Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Cameraland and Vortex?

I might be out of the loop but noticed Cameraland is not listing Vortex in there product mix any longer. I purchased my Vortex binoculars from them. When did they stop carrying Vortex?

We stopped handling Vortex a few months ago. There are many reasons, however, we are still here to bring you the best optics at the best prices. We have found parallel products to Vortex at 20-40% less money with as good if not better optics. Always feel free to call us to discuss this

here is the annoying thing about vortex for me, they change the product pretty often, so what happens is their old stuff gets taken to the wood shed in resale value. if you spent a lot of money on a razor or viper spotting scope 2 years ago, your faced with a jarring resale value. I don't know if doug factors this in, but I have bought a number for things from cameraland and the way it works for me there is, I buy the optics at an excellent price. a few years go by, I recoup most of my money on resale which allows me to buy upgraded new stuff from doug. the way vortex manages their brand makes me very careful spending money on their stuff, not to mention their scopes have tracking errors and QC issues, this despite what many say, I would rather just not need customer service. at the end of the day vortex is a marketing company. they do make the AMG scope but everything else is simply stuff made mostly in china with their name slapped on it.

If you're looking at an AMG may I suggest you save yourself $700.00 and look at an Athlon Cronus BTR You'll be very pleased.

I just wondered. I have only had Viper HD binos that Doug suggested. They have been pretty solid for me. I had one scope and it was ok but I sent it down the road. Just wondered what the deal was. Seems like turret twisting has become the new feature everyone is after. I have always been a set it and forget it type of guy. Never had tracking issues etc. thanks for the quick answer, no worries just wondered. I know brands can come and go.

Have you read this Athlon Argos Review
At less than $400.00 it is quickly becoming a go to purchase for many of our customers lately

Typical of Chinese made optics. Resale no bueno......

Ah, that would explain your Vortex stuff on Ebay.

Doug - sending you a PM.

The Athlon sauce is getting a little strong. Seems to be the response to every single optics question posed.

They've basically analyzed Vortex and created a parallel line of optics, while improving on it and offering these choices at a lower price. Athlon has become the reply to Vortex related sauce questions

Where is the Athalon Argos made?

I'd like to see the country of origin for each model line.

THIS^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Every single thing is Chinese with the exception of the Cronus, which a LOW sourced Japanese product.

Today I was in Cabelas and picked up one of there Krotos 20-60x86 Spotters on sale for 699 regular price 1199...The scope is a Rebadged Athalon.....Got home and compared it to my....20 year old Bushnell Spacemaster made in Japan.....The Krotos/Athalon was no better Optically!!!!!!!! what a shocker.....A little easier to get behind and Better eye relief....Optically a Tie.....Needless to say I Returned the Krotos.....


.No more Chinese optics for me. I do not care what company makes it....

You do know that almost all Vortex comes out of China and the Philippines. With the exception of the AMG and Razor HD Riflescopes (the Razor HD binocular production moved to China last year)

Not needing customer service is the best customer service.

Exactly why I haven't bought a Vortex anything, too much talk of how great the customer service is. Tells me it is being used a bunch.

Anything within my self-imposed optics budget these days apparently comes from China. If I gotta spend $1K+ to get Japanese stuff, I guess I'm stuck in China. It's been that way for years with phones & computers, so I guess this isn't any different.

I remember talking with the Parson's Scope guy in 2011. They refurbish/rebuild Lyman scopes, and he had an 18 month backlog at the time. He mentioned that they were seriously looking to build their own 6X target scope, on account of all the demand they had. The issue was that if they were to make it in their suburban Cincinnati shop, the thing would carry a $1,500 retail price, and he doubted that would fly. I'd expect he could source one from China for a good bit less.

I rolled the dice on Vortex many years ago, at Doug's suggestion. I'd never bought anything from him, but he had such a good reputation around here that I figured I'd give it a whirl. I've been nothing but pleased with the 4 scopes and spotter I got from them. The first couple scopes were from the Philippines, but the later items were all Chinese. None have failed me. I did send one scope back, but it passed all their testing, and a closer look at my setup revealed a cracked scope base. I don't doubt others' experiences - I'm just relaying mine.

Having given my spotter to a hunting guide, I needed a replacement a couple months ago. This time, Doug suggested the Athlon sauce. I couldn't find any remotely objective reviews online, but given how Doug & Co. have treated me over 10 or so years, I was comfortable enough giving it a try. My opinion so far is that I got far more spotter than I was expecting for the $.

Like everything, time will tell whether Athlon's products or people will hold up. It's for sure, though, that CameraLandNY will have egg on their face if there are problems.

I'd expect Doug took that into account when he signed-on with them.

FC

I am quite aware of the counties of origin for Vortex...and I am not a Vortex fan in general, even though I do own a few items. Even at that, I will take some Chinese over all Chinese, and Some Filipino over any Chinese....The biggest burr under my saddle, however, is the fact that no matter the question posed, no matter what brand discussed, a diatribe on how great Athlon is, and how they sell the same thing for less is the result. It gets tiring.

I get it. The reason that Athlon is suggested when compared to Vortex is their product lines are extremely similar with Athlon being noticeably less expensive.
It is similar to comparing the Camaro and the Firebird years ago. Both were very similar vehicles and a fair side by side comparison vs a Mustang which was in the same class but a totally different vehicle.
Vortex was first and it seems that Athlon has come along and possibly copied or tried to reproduce their models with slight improvements at a lower cost.
I have stated many times, they have not in any way reinvented the wheel, just offered the existing wheel for less money possibly from the same production plant.
Their new product line offerings for 2018 have added new items that have features they have designed to make their products stick out from the crowd.