[WilsonDiaz]

Hi everybody,
any comments about the Vortex spoting scopes?
I heard that they are quite good, an for a very good price.....
Does any body have an opinon about Vortex?? are they really as good as they claim....

Wilson

[vkalia]

I have a Vortex Skyline ED scope and am quite happy with it. The zoom EP is quite good for its price range, and provides functional views up to 60x (although by then you are mashing your eyeball against the EP, and the view isnt exactly spectacular... but it works).

Downsides - you only have the zoom EP and nothing else for it. After getting a taste of the wideangle Orion eyepieces on my Pentax 65ED scope, the narrower field of view of the zoom is hard to go back to. Also, the scope is quite large physically.

For the price, I think it is very good value. However, the Cornell Labs review found this scope to be quite average, so take my opinion for what it is worth. Perhaps one of these days I'll do a comparison with the Pentax 65ED and see what the results have to say.

Vandit

[satsingh]

I just received a vortex skyline angled ed 20-60 x 80mm which was ordered from vortex usa.
At 70 yards we were watching a peacock dancing at 20x, image was sharp, thought at 60x I did rack the focus ring several times trying to find a sharper image, field of view was narrow as expected on a zoom eyepiece. Pity its a fixed zoom eyepiece, I hope in future vortex comes out with some fixed wide angle eyepiece.

There seem to be some minor imperfections in the internal focussing mechanism in the minumum focus range, the focus got a little stiff when trying to focus in the min focus range, I had to use the thumb & index finger to focus. Hopefully this will smoothen out with use. When focusing from minimum to infinity the focus was very smooth.

It was a cloudy overcast day during the monsoons (incident light reading with a minolta flash meter IV at 100 asa, 1/60th f8 1/2)

I noticed CA (reddish/orange halo) in the entire zoom range on the top of a rose ringed parakeet head against the backlit cloudy sky at 7.30 am. Did not expect this in a ed scope. When I did move my eye a little higher up in the eyepiece the CA would reduce significantly then the edge of the image circle would tend to darken a little.

I must add I have not encountered any problem with the vortex razor 8x42 which I am pleased.

sat

[vkalia]

Hi Sat -

That's interesting - I have not noticed any CA on mine.. although I dont go out of my way to look for it either.

Incidentally, I sold off my Razor 10x42s. Loved the binos but ultimately, I found the focus knob a bit too stiff and slow for my liking.

Vandit

[Tero]

vkalia, I also sold my best bins, Zeiss 10x40. For me, weight was the issue. They were built like a tank, but since the tank is around my neck...

I also have your Pentax scope, two eye pieces. One is in fact a zoom, Vixen.

[vkalia]

Tero, the Razors were quite heavy but I always wear them on a harness so I dont really notice the weight.

How do you like the Vixen zoom? It was nice enough... till I started using the wide-angle Orion Stratus EPs. Now I find it very difficult to live with the narrow FoV of the Vixens. Am thinking of getting a WO zoom instead - if so, the Vixens will go on sale here or at astromart.

Vandit

[Tero]

Well, zooming is just zooming. Mine goes to 49x and I zoom around at 30-40x till I find my bird. 49x is plenty for a little scope. Any more would get dark.

The wide angles...what it the maximum power you would use?

[vkalia]

Tero, I've stuck an 8mm EP on it, corresponding to 49x and gotten very nice views. By comparison, the high-mag on the zoom seems really tunnelly.

Vandit

[Tero]

OK, will put it on my list for Santa in December.

[VisionRider]

I purchased a Vortex Skyline 80 on Saturday and just picked up the MK1 adapter for digiscope work. I did some preliminary pictures today and found it to be a GREAT scope for the price.

I have been watching for a nicely priced scope that is at least a 20~60 X 80. The problem with the MK1 is that it is truly for the mini cameras. So, I looked at it and found a 58mm to 48mm step down adapter that will fit inside the MK1 cam adapter and screwed it to my lens (18-55mm kit lens with my canon). I attached it and found a bit of vignette bit with it zoomed just a bit, the vignette goes away and you get a really nice pic at 20x. The 40 during the early evening (around 4:45pm during winter) was close to being too dark. But I figure during the summer, it will work very well.

The fact is, at 18mm X 20x = 3600mm, I will get close enough to the things I want to see without much of an issue. It works MUCH better than I expected and the price is perfect.

Looking at the MK1 and figuring out you can adapt it to a DSLR was the key. I didn't want to use my little camera (having to carry something extra). It works well and I hope if you read this, you will find a way to make it work for you.

BTW - I have a straight and not angled Skyline 80.