Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics New binoculars ~ Leica vs. Vortex

Way overdue for a new pair of binoculars for hunting and general purpose. Looking at the Leica Trinovid HD 10x42 and the Vortex Razor HD 10x42 ... with the Vortex being slightly more expensive. Anyone here have preference of one over the other???

I'm sure you will hear opinions on both. Someone else will chime in with Swaro. Next guy perhaps Zeiss. And, of course, never discount Leupold.

The only question to answer is: which do you prefer. Can you look through them both, particularly in low light? Maybe order them both from Cameraland and return the ones you don't like?

I preferred Leica. It might be nothing more than brand snobbery but they worked better for me. YMMV.

Between the two you are considering the Leica are the hands-down better glass.

Any Leica (and Swarovski) product can be handed down with pride to your kid.

The Trinovid was changed significantly almost exactly a year ago. They were so good they were cutting into Ultravid sales. They were not made better in the new model.

I would not compare the new Trinovid favorably with the Vortex Razor line. The old line was probably better. I actually have the old Trinovid and the Razor and have looked through the new Trinovid extensively.

Although of those two I'd also pick leica... before the "HD" Trinovid came out, last Christmas I order my sons the "old" Trinovids from Doug, they are fantastic binos, especially at those closeout prices.

You did the right thing, I ordered the "New" trinovids and returned them to Doug and ended up with the "old" trinovids. I also sold a less then 1 year old pair of Razor HD's on the classifieds a few weeks ago and the "old" and "new" trinovids were better and a whole lot cheaper.

Euro Optic still has the 10x "old" Trinovid for $899.

May want to take a look at the TRACT Toric. You don't need to spend $1000+ to get the quality you want. When I first started posting here I got quite a few less than favorable comments my way when I stated our Toric is equal to, if not superior quality than the Razor, and rivals the SLC. Thankfully we have had great support from Members here and on other forums, who have all backed up my claim.

The TRACT Toric 10x42 is $664 at that quality level. Just means $300-$400 more for other new gear...

I went through this last year and came out with the Trini HD. I love my 10x's. These are really really nice bino's for the price.

Definitely.

I just went through this last week- to the point where the guys at the Cabela's Optics counter would roll their eyes, and seem annoyed, again.

For me, it was between the Trinovid HD, Conquest HD, Vortex Razor and Swaro SLC. You hear great things about various manufacturer's warranty, but, personally I've never had to send anything back to any manufacturer for warranty work.

Truthfully, to my eyes, I couldn't really detect a difference in optics. It mostly came down to ergonomics- what fit my face better.

The Vortex was the first ruled out. It came down to the SLC vs the Trinovid HD. I liked the Swaros, but didn't see the value paying another $600 over the Leicas.

Just got my Leicas yesterday, and spent a lot of the day looking out over KC from my 7th floor office. They feel very solidly built, very bright and I like the neoprene binocular harness that comes with them.

All in all, I don't think either the Voretx or the Leica is a bad choice, the Leicas just felt better to me.

Thank you for posting this; I'm trolling for a set of 10x binos.

ETA: Got a link? I can't find them.

Their website seems to be down.

Scopelist and Europtics are affiliated. Here is the link to the Scopelist site - http://www.scopelist.com/leica-Trinovid-binoculars.aspx

I bought the 8x42 Leica Trinovids (last years model for $849) and am VERY happy with them.

Not to hijack the OP's thread, but how do I tell which ones are the "older" German made binos rather than the newer version?

I believe the model number #40009 are the old ones, and #40319 are the HDs(which I bought, and am pleased with).

The older ones have the diopter setting on the hinge next to the focus.

Looks like you got the answers you were looking for. To clarify, the model of Trinovid before the current HD was made in Portugal, not in Germany in case that matters to you. Below is the link to the EuroOptic website.

http://www.eurooptic.com/leica-trinovid-10x42-black-armored-binocular-40009.aspx

I've looked through both. Leica by a mile.

Just started another thread on this subject, but for the most part I'm squared-away.

Was there any noticeable differences in the build construction between the German made binos versus the one made in Portugal?