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2013 Vortex Razor HD 10x50 and 12x50 !!! (1 Viewer)

Chosun Juan

Given to Fly
Australia - Aboriginal
Ok now this is a scoop! :scribe:

50mm Vortex Razor HD's soon to be unleashed in the wild ........ :eek!:

ER and FOV's are restrained - but wait ...... the weight ........ bantam weight! :t:
lighter than some premium x42's !!!! :king:

Finally :smoke: someone :clap: sees the light! o:D

http://www.vortexoptics.com/product/vortex-razor-hd-10x50-binocular
http://www.eagleoptics.com/binoculars/vortex/vortex-razor-hd-10x50-binocular-2

http://www.vortexoptics.com/product/vortex-razor-hd-12x50-binocular
http://www.eagleoptics.com/binoculars/vortex/vortex-razor-hd-12x50-binocular-2

Oooohhh ..... me likey ""......
but I 'spose if they're like the rest of the fam. they're gunna be CCW to focusing :-C


Chosun :gh:
 
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Ok now this is a scoop! :scribe:

50mm Vortex Razor HD's soon to be unleashed in the wild ........ :eek!:

ER and FOV's are restrained - but wait ...... the weight ........ bantam weight! :t:
lighter than some premium x42's !!!! :king:

Finally :smoke: someone :clap: sees the light! o:D

http://www.vortexoptics.com/product/vortex-razor-hd-10x50-binocular
http://www.eagleoptics.com/binoculars/vortex/vortex-razor-hd-10x50-binocular-2

http://www.vortexoptics.com/product/vortex-razor-hd-12x50-binocular
http://www.eagleoptics.com/binoculars/vortex/vortex-razor-hd-12x50-binocular-2

Oooohhh ..... me likey ""......
but I 'spose if they're like the rest of the fam. they're gunna be CCW to focusing :-C


Chosun :gh:

Hi Chosun,

I will be attending the Shot Show I will let you know.

Mike
 
Seriously?

Not one of you bino nuts! has a comment to make on an ~800gr 50mm dielectric APO ?? :cat:

What about those "waisted" barrels - sexy or not? - functional or not? ........ optics trade-offs /advantages ??

The 10x50 only has 60° Afov (and 16.5mm ER), the 12x ~ 65° (15.5mm ER) ......... a trade off too far?
and how useable is that ER anyway (photos of the eyepiece end are thin on the ground =(


Chosun :gh:
 
Seriously?

Not one of you bino nuts! has a comment to make on an ~800gr 50mm dielectric APO ?? :cat:

What about those "waisted" barrels - sexy or not? - functional or not? ........ optics trade-offs /advantages ??

The 10x50 only has 60° Afov (and 16.5mm ER), the 12x ~ 65° (15.5mm ER) ......... a trade off too far?
and how useable is that ER anyway (photos of the eyepiece end are thin on the ground =(


Chosun :gh:

Juan:

You have put up the new Vortex 10x50, and from the pictures and specs.
it is interesting.

You mention the slim waisted barrels and that is where the problems may come in.
If the prisms are too small, and slimmed down, the big 50 mm. objectives will be of no advantage.

It is about light gathering, and the full optics design.

It would be good to see some reviews of this one.

Jerry
 
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Hi Chosun, I like the weight listed on these two 50mm binoculars esp. compared to the Fujinon 12x60 HB at 3 lbs. Focusing direction doesn't bother me. I adapt very fast. Mike P never got back about these. Of course the Fiji is 60mm
 

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Juan:

You have put up the new Vortex 10x50, and from the pictures and specs.
it is interesting.

You mention the slim waisted barrels and that is where the problems may come in.
If the prisms are too small, and slimmed down, the big 50 mm. objectives will be of no advantage.

It is about light gathering, and the full optics design.

It would be good to see some reviews of this one.

Jerry

The historians may be able to chime in with some earlier examples, but I certainly don't recall seeing any bin before, with barrels like these that are "waisted" immediately behind (at least that's what I'm guessing - there just doesn't look to be room for a focusing lens up at the pointy end) the objective lenses - a well recessed triplet set in this case.

As Jerry said, if "the prisms are too small, and slimmed down" then some of the benefits of the 50mm objectives will be lost, but it's about the "full optics design", and if a "higher power" (stronger light bending) objective set is used, then (if my suposin' about a prism end focusing lens - also higher power - is correct) the new 50mm Razor HD may be able to get away with some slimmed down prisms. They may even be the same ones used in the 42mm's ??, I say this given that the 10x's 105m Fov /16.5mm ER, is not bad, but not 10x50 SV (115m Fov /20mm ER) luxurious either, but of course it's only 80% of the weight too :t:

If this figurin' is correct, then maybe the only drawback might be more abberations, and smaller sweet-spot /soft edges due to the "higher power" lens design used. Thoughts anyone ?

Ergonomically, they should work a treat with all that extra finger room, but as usual the final Erg. and Opt. proof will be in the actual viewing. Here's some like-competitors for comparison, although I would expect the Razor HD's triplet objective to offer better CA control at least. (Noting that the 42mm's didn't seem to fare too well colour and contrast-wise against the excellent new Zeiss Conquest HD's) .....

http://www.adorama.com/MX1052HGBR.html
http://www.adorama.com/ST1050MP.html
http://www.adorama.com/VORVHD1050.html


Chosun :gh:
 
Hi Chosun, I like the weight listed on these two 50mm binoculars esp. compared to the Fujinon 12x60 HB at 3 lbs. Focusing direction doesn't bother me. I adapt very fast. Mike P never got back about these. Of course the Fiji is 60mm

Steve, that's one helluva lump of bin! Reminds me a lot of the huge Minox BD 10x58 ED BR - That appeals to me in everything ...... except weight!!

I never used to be overly fussed on focusing direction, until that damn ;) Looksharp :storm: corrupted my brain :brains:- now everything must be CW to focusing, or I'm all scrambled :egghead: Sadly :-C I don't think the focusing direction news (for me) will be good.


Chosun :gh:
 
C'mon folks - this is starting to look like a "dennis thread" with the OP posting 3/4's of the replies! ;)

Anyone care to speculate about where they're actually made ?? (or whether they'll have dust inside ??) :eek!:

Good on Vortex :t: anyway, for taking the initiative to do something about weight. Hopefully other manufacturers will take note.


Chosun :gh:
 
Chosun,

The one 'waisted' model I've tried is the Kite Forster.
http://www.kiteoptics.eu/products/kite/en/1/8#

Most likely both built by Kamakura. The Forster is 3rd down in the Kite line-up, but I really liked the x50s better than the top line Bonelli. The view was narrower than the Razor but it really felt like there was no glass there. More like an x42 in the hand, and the balance was excellent, virtually no shake at all. The Razor x42s really have optics at least a match for the alphas. If it's carried through to the x50s and have the balance of the Kites they should be something pretty special.

David
 
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The historians may be able to chime in with some earlier examples, but I certainly don't recall seeing any bin before, with barrels like these that are "waisted" immediately behind (at least that's what I'm guessing - there just doesn't look to be room for a focusing lens up at the pointy end) the objective lenses - a well recessed triplet set in this case.

As Jerry said, if "the prisms are too small, and slimmed down" then some of the benefits of the 50mm objectives will be lost, but it's about the "full optics design", and if a "higher power" (stronger light bending) objective set is used, then (if my suposin' about a prism end focusing lens - also higher power - is correct) the new 50mm Razor HD may be able to get away with some slimmed down prisms. They may even be the same ones used in the 42mm's ??, I say this given that the 10x's 105m Fov /16.5mm ER, is not bad, but not 10x50 SV (115m Fov /20mm ER) luxurious either, but of course it's only 80% of the weight too :t:

If this figurin' is correct, then maybe the only drawback might be more abberations, and smaller sweet-spot /soft edges due to the "higher power" lens design used. Thoughts anyone ?

Ergonomically, they should work a treat with all that extra finger room, but as usual the final Erg. and Opt. proof will be in the actual viewing. Here's some like-competitors for comparison, although I would expect the Razor HD's triplet objective to offer better CA control at least. (Noting that the 42mm's didn't seem to fare too well colour and contrast-wise against the excellent new Zeiss Conquest HD's) .....

http://www.adorama.com/MX1052HGBR.html
http://www.adorama.com/ST1050MP.html
http://www.adorama.com/VORVHD1050.html


Chosun :gh:

Chosun:

My apologies for name calling, PM sent. It was very poor behavior.:C

This binocular seems interesting, a big objective and slim barrel for saving
weight, It would be nice if this one performs well.

Jerry
 
Chosun,

The one 'waisted' model I've tried is the Kite Forster.
http://www.kiteoptics.eu/products/kite/en/1/8#

Most likely both built by Kamakura. The Forster is 3rd down in the Kite line-up, but I really liked the x50s better than the top line Bonelli. The view was narrower than the Razor but it really felt like there was no glass there. More like an x42 in the hand, and the balance was excellent, virtually no shake at all. The Razor x42s really have optics at least a match for the alphas. If it's carried through to the x50s and have the balance of the Kites they should be something pretty special.

David

David,

Thanks for that example. There sure seems to be a plethora of Japanese originated narrow Fov designs (especially considering the use of aspherics) making there way over to the UK under various Brand guises. That 67 layer coating (dielectric) on the prisms sure is a mighty precise number!

Similar to the link to the Minox's I posted above though, it looks as if those Kite's have objective end focusing ??

The "waisting" on the Vortex barrels looks much more abrupt, and so I'm still left wondering whether the focusing assembly is located way down near the prisms, which would seem a bit of a rarity? More information /views on that point would be welcome.

If that's so, I would expect it should provide very good weight distribution, and hence balance in the hand.


Chosun :gh:
 
Chosun,

I would expect the focusing lens to be positioned about as far behind the fixed objective lenses as it is in the Zeiss 56mm FL shown below.

As for aperture obstruction, I think it's best to consider every binocular guilty until proved innocent. There's no reliable way to tell from the shape, but there are easy methods to measure the true clear aperture once you have the binocular in hand.

Henry
 

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Thanks Henry,

That was the type of thing I was looking for. I still think there might be some higher than usual power lenses in there, though maybe it's not quite as odd as first seems. All in all, an interesting development in bin design world.

I don't know if a +ve, or -ve focusing mechanism would help it's cause more with that location - it looks to have it's work cut out either way. Hope it passes the stringent aperture test ;)

Chosun :gh:
 
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