gathered from research, personal experience, and word of mouth from my buddy that worked with Steiner. Top tier Euro glass is the best hands down. It’s the clearest, and also the most expensive. Vortex uses Japanese glass. Which is very good, but not quite there with the best European glass. I’ve got some mid tier Jap glass in trijicons, and some mid tier Euro glass in soem Steiner binos. My eyes can’t tell the difference in low light between them, however, the clarity of the Steiners vs Vortex Viper glass was EXTREMELY noticeable even in the middle of the day. I’m sure the Razors are a big step up though.

Not sure if the Euro companies have lifetime unconditional warranties though. Part of the Vortex price is free replacement for life and that’s worth something.

 

[Tight Lines]

If you want bino recommendations search the birding forums...they test the dickens out of binos much better than most of the hunting mags...

The Cornell Lab Review: Affordable Full-Size 8x42 Binoculars

We reviewed more than two dozen pairs of 8x42 binoculars—a popular, versatile choice for most kinds of birdwatching. Here's what we learned.

www.allaboutbirds.org

 

[Tight Lines]

Vortex Razor HD 8x42 Binoculars: Our Review

With the superb quality of high-end binoculars steadily improving, the cost of owning the latest models has also crept steadily higher—putting the best optics outside the budget of many birders. With their completely redesigned Razor HD binoculars, however, Vortex seriously challenges this trend by

www.allaboutbirds.org

 

[Gadestroyer74]

Buy once cry once .. get some swaroski.. can’t begin to tell you how significant the difference is

 

[ssramage]

Thanks guys.

I've tried other brands of binos in the past (including some older Swarovskis) and have just found that I prefer Vortex for whatever reason. I'll eventually try a pair of the higher end Swarovskis but not right now.

I'm leaning towards the Razor HDs because they're similar in size to the Vipers which I like and they'll also work in my FHF harness.

 

[sleepr71]

Don’t look through a high end pair of Swarovski,or Zeiss…you’ll be selling things off to come up with the money.. Me..being the thrifty spender I am…get by with a mid grade Vortex(Viper ??). At any rate…I can see way past legal shooting light with them,and see better at dusk through them than I can my Leupold MK 6 (2-12x) scope…which again..will allow shots way past legal shooting time

 

[GSUQUAD]

What type of distance are you looking through them?

Also, ever turned a scope up to 12x or 15x at dusk or dawn and can’t see but you can see at 6x or 8x after you turn it down? Look at exit pupil if low light is your #1 priority.

 

[WOODIE13]

NVG Wraith

 

[ssramage]

Don’t look through a high end pair of Swarovski,or Zeiss…you’ll be selling things off to come up with the money.. Me..being the thrifty spender I am…get by with a mid grade Vortex(Viper ??). At any rate…I can see way past legal shooting light with them,and see better at dusk through them than I can my Leupold MK 6 (2-12x) scope…which again..will allow shots way past legal shooting time

I've been using Vipers for years and have always been pretty happy with them. They're not perfect, but have always served me well. I've noticed my eyes getting worse at last light the last few years so I'm relying on my binos to help bridge the gap later in the evening. I've had a couple times where a big bodied deer stepped out right at last light and my binos couldn't give me a good enough view to make a call so I passed.

What type of distance are you looking through them?

Also, ever turned a scope up to 12x or 15x at dusk or dawn and can’t see but you can see at 6x or 8x after you turn it down? Look at exit pupil if low light is your #1 priority.

Depends really... our place has turned into a lot of cutovers and powerlines recently so distance is increasing, but generally my lowlight stuff is under 100-150yds...


I went ahead and ordered a pair of the 10x42 Razor HD's before they went off sale. I'll test them at dusk and if I don't notice an improvement, I'll send them back.

 

[Gadestroyer74]

I've been using Vipers for years and have always been pretty happy with them. They're not perfect, but have always served me well. I've noticed my eyes getting worse at last light the last few years so I'm relying on my binos to help bridge the gap later in the evening. I've had a couple times where a big bodied deer stepped out right at last light and my binos couldn't give me a good enough view to make a call so I passed.



Depends really... our place has turned into a lot of cutovers and powerlines recently so distance is increasing, but generally my lowlight stuff is under 100-150yds...


I went ahead and ordered a pair of the 10x42 Razor HD's before they went off sale. I'll test them at dusk and if I don't notice an improvement, I'll send them back.

That’s the exact reason I went with the ones I mentioned. Huge difference and def wish I would have got some years ago.. the low light is amazing. You can’t even see them with your eyes but can see them with binos and make out detail

 

[ssramage]

Well...

I said I wasn't going to do it, but I found a demo pair of some Zeiss Conquest HD 10x42s for cheaper than the Razors. A few reports I've seen have placed them higher, especially in low light. I'll test them both and return/sell the one I prefer less.

 

[Tight Lines]

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/bbimages/lb/2013/autumn/bins/Binoc%20Review_131021.pdf

 

[Dustin Pate]

If you want bino recommendations search the birding forums...they test the dickens out of binos much better than most of the hunting mags...

The Cornell Lab Review: Affordable Full-Size 8x42 Binoculars

We reviewed more than two dozen pairs of 8x42 binoculars—a popular, versatile choice for most kinds of birdwatching. Here's what we learned.

www.allaboutbirds.org

That's what I did when I was researching bino's a handful of years ago. Celestron kept coming up in all my reading. I ended up with a pair and they have been fantastic. I've turned a couple others on to them since.

 

[ssramage]

That's what I did when I was researching bino's a handful of years ago. Celestron kept coming up in all my reading. I ended up with a pair and they have been fantastic. I've turned a couple others on to them since.

Pretty much the same research I've done and why I ended up ordering a 2nd pair to compare. The other one that kept coming up is the GPO Passion HD's but their resale value is not as good as the Vortex or Zeiss, so I'm avoiding them right now.

 

[ryanh487]

I wouldn't spend too much money to outpace the clarity of your rifle scope. Doesn't do much good if you can see the animal clearly in your binos only to not be able to find it and see the target clearly with your rifle.

 

[ssramage]

I wouldn't spend too much money to outpace the clarity of your rifle scope. Doesn't do much good if you can see the animal clearly in your binos only to not be able to find it and see the target clearly with your rifle.

I get your point, but not 100% sure I agree based on how I use my equipment.

I am not a fan of using my riflescope to identify game. I guess that goes back to my dad raising me to "never point my rifle at something I don't intend to kill". Unless I can see it clearly, I use my binoculars 100% of the time first to identify game. If I can see the detail I need clear enough to know it's game I want to take with the binos, then I can make it out well enough in any of my rifle scopes to make a shot. If we're being honest, I don't need as much clarity (especially in low light scenarios) to make out a deer shoulder and pull the trigger through a riflescope. I also tend to prefer simple duplexes with a red dot, which makes it easier.