Vortex Fury 6.5x32, not a good start (1 Viewer)

I received a pair of 6.5x32 Furys yesterday from Eagle Optics and things are not what I had hoped.

Upon opening the box it appears that they were shipped with the wrong case. The binos are swimming in this case and looks sized for larger 42mm, or even 50mm binos. I actually have the Vortex 32mm case I bought for my Leica 8x32 BNs and the Furys fit perfectly in that case. So why do they come with the oversized case?

Second immediate impression was (and still is) that these are large for 32mm binos. They feel like many current 42mm binos in the hand and (to me) is contrary to one of the reasons I want a 32mm bino. They feel heavy also though they weigh 21.4 oz. (actual, I weighed them). My 8x32 BNs are about an ounce heavier but feel lighter, go figure. It must have something to do with mass centralization or some such.

Third, the focus is just terrible. Defective in fact. Very rough, it feels like a grinding operation is going on. With my brother on the phone, I had him listen while I ran the focus and it was clearly audible to him!
It has several spots where it binds up to a degree where it cannot be rotated with just one finger.

Fourth, the disparity of focus between the two barrels is so great that I ran out of adjustment of the diopter. At this extreme adjustment they are still not quite in sync. This is with my contacts in and have no similar issues with any other binos I currently own or have ever owned. In fact all four pair of Leicas I've had were/are used with the diopter zeroed out.

Needless to say these are going back and has me with serious concerns about Vortex' quality control. I know it is only a sample of one, but I've never experienced such poor quality before.

Oh, here's the good parts...

Though I haven't done any thorough testing, the optics seem fine (at distance). Sharp enough and bright and are reasonably well corrected. Yeah the edges get soft and there is plenty of CA especially in the outer third of the field but overall quite good and not unexpected in this price range. Distortion is low and the field wide. Visually I could live with these.

They are nice looking, though (again) physically large for 32mm binos.
Clearly some will like this aspect, I don't.

The eye relief is almost silly on these things also. All you coke-bottle-glassed guys named Shecky take note. If you need lots of ER these are for you. Specs aside, I'll tell you these might have an inch of ER!
The eyecups have a soft rubber surface that should be friendly for eyeglass wearers.

So now I have a few days to ponder what I want to do. Here are my options I think...

Exchange them for a (hopefully) good pair of Furys and live with the design elements I don't like.
Replace them with Leupold Katmai 6x32s
Replace them with Minox BL 6x32s.
Replace them with EO 6x32s, which I think are Minox BTW.

I'm leaning towards the Katmais but can be persuaded.

Addendum:
The diopter issue seems to be getting worse somehow and now they won't properly focus even at distance.

Kevin

I'm beginning to think there might be some focus/diopter problem with the Fury. I passed it off in the review I did because of the concept of "samples of one" and the fact the particular binocular had been in the hands of several other reviewers, and thus shipped all over the country in the process. The first one I had did not focus the right eye properly for me. I think there was a slight collimation issue with these. So I called Vortex and explained the situation and they sent a new pair next day air and paid the return shipping costs. The second pair was good enough that I bought them. But, after having them for awhile, I sent them back for examination. The Diopter has moved from perfect focus at 0 to perfect focus at +4.0. Something obviously out of whack here. I have other Vortex binoculars and I do not think this is in anyway typical. From your description, you obviously have a bad binocular, and you need to send them back. You will find Vortex folks easy to work with. I sent the first pair I had back as to avoid bad mouthing based on a sample of one. If Vortex is getting a quality problem from the place of manufacture, they will likely get it fixed. I hope these Furys can be redeemed. I like them and will keep them if that is a fixable issue.

Yes they are a bit larger than the typical 32mm frame. I pointed that out in the review. The Katmi is smaller than the typical 32mm frame. The Eagle Optics Ranger has the typical 32mm frame. If that is the Minox (6.5x32) I think it is it is an individual focus binocular and now discontinued, beware there.

That is interesting indeed Steve. It's starting to look like Vortex has a design or materials problem, with these Furys at least.

At this point however I have to say I have no confidence in them. Even if Vortex replaces them or repairs them, the design and components will remain the same, at least for the short term. If there is an inherent flaw it will take some time for them to make the changes and purge the old stock if it can be done without a complete re-design. I don't want to jump to conclusions here, but I also don't want to be anyone's guinea pig either.

I agree with you that if Vortex gets these issues fixed it will make a very nice bino, and I'm rooting for them. Problems fixed, they still wouldn't be exactly what I'm looking for, but they'd be close.

BTW, I'm not expecting an optic in this class to be a substitute for a premium bino. I want them as a second pair that I can leave in the tank bag of my motorcycle unattended with the idea that if some fine citizen decided to relieve me of them, I could still sleep at night. They still have to be a decent birding bino though.

I recently had the opportunity to use a 6.5 x 32 for a couple of days. It also had a serious problem with it's diopter mechanism and it's focusing wheel also had a rough spot in it. Otherwise the binocular was quite good. It was bright, quite sharp and had a commendably large "sweet spot" which with it's very large FOV made it easy to use. I didn't think it's size and weight was an issue, but I am used to a 7 x 42 Trinovid, which is considerably bigger.

The diopter adjustment on the Vortex is similar to the one on my Leica. I don't know how it's internal mechanism works but it is clearly more complex than a simple right eye adjustment wheel on the right ocular, which is what you usually find on inexpensive binoculars. It's a bit ambitious IMO for a $300.00 binocular. I definitely think it is a quality control issue. I hope they can resolve it.
Bob

Kevin Conville said:

It's starting to look like Vortex has a design or materials problem, with these Furys at least.

At this point however I have to say I have no confidence in them. Even if Vortex replaces them or repairs them, the design and components will remain the same, at least for the short term. If there is an inherent flaw it will take some time for them to make the changes and purge the old stock if it can be done without a complete re-design. I don't want to jump to conclusions here, but I also don't want to be anyone's guinea pig either.

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I wouldn't bother exchanging for another Fury. Here, listen to me whine for a minute.
I sent back Vortex Razors that had a loose eyecup(due to the detent), bad powdercoat on the bridges, and a diopter adjustment so bound up that it made a bunch of noise, and actually cracked the housing around it.
The replacement, that was supposed to be inspected prior to shipping, had collapsing eyecups, a "locking" diopter so loose that it would pop out with the tap of a fingertip, and a focus knob that made a popping noise when you went from one extreme to the other with it.
Apparently Vortex has no quality control at all, and it probably wouldn't be reasonable to expect more from the Chinese models than their "top-of-the-line" Japanese ones.
The optics were fine, but from an overall quality standpoint, these things are garbage. I've got $45 in return shipping receipts to show for trying to get a decent binocular for $750. Pretty pathetic.

But do you need a 6.5x32 or 6x32? I have three pairs of 8x32, one is a store brand, phase coated. So I have spares of the same. Legend 8x32 is the best of the three.

There are good deals out there for 8x32. If you need some really cheap stuff, why not Bushnell Excursion 8x28? Same cheap workmanship as Vortex Fury. :eek!: Shop till you get a pair that works more than a month. You get to test them for 30 days.

With Pentax UCF WP 8x25 reverse porros, you get water proof reliable binos. FOV only 320 or so.

Tero,
You actually have your question backwards. The question should be "with a good 6.5-7x do you need an 8x?" The answer is most likely no. I have been a confirmed 8x sort of binocular user all my life. My Swift 7x36 changed that real quick. The Fury really reinforced that idea. Diopter issues aside, it is a heck of a glass optically for the price. And at the risk of repeating myself if you were handed an unmarked 6.5x Fury or a 7x Swift Eaglet, 90% of viewers would guess them at least 8x, if not more.

Come on, if you can hold 8x, you don't lose anything over 6.5x. 400ft fov is plenty for me. If you had a pocket 10x25 with 260ft fov, you lose.

Tero said:

Come on, if you can hold 8x, you don't lose anything over 6.5x. 400ft fov is plenty for me. If you had a pocket 10x25 with 260ft fov, you lose.

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And you don't gain anything with 8x over 6.5x either. This business of extra magnification gets way too over emphasized. 400'fov is plenty for me too. My Eaglet has 374', that's plenty too. My whole point is to point out that a lot of folks would be better served if they didn't think they needed the "extra reach" of the 8x. That reach probably doesn't exist for most people.

Interesting discussion. I use to consider it like this: The gain of brightness, stable image and comfortability in the long run with around 6x is bigger than the gain of resolution with 8x.
When I have used 6x and 7x for a while I experienced my 10x glass to be terrific uncomfortable to use, and during the most occasions did not provided me to really see significantly better.
I think that many people are deceived to choose too high powers, they would realize that a bit lower magnification is usually better, if they really tried.

Regards, Patric

I think brightness wins. In some situations the 7x will be better due to more color. I found a Moorhen with distinct red with 8x32, whereas my partner with pocket 8x25 saw no color.

Tero said:

But do you need a 6.5x32 or 6x32?

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No. Do you need 8x32s? Probably not.

For the record, 8x32s are my favorite configuration but I certainly see the merit of 6-7x binoculars also, and I wanted something different.
Whatever I end up with will be a second pair to my 8x32 BNs and, as I stated before, will live on my motorcycle.

I am quite aware that the pool from which to choose a suitable bino is much wider and deeper in the 8x32 part of town.
But I think this thread has gone a bit off course especially considering Vortex makes 8x32s as well!