• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Anyone tried the new barrel-focus design Vortex Viper scopes? (1 Viewer)

dchernack

New member
Title kinda says it all... I'd love any opinions about the new designs on the Vortex Viper scopes that now have the barrel focus design like the Razor. Can't find them at any big box stores or small retailers (yet). I've tried out the now discontinued design of Viper scopes and was very impressed with them in terms of light transmission and image clarity. I'd probably go with the 15-45x 65mm angled option but am curious to hear if anyone has tried any of the new Vipers. I'd likely be purchasing either it or one of the Vanguard Endeavor series or Opticron MM4 ED series scopes. Thanks all!
 
I just bought a 2018 version of the Vortex Viper HD 20-60x85 angled scope.

I am really liking it, though I don't have a lot of hands-on time with scopes. It seems to have a bright, crisp image all the way to the edges of the field of view. The viewing is best from about 20x to 45x, but 60x is functional. Probably the only thing about the scope that I'm not crazy about is the barrel focus. I mean don't get me wrong, it functions perfectly well. But there is a lot of twisting to adjust across the entire range of focus and sometimes that can be a pain. For what I paid though, I couldn't be happier.

I'd like to hear what other people are doing in terms of digiscoping adapters. Vortex suggested that I go with PhoneSkope to adapt to my phone to the scope, and I haven't completely clarified what sort of adapter would work with my Nikon DSLR.

Can anybody suggest what approach I should take to adapting my DSLR to the scope? The eyepiece appears to be a 1.25 inch bayonet style, but I am not sure if it is a proprietary style or if the Swarovski Optics still work on the new scopes. I heard rumors that the Swarovski eyepieces would adapt to older models of Vortex scopes. But I don't know if the new models still work with them.
 
I was at WSS when the clerk suggested I look at the Vortex line of scopes, claiming they were an excellent price for the buck and as good as, or better than Leupold and Bushnell scopes. He added that the warranty was far better, in that if I had any problems I could do a straight exchange over the counter with them. I obliged him by examing a Vortex, as I was unfamiliar with the brand name. I began by focusing the Vortex scopes (10x magnification) on a stuffed leopard that was hanging on the far end wall of the store. No matter how much I adjusted the eye piece and parallax, I could not bring the Vortex scopes that I examined to a clear crisp view of the leopard. Another salesclerk spoke up and stated that it was because I was inside the building and no scope would be clear. I looked at him as if he was joking with me and then asked the clerk, who originally attended to me, to pass me an Elite 6500. I placed it on the 10x power magnification and adjusted the eye piece and parallax while viewing the same above mentioned leopard. The Bushnell was clear, but no matter how I hard I tried to focus the Vortex, it remain somewhat blurred. I let both clerks try the comparison, and both had to agreed with me that they had just learned something that day. The Bushnell was a better scope in respect to clarity while on higher magnification, and with proper parallax adjustment.

I'm not a Bushnell fan, however I think for the price that is paid for a bushnell you get a reasonable piece of glass for a rugged scope that the average hunter will enjoy. My greatest interest at this moment is with the Ziess Terra x3 rifle scopes like this https://tacticsfaq.com/ Ziess has brought the price of their scopes down slightly, and the glass in these scopes are very good. I also think the Leupolds in the VX6 category are very nice scopes, but you will pay premium price.

Great warranty or not, a scope is useless if it doesn't perform well out in the field. And when hunting the warranty is mute, if the scope doesn't work as intended.

My observation and IMHO
 
I recently bought a 2018 version of the Vortex Viper HD 20-60x85 angled scope. That's my 1st ever scope. So far I like it for its bright and sharp images.

I also bought a PhoneSkope adapter with iPhone4, hoping to reuse the old phone. But the vignetting is horrible even at 20x, no matter how I adjusted the eyepiece. The worst part is that the adapter's center is off from the center of the scope. So when I see a bird in the middle of the scope and want to take a quick photo, I put the phone over and found the bird is quite off from the center. By the time I re-adjust the scope so the bird is in the center of the phone camera, the bird is already gone. The center offset gets worse as the magnification increases. Anyway, I've decided to return the PhoneSkope adapter.
 
Warning! This thread is more than 5 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top