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Why oh why have you gone away? (1 Viewer)

B

black crow

Well-known member
Every time I use my Vortex Fury's I end up wondering why such a wonderful binocular was discontinued. They are one of the last of my bins that I would consider parting with. There's so much to like about them.

Now I think I got a dud pair of Diamondbacks so I can't honestly know if the Fury's are that much better but I've heard others say the same. But the Diamondback was kept and the Fury discoed. I'd like to hear some speculation on why that happened? The thing that pops into my head is that they were optically too close to the quality of the Viper at too low of a price point.

It just doesn't make sense to me. |:|| Is there something I'm missing here?
 
It makes no sense to me either for Vortex to pull one of the best regarded bin series in its line up. Are they still keeping the 6.5x32? I still see a lot of those being sold, but not the 8x42 and 10x42 models.

I tried an 8x42 Fury at a "bird sit" (12hr bird count within a 15ft circle). It was one of the few closed bridge roofs that fit my hands, probably because the barrels were so fat that there was no room for my thumbs to dangle underneath, so they rested on the barrels.

The view was sharp and bright. Some distortion near the edges, but not distractingly so. The on the focuser diopter mechanism worked well, and the bullet head eyecups fit my eye orbits. For the price point, I think they were hard to beat.

You have to ask the same question about the Leupold GR HDs. They seemed to be selling well, got rave reviews, are near the top of the pops in allbinos 8x32 category, so why pull them before having a replacement?

Well, hopefully, the GRs will be back in a lighter package. The Fury's might re-emerge under a different name.

Brock
 
Not to get off topic but I keep seeing vague references to the Golden Rings being reintroduced but nothing concrete. If anyone has any info on that then I would love to hear it.

As for the discontinued Furys, I wish I had an answer. I just hope the bin/scope industry doesn't get into what many other industries do...with the need to discontinue models year after year with practically no significant difference to the optics or handling. Just new names to spur new sales.
 
If I didn't own two Furies 6.5x, and if I were handed one, and if I liked it (sure do! ;)), and they were not available anymore, I'd get myself a Meopro 6.5x32.
 
I have found the Fury to be a real gem. Its been said on here before that it was dropped from the Vortex line up because the unit cost was to high. Maybe so but I would not buy the inferior Diamondback and the Viper is just to many $ for what I wanted at the time. I would have to say that in my opinion Vortex have missed a trick here.

I got the 8x32, my first ever 32 and just love it. The size and heft feel so good. Its now the one that I reach for nearly all the time. So its the Fury that I have to thank for turning me to the light side.
 
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After reading some comments here re the Fury's, i went looking for them, virtually, only to discover they were out of production. Have not even seen a picture of them. Are they porro or roof?
I am one of the lucky ones who has a pair of the Leupold 8x32 GR HD. They are my primary winter-cold/wet weather substitute for my 8x SE's. I did contact Leupold awhile back about reintroduction or new models. The response boiled down to essentially not soon/no idea. I am interested in the 10x42 version of the GR HD.
 
jaymoynihan said:
I am one of the lucky ones who has a pair of the Leupold 8x32 GR HD. They are my primary winter-cold/wet weather substitute for my 8x SE's.
Click to expand...

I have the same set up now that my wife took the 8x32 Nikon EDG as her primary glass. GR HD + SE, it doesn't get much better than this combination. :t:
 
I would tend to wager that Vortex found that people were buying the Diamondback because it's cheaper and most binocular users can't tell any difference. On the other hand, I bet you'd find that buyers going for more $$ in a binocular were going Viper. So, the Fury was the proverbial red headed stepchild. Too bad, as it was better than the Diamondback and very close to the Viper (too close maybe is another possibility).
 
I will say, having owned both, that the Vipers are definitely better optically than the Fury's (sharper, brighter, better control of color fringing) but it's not a *huge* difference that the "average buyer" would notice easily. And the Vipers are definitely more compact...

But I'm sure that Vortex had their reasons. I'm sure profit margin (D'backs are based off a widely used Chinese body style utilized by many mfgrs, whereas I don't see any Fury "clones" out there besides the Meopta) came into play, plus the above speculation about the need for better "tiering" in their lineup between the D'back and Viper.

Although, the bright side is that if it were not for their being discontinued, all of us would not be enjoying the bargain basement pricing on these 6.5x32s!
 
Steve C said:
too close
Click to expand...

Yes, if they had too many lines. Even more true for alphas (Z,L,S) who don't want their second tier to cannibalize on the sales of their greatest offerings.
I'm of course talking about old Conquests and the CLs.
Very keen on seeing how the Victory's successor will perform, based on the assumption that the Conquest HD rivals the old Victory FL.

I've said before that the alphas can't afford to have a second tier too close to their top offering, but it's a lot easier for Meopta and some Chinese makers to get much closer to alpha quality at an affordable price because they needn't take this aspect in consideration.

//L
 
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Originally Posted by jaymoynihan
After reading some comments here re the Fury's, i went looking for them, virtually, only to discover they were out of production. Have not even seen a picture of them. Are they porro or roof?
Click to expand...

They are roofs. The last of them were the 6.5x32s I believe and I got mine for $130 which I consider the best buy of my 12 pair of bins.
 
black crow said:
Every time I use my Vortex Fury's I end up wondering why such a wonderful binocular was discontinued.
Click to expand...

Maybe, it's just embarrassment over the stupid name. "Viper" makes a kind of dumb sense (Vipers have "sharp" fangs after all) but Fury, where can that possibly come from?
;)
 
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eitanaltman said:
I will say, having owned both, that the Vipers are definitely better optically than the Fury's (sharper, brighter, better control of color fringing) but it's not a *huge* difference that the "average buyer" would notice easily.
Click to expand...

They have a different feel though. The optics may be close to the vipers, however the Fury and the Viper were 2 very different roofs to use. NOt that the Fury's arent, since obviously for many they are. However I know for me the Vipers were terrific and the fury's just didnt work. More like apples to pears than bosch to granny smith.

Another thing to consider... everyone loves the fury's now that they are $129bucks. was the love there at $360?
 
I tend to go for the cheap date. But if she turns out to be an ex princess then more the better. And I remember the 8x selling for $269
 
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black crow said:
They are roofs. The last of them were the 6.5x32s I believe and I got mine for $130 which I consider the best buy of my 12 pair of bins.
Click to expand...

It should be! They originally sold for more than $350.00. They were a better binocular than the Diamondbacks which was reflected in their prices. The Diamondbacks sell for around $200.00 new. There are new models out now: 8 x 32 and 10 x 32. Both under $200.00.

Bob
 
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