Vortex Razor HD Scope
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Review Highlights
- Vortex’s
finest spotting scope to date
- Great
optical performance
- Sharp
right to the edge of the visual field
- Excellent
view-through case included
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Full
Review
Vortex released their highest-quality
spotting scope, the Razor HD, in mid-2009. We couldn’t review it then
because Razor HD scopes were only available in limited numbers and people
kept buying them before we could finish the article! Now that the supply
is more secure, we finally kept one long enough to examine the issue of
why Razor scopes are so popular. It comes down to a question of value:
how much performance do you get for your money? In the 80-mm class of
HD-glass spotting scopes, there are a number of excellent options, but
all of them cost at least $2500 for just the scope body and eyepiece.
The full-sized Vortex Razor is an 85-mm spotting scope that delivers the
performance of a large HD-glass scope with a 20-60x zoom eyepiece and
a great carrying case for just
$1,599.99
. That’s a great value, and that’s why it’s doing so well. Since
this article was published, Vortex has come out with 65- and 50-mm versions
of the Razor HD scope. We expect those to be very popular also.
Optical
Performance
The Razor HD is very bright
and sharp right to the edge of the field of view. Color fidelity is good;
we noted a slight magenta color bias during testing. There was minor color
aberration on brightly-lit, high-contrast objects, but no more than is
usually seen in these tests. One aspect of the Razor’s optical properties
that really impressed us was its flat-field performance. When we say it
stays sharp to the edge, we really mean it! There was a bit of distortion
at the very edge of the field, seen as a tendency for straight lines to
bow inward, but this was relatively minor and not beyond normal.
Glass
and Coatings
People who regularly peruse
optics literature will know that much of the optical performance of any
product has a lot to do with the coatings on the lenses and prisms, in
addition to the quality of the glass. In the Vortex Razor HD scope, the
lenses are arrayed as a triple apochromatic (three differently-shaped
lens elements that refocus all the visible light wavelengths to the same
focal plane), and two of these lens elements are HD (high density, low-dispersion)
glass. Vortex uses a variety of coatings to achieve different ends, two
of which are worth noting here. The XR multi-coating enhances light transmission
and improves image resolution, while the ArmorTek is a coating chemically
bonded to the outer lens surface which is harder and more scratch-resistant.
This coating has the additional benefit of shedding oil and dirt, rendering
the lens easier to clean and more resistant to corrosive properties of
fingerprints. What does all this mean to the average person? Well, look
through the Razor! It’s bright, it’s sharp, and it doesn’t smudge
so much! That’s what it means!
Physical
Properties
Currently, the Vortex Razor HD is only available in an angled configuration.
We do not know if Vortex has plans to release it in a straight version
or whether it will also eventually come out in a 65-mm size. The Razor
is fairly compact at 15.25 inches in length with the zoom eyepiece in
place. Weighing 65.7 oz. (just over 4 lbs), the Razor HD scope is a bit
lighter than average for a full-sized scope, especially when you figure
in the mass of an 85-mm objective lens. Part of this is due to the magnesium
alloy frame, which is a bit lighter and more durable than aluminum would
be. The Vortex Razor scope has a distinctive look, being primarily light
gray with a textured green skin that improves handling over part of the
prism housing and barrel. The eyepiece and focus knobs provide a black
accent to the package. The barrel has a lens hood which should be deployed
to reduce flare. There is a plastic sighting tube on the right side of
the lens mount that works reasonably well. The Vortex Razor HD is fully
sealed and argon-purged to be completely waterproof, dust-proof and internally
fog-proof. In common with most of its cohort, the Razor HD angled scope
has the tripod mount attached to a ring. The body of the scope rotates
within that ring when a set-screw is released. We noted a peculiarity
about the Razor with regards to this. The scope will rotate counter-clockwise
(from the eyepiece end perspective) until it hits about 135° rotation
from vertical, but when rotating clockwise, the scope stops sharply at
90°. We don’t know why. There are detents at full vertical and every
45°, but they are pretty much informational only since they are slightly
shallower than your average aspiring Hollywood starlet! The Razor tripod
mount has a standard ¼-inch screw socket and a hole for an anti-twist
pin.
Eyepieces
A 20-60x zoom eyepiece is the standard equipment offered with the Vortex
Razor HD spotting scope.
Fixed magnification wide-angle eyepieces are often a great choice for
digiscoping (see below).
We did not receive a 30x WA eyepiece for review so we cannot say much
about it beyond reporting some of its published statistics. We liked the
zoom eyepiece overall. We did notice a slight decline in image quality
at the highest magnification under some conditions. To put this in perspective,
please note that this is fairly common of zoom eyepieces in general. Some
eyepieces are completely useless when zoomed all the way up, which is
not the case here. When equipped with the 20-60x zoom eyepiece, the Razor
HD scope has a 117-foot field of view at 1000 yards at 20x magnification;
this drops to 60 feet at 60x. The 30x wide-angle eyepiece yields a 112-foot
field of view at the same distance. Both eyepieces have a minimum of 18
mm eye relief, so the Razor HD won’t present problems for people who
wear glasses. The eyecup adjusts upward with a helical counter-clockwise
twist. It does not have any stabilized intermediate positions, but the
intermediate positions don’t usually collapse on their own. Eyepieces
are readily switched in the field, thanks to standard bayonet-type mounts
and a nice fully locking mechanism. A sliding button on the prism housing
releases the lock to permit changing eyepieces.
Focusing
Unlike all of Vortex’s previous scopes, the Razor HD uses a dual focus
knob system. Considering this is their first try at one of these, they
did pretty well with it. With the 20-60x zoom eyepiece, we measured the
minimum close focus at 18 feet, 10 inches, which is a bit on the long
side. Then again, this isn’t all that significant since you don’t
really purchase a spotting scope to look at your toes! The only time a
short minimum close focus is particularly advantageous is in certain digiscoping
applications. One thing we really liked about the Vortex Razor focusing
was that it takes only 1.75 turns of the coarse focus knob to go from
close focus to infinity. This is really fast response for this, which
means this scope is very easy to focus even on a moving target. Overall,
we give Vortex very high marks for their focusing system on the Razor
HD scope.
Digiscoping
Vortex offers a digiscoping
adapter specific to the Razor HD scopes.
The Razor Digital Camera Adapter permits the use of both DSLR and point-and-shoot digital cameras
with filter threads to be attached to the spotting scope for digiscoping.
The adapter assembly fits over the Razor eyepiece and leaves space to
adjust the scope's zoom eyepiece. Adapter rings are included in 30 mm,
37 mm, 43 mm, 52 mm, 55 mm and 58 mm filter sizes. This is one of the
most versatile and well-designed digiscoping adapters that we’ve seen.
Case
and Caps
The lens caps on the Vortex
Razor HD scope are both made of flexible black rubber. The ocular lens
cap fits easily and snugly over the eyecup, and does not dislodge accidentally.
This is a great lens cap. There is even a little tab through which a hole
is drilled to permit tethering of the cap to the scope if that is desired.
There’s even another bracket on the sighting device that it could be
tethered to! That’s a nice little option. By contrast, we don’t like
the objective lens cap. It’s a heavy rubber cap that fits snugly into
the rim of the objective lens barrel. The problem is, it’s too snug!
You can’t get it in without a struggle, and getting it out nearly requires
vice grips! Hopefully, Vortex will improve this in the future. On the
upside, Vortex also supplies a great padded cordura view-through case
as standard equipment with the Razor HD scope. The case features a zipping
objective lens portion that has Velcro tabs to keep it open. There is
a zipping opening for the tripod-mounting foot to fit through, and then
the ocular end zips open leaving two flaps that can attach around the
handle of the tripod head, again using Velcro. The padding is thick enough
to provide substantial protection for the scope, and even though the Razor
is probably durable enough that it doesn’t need this, it certainly doesn’t
hurt to have it. The case has two handles for carrying it, and an optional
strap that attaches to rings on the case if you prefer to sling it over
a shoulder. One caveat: don’t use the handles or the strap unless you’ve
zipped the case shut or unfortunate things may occur! We give Vortex very
high marks for including this case. It is perfectly functional and includes
every desirable option without being clumsy or difficult to use. Other
manufacturers charge $60-$200 for a case like this. To provide this free
of charge sets a new standard in this regard.
Conclusions
Like all of Vortex’s high-end
products, the Razor HD spotting scope is backed by the VIP warranty, an
unlimited, unconditional warranty guaranteeing replacement of the scope
if it requires service or repair. So let’s review here: you get a full-sized
85-mm, HD glass, angled spotting scope that is relatively compact, lightweight
and durable, has excellent optical performance overall, is warrantied
up the wazoo and even includes a world-class padded case standard, for
just $1600. When you consider all that, perhaps it isn’t surprising
that the Vortex Razor scopes continue to sell well.
Buy Vortex
Razor HD Scope