Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Spotting scope...65mm vs. 85mm

I've personally had my S2 side by side with the Kowa 884 Prominar, one of the best spotters on the planet. I kept the S2, sold the 884....it's that good.

Here's what Outdoor life said about it in 2013...

http://www.petersenshunting.com/featured/bes-spotting-scopes-of-2013/

Using the 30–60X WA EP, the field 
of view was incredible with virtually undetectable color fringing. This is a damn fine scope. The image is expansive. Controls are easy to manipulate but a bit stiff when fine-tuning.

The MeoStar offers a very sharp, crisp image with a hint of warm tint. In fact, this scope posted near-perfect scores during the two 100-yard resolution tests. Edge sharpness was excellent, but missed perfection due to curvature at the very edge of the field. Normally, a wide-angle EP gives up eye relief, but not with this one. Four-eyed observers rejoice.

Color fidelity was true and even better than the more expensive Nikon EDG. The friction in the adjustment wheel is perfect, and the MeoStar offers a perfect weight balance, which translates to minimal 
image distortion when panning, focusing, or tracking moving objects.

At 46X, we observed reduced brightness, but sharpness remained excellent through 58X. It was no problem reading signage placed at one mile. In fact, it bested the Leica in this aspect of our comparison. The Meopta is an incredible optic. It’s so good some of our testers almost preferred the Meopta to the mighty Swarovski. That says a lot.

Priced at $2,200—less than Leupold’s GR—the MeoStar earns our Best Buy Award for offering an image that rivals scopes costing twice as much.

SCORE: 93
Price: $2,200

The Vortex dainty knobs is for fair-weather, girly-fingered focus guys. The swaro and meostar are for the manly-handed types. Or those that wear gloves or mittens in colder weather.....

My reply was two posts above yours.

I can't think of a reason in the world to buy a Vortex at retail price when a used Swaro can be had for similar money.

Even when the price is right on a Vortex, the product is wrong.

Can't fathom spending alpha glass money on non-alpha glass either.

But the OP made it clear he has an UBER discount, so kudos to our Canadian friend for the input. I had no idea Vortex spotters were even worth considering.




Dave

Don,

Looks like you have twice as many as you need. Better send me one. As much as I like my Razor, I'd send it to you in return. <Grin>

Guess I missed the 50% off deal the first time through. If the OP could pick one of these up for 8 or 9 hundred bucks, it would probably be worth the money. Even then, a few hundred more dollars could likely find a used Swaro. If budget is not the primary factor, spending a bit more for top quality is rarely a bad choice.

You didn't reply to me or my question...

Prairie_goat,

Have you owned a Razor spotter?



Huntsman,

Razors are for men who don't need mittens in cold weather *grin*



Dave,

Yes, they're that good. If you recall at the icebreaker shoot we were both at a couple years ago, George Gardner's crew pulled up with about $100,000 worth of rifles and optics, including a handful of 85mm Razor spotters. Pretty sure they could have brought Meoptas or Swaros if they really wanted...

Yeah, maybe. I would be willing to bet it was some kinda business deal, as I really can't see those guys paying full retail for chinese stuff when they are known for high end quality.....

I've not owned a Razor HD, but I've spent a little time behind one. It was nice, but I sure wouldn't pay full retail for one. At the end of the day, it's still a Vortex.

I usually only admire my own stuff and self. But I wish I had noticed them so I could have checked them out. That's one of the nicest things about that gathering is being able to try gear you don't have.

I think the first year I went I was able to look through a Leica, a Zeiss and a Swaro. It was then that I decided I couldn't tell the difference between any of them, so I just bought the best deal I could find which ended up being a Zeiss.



Travis

I've been playing with a 65 Razor for a few months and am pretty impressed. I can see a very slight difference in clarity compared to a non HD Swaro but some that have compared them with me don't see a difference at all.

I've had a 65mm Razor for a couple years now. No complaints at all.

I have owned both the Vortex Razor 85mm and the Meopta S2 82mm scope and the Meopta is a better spotter IMO. Does it blow it away in side by side comparisons? Nope. Its just a better quality spotter from front to back and top to bottom.

To the OP, If you can get a screaming deal on the Razor then get it, theres nothing wrong with it and the warranty is pretty damn amazing. It'll do anything you'll want it to do

LOL, I just checked the price difference on Midway for a 65mm Razor vs a 65mm Swaro.

$1199 (complete scope/eyepiece) vs $4078 (body + eyepiece).

I certainly HOPE the Swaro is a better scope.

I can't presume to say what kind of arrangements they have, but they certainly didn't show up with a stack of Vortex gear. Their riflescopes, rangefinders, binos, etc, were of all different high-end brands and models. The only item that I noticed being exclusively of one model was their spotters...

And BTW, why do you say the Razor spotter is made in China?

As you know, Vortex doesn't make anything. Kind of like Bushnell. You can get Vortex (or Bushnell) products ranging from bottom-tier stuff made in China, like the Crossfire, Sportview, etc, to products that compete with top-tier stuff, like the Razor, ERS, LRHS, etc, which are all made in Japan.

Get a life.All your questions were answered in my posts.You are just looking for an internet bitchfight.