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Vortex Viper 8x28? (1 Viewer)

Kammerdiner

Well-known member
If anyone has these, or gets these, I'd love to hear reactions to them. ED glass, 12oz, decent exit pupil: could be really nice for travel. FOV of 319' might be a little cramped, but might be worth it.

Mark
 
Kammerdiner:

I am also interested in the Viper 8x28's. I have both the Fury and Hurricane 8x28's. Not much difference in overall image quality. A slight nod to the Furry's, but the Fury's have great handling. Fast to focus, lighter, better eyerelief and better depth of field. The 8x28 Fury's are my favorite carry bin. The FOV is over 300', that's plenty big enough for me.

A short while back the Hurricane's were folded into the Diamondback line - at an increase in price. I don't think the Fury's were much of a marketing success, thus they are being folded into the Viper line at an increase in cost. As silly as it sounds, sometimes things like bins sell better at a higher price. I'm not sure ED glass is going to be of much benefit in 28mm objectives? But better coatings might be an advantage?

I'd sure like to look through a pair of the Vipor 8x28's and closely compare them to my Fury's.

Bearclawthedonut
 
Kammerdiner:

Apparently, Vortex has not received the new Viper 8x28's from China, yet. For the last month they have been three weeks away. At my request, Doug from CameralandNY contacted Vortex and was told by the end of April. Eagle Optics continues to list them as out of stock. I'm not in any big rush to get a pair, but I would sure like to read someone else's reviewabout them.

Bearclawthedonut
 
Kammerdiner:

Apparently, Vortex has not received the new Viper 8x28's from China, yet. For the last month they have been three weeks away. At my request, Doug from CameralandNY contacted Vortex and was told by the end of April. Eagle Optics continues to list them as out of stock. I'm not in any big rush to get a pair, but I would sure like to read someone else's reviewabout them.

Bearclawthedonut

Thanks for the update. I've been checking sites occasionally myself. At 12oz, the Vipers might be just right for hiking and travel.

How would you compare the current 8x28 Fury to mid and full-size bins?

Mark
 
If anyone who has these has looked through a Pentax 9x28 I think that would be a useful comparison. Also how they do against the more common 8x30-32's that are around.
 
Kammerdiner:

Apparently, Vortex has not received the new Viper 8x28's from China, yet. For the last month they have been three weeks away. At my request, Doug from CameralandNY contacted Vortex and was told by the end of April. Eagle Optics continues to list them as out of stock. I'm not in any big rush to get a pair, but I would sure like to read someone else's reviewabout them.

Bearclawthedonut
I thought the Viper line of binoculars were made in Japan ? Thats what my 6x32 says ....gwen
 
I've not tried the Pentax 9x28 but it has a small FOV (294 feet/1000 yards == 5.6 degrees) compared to the others (even discounting it's 9x magnification ... that would be like a 8x with 6.2 degrees; similar to a 8x Monarch).
 
gcole:

I'm going by appearance. The Photos of both new Vortex Viper 8x28's share the same body, armour and small parts (except the eye shades on the artilary spotter model) as the Vortex Fury 8x28's, which are made in China. At least my pair was made in China.

Please, I'm not suggesting any other Viper's are made in China. Vortex does a lot of business in China. The specs for the new 8x28 Viper exactly match the 8x28 Fury specs, it just makes sense to me that Vortex will continue making this model in the same factory, which is in China. Basically the only changes between the Fury and the Viper will be the ED lens and different coatings. I'm not sure ED lenses will make much difference on 8x28's? That's why I would like someone else to buy them and provide a review for me.

Kammerdiner:

They are all different animals. Generally, 8x32's do not have the eye relief I need (eyeglasses), so I will not use them. I have a pair of 8x42 Nikon Monarch's that I really like. They are one of the lightest 42's made (If not the lightest). Thay handle great, have great eye relief and are comfortable to look through for hours at a time. But they don't weigh 11.8 oz.

The little Fury's are great take along binoculars. And one of the things I like best about them is that they are not too small. They are little binoculars, but they are not minatures. They are large enough for me to comfortably control them. Focus is fast, 3/4's of a turn. But many people have commented that they do not POP into focus, there's a bit of going back and forth, partly because they have very good (for 28's) depth of field. Can you look through them for hours and hours and not get headaches? Probably, but I've never done so.

If you want full size performance, then get full size binoculars. If you want convienence then consider 28's. I've never tried the Pentax 9x28's. But I bought (from Eagle Optics) a pair of 8x28's and 10x28's Hurricane's after they were discontinued. The same thing might happen with the Fury's, which are no longer listed on Vortex's website? I like the Fury's better from a handling standpoint, but the Fury's optics are only slightly better then the Hurricane's. Hmmm, I guess I like 28's, that probably means I'll be getting a pair of the Vortex Viper 8x28's?

Bearclawthedonut
 
EO has the 8x28 and the 10x28 Vipers listed as in stock. Who'll be the first to test drive them???

I tried the Pentax 9x28 but ultimately returned them. The FOV felt cramped, and at the time I kept a Pentax 8x33 XP which was, as I recall, somewhere around 17-18oz. Sold that one, however. It wasn't too special, either.

Don't know why, but I suspect these Vipers will be nice even with fairly narrow FOV's.
 
8x28 Furys came today

I'm trying to find a reasonable replacement for my Leica 8x20 BC because of the lack of eye relief as an eyeglass wearer. I had read on another forum that someone thought the 8x28 Fury was renamed to the Viper line and Vortex just raised the price thinking it would sell better ??? So I ordered found the last Fury 8x28 at Binocular.com for $229 compared to the Viper's $319 listing.

Well, I'm not quite impressed. Nice looking binoc and actually the optics are pretty clear and bright. I knew the FoV was going to be a bit narrow but the Depth of Field is really disappointing and the focus knob is a bit jerky. I'll probably pack it back up and return it as I can live with the Leica's short eye relief but much better Depth of Field and focus smoothnesss.

The I looked thru my Zeiss Victory 8x42 FL and realized why I bought them earlier this year.
 
I stand corrected!

I'm going to have to take my earlier post back, the Vortex Fury 8x28 has a fast focus, not a shallow DoF. I did some testing earlier with yard signs set at 100 and 150 yards, and both signs were in focus. I only had to move each one to the center because of some slight edge distortion but both distances looked in focus to me.
 
tpcollins:

Glad you were able to confirm good depth of field (DOF) in your Vortex Fury 8x28's. Mine have excellent DOF. Focusing has always been a bit of an issue with the little Fury's - for everyone. The combination of great DOF with fast focusing (one turn - infinity to close) and 28mm objectives reduces the POP into focus. Most everything is always in pretty good focus. So, if you try and get the WOW focus you end up going back and forth, back and forth searching for that WOW. They are 28's, the WOW's not there.

If the focus knob is jerky return them. The focus control on mine is very loose/easy, just touching it can change the focus. They are certainly not for everyone, but give them a good try in the field. That's where they shine. After a bit of use you get use to the small EP's (3.5mm), any smaller is too small for me. They do not hurt your neck and you can get on birds quick with them. The field of view is (FOV) fine. Turn your head. The bins will turn with it. Wide FOV is important if your a Look-Out on a Submarine and a WWII airplane is trying to sink your Submarine. As WWII airplanes are presently few and far between, wide FOV is only important to Specification Warriors.

Give them a try - in the field. If you do not like them in the field, then, by all means return them.

Bearclawthedonut
 
So we're still waiting on a "viper 8x28" review, correct? Or is it true that they're just Fury's in disguise? Inquiring minds want to know... :-C
 
I decided to return the Vortex Fury 8x28, I just don't like that fast focus. I like the focus on my Leica and Zeiss where I have a fair amount of travel allowing me to fine tune the focus even more "while already in focus".

I wound up getting a used birding version of the Bushnell Excursion EX 7x36 from an individual here on the forum. I kept looking at a pair of these in the Bargain Cave at my local Cabelas and for the money, these are hard to beat.

For the heck of it, Monday I brought home a Leupold Yosemite 6x30 from Cabelas. They are really nice but the external movement of the oculars make me nervous they could get knocked around while keeping them in my truck full time. I'm taking them back as well.
 
You aren't going to find many inexpensive but good binoculars that focus internally. Decent roof prism binoculars cost more. Most porros focus by moving the oculars. The Yosemites are probably the best inexpensive and tough binocular you will run across, but you can't beat them up! You will have the same problems with roof prism binoculars if you let them rattle around on the floor of your truck.

Reverse porros usually focus by moving the objective's.
Bob
 
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So we're still waiting on a "viper 8x28" review, correct? Or is it true that they're just Fury's in disguise? Inquiring minds want to know... :-C

Well, I've been mighty good of late, working hard - time for a toy. Since none of you, have seen fit to buy a pair of Vortex Viper 8x28's, I considered it but thought better of it. Purchased Minox HG 8x33's, the old one's made in Japan. I thought that I might get by with 16 mm of ER with my eyeglasses. In the past 16.5 mm has worked for me. Unfortunately, the 8x33's actually only have 15 mm of ER. Did not work for me, but they were mighty nice bins! Very, very good resolution, the best I've seen with 8x. However, they also have quick focus, 350 degrees from close to infinity. Plus, they seemed to me to have very shallow depth of field. The poor ER (for me), combined with the fast focus, combined with narrow depth of field made them extremely difficult for me to focus at distances greater than 50 yards. But when in focus they provided excellent image quality. Also they are very attractive bins, which of course means next to nothing. Back they went.

Once again, I considered the Viper 8x28's. Went so far as to call EO. Spoke initially with a nice young lady who told me the Viper 8x28's were made in Japan? Maybe, but I doubt it. Maybe they are "assembled" in Japan from Chinese parts, but I doubt that also. I keep remembering when Vortex was saying that their entire Fury line was Purged with Argon. Not true, the 8x28, Fury's have always been filled with Nitrogen. Vortex just gets their press releases a bit mixed up. Show me the invoices demonstrating that most if not all parts are made in Japan. Then I'll believe.

Next I spoke with a gentleman who claimed to have extensive knowledge of Vortex's line. When I told him I was interested in Viper 8x28's, he answered my first question before I asked it. "No, the Viper 8x28's are not the same as the Fury 8x28's." I told him I owned both Fury 8x28's and Hurricane 8x28's and as far as I could see the Fury's had only a slight advantage in resolution. I also told him, that the Viper 8x28's are only 28's and I'm not looking for a WOW from a 28, but that I needed to know if there is noticable improvement in resolution for the Viper 28's over the Fury 28's.

He said none that you can see on a optic chart. But that once you use and get use to the Viper 28's, you will not want to go back to the Fury's. He further said the Fury's were (past tense) a good little binocular, but that the Viper 28's are much better. I asked him what the Vipers did better than the Fury's and once again he said you can not see it or measure the difference on an optics chart but it was there. It sounded to me like he was selling religion?

Before I rang off, he suggested that I should go for the WOW and get a pair of Swarovski EL 8x32's. I told him I've seen them and handled them (at Bass Pro Shop) and the only thing that impressed me about them, was their price. Sacrilege!

Well, I'm no longer interested in finding a good, objective review of the Viper 28's. If I run across them in a store where I can compare them to my Fury 28's, then, maybe - if there is a positive and noticable difference. Good luck, there never have been and never will be binoculars perfect for everyone.

bearclawthedonut
 
Sorry to bring this old thread back to life, but I finally had the opportunity to briefly try the new Vortex Viper 8x28's and compare them to my Vortex Fury 8x28's.

First, although the Viper 8x28's are very, very similar to the Fury 8x28's, they are not simply Fury 8x28's that are now called Viper 8x28's. There are three external diferences: they are badged as Viper's not Fury's and they do say "Made in Japan" as opposed to the "China" on my Fury's. Finally, the ocular (rearmost eyepiece) lens is one (1) mm greater in diameter than that on my Fury. Everything else about their external appearance is the same. Same size, same weight (via hand feel), same configuration, same controls, same diopter adjustment, same focus adjustment, same color of lens coatings, same color of armour... You get the idea, they look and function pretty much the same.

I compared them, looking at trees, leaves and signs (but no birds) for about a half hour. Brightness appeares to be exactly the same, resolution appears to be exactly the same, field of view appears to be the same. My Fury's seemed to be a bit easier to bring into sharpest possible focus but that may well have been because I'm used to them. The only optical difference is that the Viper's have greater depth of field. I thought that my fury's had very good depth of field but the Viper's have even better depth of field. This might contribute to their being more difficult to bring into sharpest focus? Additionally, possibly, perhaps, maybe ... the Vipers have a very, very slight edge in contrast? If so, this very slight edge in contrast did not lead to better resolution.

The above is hardly definitive, but I will not be upgrading from Fury to Viper 8x28's as I did not see any practical benefits. I think that my eyeglasses and I can live with 16mm of eye relief, so I'm going to get a pair of the discontinued Vortex Viper 8x32's.

bearclawthedonut
 
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