Vortex Razor 65mm review (1 Viewer)

I took delivery of the Vortex Razor with the 16-48x zoom a few days ago and have been using it in the field quite a lot since then.

First, some background: my usual scope is the Kowa 88mm prominar with the 20-60 zoom. Great scope, but a bit bulky for the foreign travel that I do. So, I was looking for a smaller, lighter travel scope. At first I considered mainly swaro and Leica 65mm scopes, both of which run these days at about $3k - not cheap! Then I heard about the new vortex and was urged to try it out. I am glad that I did. At $1200 this is astonishing value. It may not be quite as good as its more expensive competitors but it is pretty close. First, there is the relatively large field of view (much bigger than the new swaro and Leica zooms) which makes it much easier for finding birds in a tropical canopy. Then there is the terrific resolution - close to or as good as the swaro or Leica. And the image is pretty sharp right out to the edge. It is both smaller and lighter than the expensive competitors and fitted on to my carbon fibre tripod it is about a pound lighter than my Kowa (makes a big difference over a long day in the field).

So, I would highly recommend this scope.i just do not see how they can produce such quality for such a low price. Maybe the question is really - why are the swao and Leica and ok scopes so expensive for such a small increment in quality?

Thanks so much for your review. Your comparison to the Kowa 88mm was very helpful. The Kowa would have been my dream scope, but it's too heavy for both my day pack and wallet. I had been looking at the Vortex Razor 85mm and I had completely ignored the 65mm model.