Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Nikon 13x30 vs Vortex 13x30 spotter

Has anyone been able to compare the 2 side by side?

What scope models are you referring to?

The Nikon ED 13x30 spotter vs the Vortex Razor 11x33 spotter

You know how folks can't help but add something to the thread that is not in the question. There is another you may consider. I found about it a couple days ago. It is an Alpen 20X50 which is a palm-sized unit. I have no idea how good it is.

I looked real hard at the Vortex Razor 11-33x50 angled body, before going with the Razor 16-48x65 angled body.

The 11-33 was really nice. Excellent glass, lightweight, seemingly well made.

The deal-breaker for me was I wanted a ring mount so the eyepiece can be rotated without re-aiming the scope. The little 11-33X doesn't have a ring mount. I don't think the little Nikon does either for that matter. That's a concession I don't like.

I'm mostly curious about the optical quality between them. I have the Nikon and saw the Vortex in the classifieds. The Nikon works fine for my needs so not sure if any gain from the Vortex.

Here's a good little video a guy did comparing the 50mm Nikon, Vortex, and Minox,


http://vimeo.com/59926662

Doubt you will gain anything with the Vortex over the Nikon. The Nikon is the class of the field for compact spotters.

Forgot about that video. Thanks for the reminder.

Not personal experience, but a close friend and fellow poster on here has compared the two side by side. He said that he prefers the optics of the Vortex by a slight margin. Take it for what it's worth.

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That's kinda the info I was looking for.

Why would you need to rotate a scope without re-aiming? I understand using an angled head scope from the prone but most tripods allow you to tilt the entire scope.

I just like it. Maybe I want to change the angle for more comfortable position for myself, or maybe just to let my shorter wife have a gawk at what I'm seeing.

Another thing I like about a ring mount on an angled body is that you can pan a very wide distance without having to either reposition your tripod, or repositioning yourself. You just change the angle of the eyepiece and keep panning.

I guess trading my Nikon for the Vortex would be like getting rid of a good shooting 270 for a 270WSM.

I'd say more like a 270 for a 280.

I have several Nikon Fieldscopes, the ED50, FSIII 60 and the
ED82. I like the Nikons and they work well for me as I can
interchange eyepieces among them all. They have different powers
as per the objective size. I have some fixed sizes as well as
zoom.

Every time I look through my ED50 I say wow, this is good.

The best zoom eyepiece choice is the 13-40X MC II, for the ED 50, it is the one with the twist up eyecup, so it is good for glasses or without.

I have not tried the Vortex, but I did want to show the options I have with the Nikon Fieldscope.

You got me looking at that 16x48 now Montana. For the price how are the Razors optics ?

I'm really diggin' my Razor, glass is great to me, but I'm no self-proclaimed expert on glass.

A couple pics,









My only other spotter was a Leupold Green Ring 15-45x60. Compared to the Razor, the green ring was like looking through a milk bottle.