Vortex eyepiece on Swarovski body (1 Viewer)

[OSOK]

As a rifle shooter Bino's and spotting scopes play a big part of the setup and being a fan of Swarovski i've always favoured their kit . The HD65 with the 20x fixed gives me a great FOV but sometimes you need to know by how much the shot missed it's target so a reticle within the eyepiece would be ideal . After seeing threads on other forums regarding fitting a Vortex 30x fixed onto Swarovski bodies i decided to give it a go but expecting there to be a trade off in optical quality for the option of having the reticle . I was stunned , there is no trade off just amazing optics !
I guess there are not many on this forum that need reticles in their scopes but using the non reticle Vortex eyepiece would suprise alot of us Swarovski user's

OSOK

 

[karmantra]

As a rifle shooter Bino's and spotting scopes play a big part of the setup and being a fan of Swarovski i've always favoured their kit . The HD65 with the 20x fixed gives me a great FOV but sometimes you need to know by how much the shot missed it's target so a reticle within the eyepiece would be ideal . After seeing threads on other forums regarding fitting a Vortex 30x fixed onto Swarovski bodies i decided to give it a go but expecting there to be a trade off in optical quality for the option of having the reticle . I was stunned , there is no trade off just amazing optics !
I guess there are not many on this forum that need reticles in their scopes but using the non reticle Vortex eyepiece would suprise alot of us Swarovski user's

OSOK

The Zen Ray 30x eyepiece is an exact copy of the non-reticle Vortex 30x, and I have used it on a Swaro non-HD ATS 65 for 3 years--outside of a slighty narrower FOV than the Swaro 30x, it is a perfect fit on the Swaro body, plus the Bushnell Doubler fits perfectly on the eyepiece for those quick views up to 75x. At $149 (although a phone call to Charles at Zen Ray may bring that price down) it is a great buy for an excellent eyepiece!

 

[OSOK]

I have tried my Opticron 2.5x on the Vortex eyepiece and whilst darker as you would expect the image is very good considering .

 

[Jackson]

Is the inverse true? Has anyone tried the 25-50 Swarovski eyepiece on the Vortex scope?

 

[Wilfatron]

Is the inverse true? Has anyone tried the 25-50 Swarovski eyepiece on the Vortex scope?

We've got a Swarovski 30x SW eyepiece in our demo kit for the Razor 85HD that goes with us to all shows as an alternative (albeit almost 2x the price) to the VTX fixed 30x eyepiece.

We've also fitted several 25-50x Swarovski zooms to it when customers have asked to see it on the Razor.

I think I'm right in saying that the original AT/ST80 eyepieces fit it but have never had a problem with the ATS/STS range of eyepieces.

ATB,
Dave.

Just happened to be looking at swaro-vortex combo.

 

[Boogieshrew]

Are the Vortex e/ps the same magnification on Swaro scopes?

What are the focal lengths of the Vortex Razor scopes and e/ps?

I can't find this info on the net. Anyone know?

 

[henry link]

Yes, same magnification. The focal lengths of the Swarovski and Vortex scopes are both about 460mm. The Vortex 20-60x zoom eyepiece is an exact copy of the Swarovski 20-60x zoom.

 

[Boogieshrew]

Thanks Henry

 

[Boogieshrew]

Hi Henry,

I have just been looking at the Razor 20-60 e/p on the Voryex website. The eye relief is stated as 18-20mm.

Does that seem right to you? Given that the Swaro has 17mm e/r and the Vortex is a copy of the swaro.

Thanks

 

[henry link]

The true eye relief of the Vortex and Swarovski zooms are almost certainly identical since they are identical eyepieces, but I doubt that either spec is correct. See Jan Meijerink's review of the Kowa TSN 773/883 at this site:

http://www.tvwg.nl/

Scroll down the menu on the left to "Testraporten" and then to "Telescopen". There's an "effective" eye relief chart in the Kowa review which shows the eye relief curve over the zoom range for a number of zooms including the Swarovski. They all show a substantial dip in eye relief in the middle of the zoom range. Specs tend to be based on the lowest and sometimes also the highest magnifications where the eye relief is longest. Also Jan's "effective" eye relief is, I believe, measured from the eyecup rim rather than the glass.

Henry

 

[stephen b]

Yes, same magnification. The focal lengths of the Swarovski and Vortex scopes are both about 460mm. The Vortex 20-60x zoom eyepiece is an exact copy of the Swarovski 20-60x zoom.

? Regarding this. The Swaro 20-60x EP is the same power range on the 65 mm scope and the 80 ( for the ATS/STS); and for the Vortex Razor the same EP is 16-48 on the 65mm and I believe 20-75?? On the 85.

So..... What happens -power range wise, when you put a Swaro 20-60x EP on a Razor 65mm scope and vice versa- put a razor 16-48 x on a Swaro 65 mm scope. And are they compatable EPs ( on the 65mm models) like they are with their larger siblings?

Thanks

 

[Boogieshrew]

The true eye relief of the Vortex and Swarovski zooms are almost certainly identical since they are identical eyepieces, but I doubt that either spec is correct. See Jan Meijerink's review of the Kowa TSN 773/883 at this site:

http://www.tvwg.nl/

Scroll down the menu on the left to "Testraporten" and then to "Telescopen". There's an "effective" eye relief chart in the Kowa review which shows the eye relief curve over the zoom range for a number of zooms including the Swarovski. They all show a substantial dip in eye relief in the middle of the zoom range. Specs tend to be based on the lowest and sometimes also the highest magnifications where the eye relief is longest. Also Jan's "effective" eye relief is, I believe, measured from the eyecup rim rather than the glass.

Henry

Thanks Henry. A handy little graph.

 

[henry link]

Stephen,

The 65mm and 80mm Swaros have the same focal length, so magnifications are identical with the same eyepiece.

I haven't seen the 65mm Vortex, so I can't speak to mechanical compatibility with the Swaro bayonet, but if it uses the same zoom as the 85mm then it must have a shorter focal length (368mm) for the magnification to be reduced 20%.

Since the Swaro 20-60x eyepiece and the 20x60x eyepiece used in Vortex 85mm are identical eyepieces with identical focal lengths (7.7mm -22.1mm) interchanging them on a particular scope makes no optical difference at all.

Henry

 

[Boogieshrew]

? Regarding this. The Swaro 20-60x EP is the same power range on the 65 mm scope and the 80 ( for the ATS/STS); and for the Vortex Razor the same EP is 16-48 on the 65mm and I believe 20-75?? On the 85.

So..... What happens -power range wise, when you put a Swaro 20-60x EP on a Razor 65mm scope and vice versa- put a razor 16-48 x on a Swaro 65 mm scope. And are they compatable EPs ( on the 65mm models) like they are with their larger siblings?

Thanks

Whether an eyepiece gives 20-60 or 16-48 depends on the focal length of the scope. The Swaro 65 and 80 have the same focal length, thats why they both have the same range zoom facility.
The 65 & 85 Razors have different focal lengths so the same zoom eyepiece gives different magnification on each scope.
Putting a Swaro 20-60 eyepiece on the Vortex acopes will still give you either 20-60 or 16-48, the same as the Vortex e/p.
The Swaro 25-50 zoom on the Vortex scopes will give either 25-50 on the 85 or 20-40x on the 65.

 

[Boogieshrew]

I tried swapping Vortex eyepieces and scopes with Swaro ones yesterday. My Swaro 25-50 fitted on a Vortex Razor 65 but the Vortex e/p wouldn't fit on my ATS65 because the e/p tube was too long to insert fully into the scope.

It was a very hot bright day with lots of heat haze so it was very hard to assess them well but overall I think the Swaro e/p on the Razor 65mm was very good. Sharp across the full fov. 20-40x mag, if I've done my sums right.
In the end I couldn't see any advantage for me in using the Vortex e/p rather than the Swaro one because the eye relief was slighty worse than the Swaro's for me with my specs on.

Also very impressed with the Vortex 65 and 85 with their own e/p on them. Excellent view but not good for me and my specs with regard to eye relief.

 

[stephen b]

Much thanks to Henry and Boogieshrew for answering my ? !!

Wonder if the Vortex EP would work any better on a Swaro STS, as opposed to the ATS?- whether there is any difference in having it fit better.

? for Boogieshrew- would you say you like the Swaro EP's much better than the Vortex Razor ones? and what are your thoughts of the Vortex Razor EP's and bodies in general?

I think that Swaro 25-50X on the Razor 65 ( 20-40x on the Razor 65) is something I would be interested in seeing. Think it would be a nice combo.

 

[Boogieshrew]

? for Boogieshrew- would you say you like the Swaro EP's much better than the Vortex Razor ones? and what are your thoughts of the Vortex Razor EP's and bodies in general?

I prefer the Swaro 25-50x because the eye relief is better. Optically I think it is better but not by a great deal. Due to the heat haze and bright conditions, I can't really give any detail though. I think contrast was better in the Swaro. Colours had a bit more pop.

I think that Swaro 25-50X on the Razor 65 ( 20-40x on the Razor 65) is something I would be interested in seeing. Think it would be a nice combo.

It is a nice combo. It was good to have a wide 20x and I don't use the Swaro over 40x very often so I doubt I would miss the extra mag.

I'd definitely like to try this combo again when the viewing conditons are better.

EDIT- I forgot to say that the Vortex Razors have edge to edge sharpness.

 

[Boogieshrew]

Well, today I tested out the Vortex Razor 65 with a variety of Swaro e/ps.

The 20x, 30x and 45X.

It was a hot day with lots of heat haze and very bright so my impressions were limited by that but here's what I thought of the various e/ps.

My favourite is the 30x which is actually 24x on the Razor 65. Fantastic e/p. Wide, bright, sharp edge to edge, and best of the bunch in terms of e/r for specs wearers like me. Etremely comfortable in use. Really nice indeed.

The 20x (16x on the Razor 65) is also fantastic but not for me due to not being able to see anywhere near the whole fov due to lack of e/r with my glasses on. The fov is super wide and being low mag the depth of field is also huge and the image is so bright. It dispensed with the heat haze too. It wasn't quite so edge to edge sharp but not to any distracting degree. I only noticed this because I looked for it.
I would like to see what this e/p is like on a dull day in winter. I suspect its brightness would be really useful. I also think it would be ideal for chasing small birds in woods or rain forest. The bright, wide and deep view would be a joy in those circumstances.

The 45x (36x on the Razor 65) is also rather good. Dimmer than the other two, of course, and less depth but very sharp edge to edge. E/r was fine with my specs on too. A great e/p but not for me because I prefer lower mag for its greater fov and depth of field.

I went to the shop today expecting to buy the Razor 65 and probably a fixed Swaro e/p to go with the Razor zoom. But in the end I came home with a Swaro 20-60 to use on my ATM65 instead of the 25-50 that came with it. Despite months of use tryimg to get used to the 25-50, by comparison the 20-60 is so much more comfortable with glases on and on a hazy day like todat the 20x cut through the heat haze better than the 25x.
At soem point I will buy a Swaro 30x fixed though because that is one nice e/p.

If I didn't already own the ATM65, I would definitely buy the Razor 65. It is a great little scope. It's light weight and the image with all the e/ps (Vortex and Swaro) is really good, always bright and sharp. I think it is really good value for money too. Punching above it's weight. There is one thing I prefer about it to the Swaro- the dual focuser, the fine focus is very useful for getting the focus just right. I find it a little easier to use than the Swaros barrel focuser.