Vortex Razor HD Spotting Scope

This won't be a technical review and its not intended for the professional but here goes. I ordered this scope along with a Manfrotto 055XPROB tripod and the Manfrotto 393 Gimbal head. I'm very happy with the combination. I intend to use the set up primarily for birding and digiscoping. I've been researching the scope for about a year and am thrilled I went with it. In my limited experience with it everything good I read about it is true. I can't imagine anyone who researched this scope properly being disapointed with it. I also recommend the tripod and gimbal combination. The tripod was an easy call but it took a bit more on my part to decide between the Gimbal and a Pan/Tilt head. Again, I'm happy with the Manfrotto 393. It set up the way it should have and the balance with the scope on it is wonderful. The combo might be a bit heavy if you're running a marathon but I find it quite comforting. There can be some shake, mostly at greater magnification and if my hands are on it (I'm almost 60 so I shake a little, too) but its a sturdy set up and if I take my hands off it settles down quite nicely. It's a powerful scope and with the exception of certain applications I think any shake can be lived with or overcome.Amazon shipped the tripod and head. On time, packed well, all as promised.A special word about OpticsPlanet. They got the scope to me BEFORE it was promised. In fact it arrived before anything else that I ordered at the same time. I screwed up and ordered a separate case for the scope, didn't realize one came with it. I had the pleasure of speaking with Gary in customer support. He walked me through the return process even though it was right there in front of me on the web page. The return went without a hitch. The credit hit my card in record time and I can't be happier. Would be a pleasure to deal with OpticsPlanet again.Again, great service and great product. Thank you.

Ordered 2 scopes, deciding which one to take to Yellowstone:* $550 - Vanguard Endeavor HD 82A angled with 20-60X, and* $1195 - Vortex 20-60x85 Razor HD spotting scope.Both are 60x, 85 mm scopes. Ended up keeping the more expensive Vortex, and returning the Vanguard. 2 issues on Vanguard:* Could not (3 of us tried) get the case on the Vanguard. Could get it over the lower body but could not get the upper section to zip up over the angled part of the scope, even with the eyepiece removed (it would not fit over the scope). Either the case was badly designed, or I was sent a case for a straight scope when what I ordered was an angled scope. This order was fulfilled by Amazon, but the case came in the box with the scope, so it was odd that it did not fit. Did not have time to resolve because I was leaving for a Yellowstone trip and needed to pick only one scope to bring.* Digiscoping - Had wanted to do digiscoping with these with my iphone. On Amazon, found iphone 6 Vortex digiscoping set-up by Phoneskope and got that within 2 days via Amazon Prime. Could not find digiscoping option for Vanguard on Amazon. Later on, realized on the Phoneskope web-site itself, there are all sorts of options (including for Vortex and Vanguard) and various phone models, but only a very few of these Phoneskopes are listed on Amazon, so you don't realize they exist. You would not find the others without going to Phoneskope site. Could not get the Phoneskope model for the Vanguard in time before my trip. These are not interchangeable - depends on the lens size (could not fit the Vortex Phone Scope case on the Vanguard).If I had had more time, both to work out why the Vanguard case wouldn't fit (replacement case?) and to work out an order delivery of a Phone Scope matched to the Vanguard, I may very well have preferred the Vanguard due to price ($550 Vanguard vs. $1195 Vortex). As it was, I was unable to get the set-up in time to compare the 2, and returned the Vanguard and kept the Vortex. With respect to the scopes themselves, I therefore did not try these outside, but only in my apartment, across a 40 ft distance. For that distance, they were visually the same, but that distance is of course not the main use & I did not do longer distance comparison. I preferred the lens cap of Vanguard over Vortex (Vanguard has a snap lens - easier & quicker to place than working the stiff Vortex rubber cover over the 85 mm lens). I preferred the Vortex case over Vanguard (Vortex was padded & actually fit), and I preferred the Vortex coarse/fine adjustment knobs over Vanguard (Vanguard was slightly stiffer to move). However, these scopes were overall very similar (feature-wise), though quite different price-wise.Highly recommend the Phone Scope attachment - had a crowd of people every place I set up the scope in Yellowstone, with many comments both on the set-up (use of iphone) and the quality of the picture (and it was much easier to share views with the phone attached, since it was like looking at a mini-TV screen rather than having everyone duck down to the eye piece). Got some great pics.

This is an excellent spotting scope for olympic-style recurve archery 90 meters. Great light return and no color distortions. This means you can easily distinguish between the color of your nocks and the target face colors. Lens cap is NOT too tight. I wear glasses and able to get full view of image through the eyepiece. I've spent most of my life working in laboratories with microscopes so I have the advantage of knowing what numerical specs I need in an eyepiece. This scope is likely to work well for most people wearing glasses. If you wear glasses and have never used a scope before I recommend visiting a shop somewhere to see what you can and can't see through a couple of different scopes or binoculars. There are physical limits to what smaller lenses inside an eyepiece can do, getting some hands on experience with these limits will let you know what to expect out of scopes in general as well as help you find what works for your eyes.If deciding between this scope and a Leica, Swarovski, Zeiss or other top manufacturer, price is the obvious factor. Understand that optics grow exponentially more expensive after a certain point as they begin pushing limits of physics where the precision and materials necessary start becoming insanely difficult to manufacture. The top companies all make amazing optics and have the skill and ability to push those limits. Be sure you buy a scope to fit the job, do you need to see 100 meters or push the limits and see 100 light years, they make all types...for a price. The Vortex Razor HD 20-60x85 exhibits superb craftsmanship and unbeatable warranty. After making my purchase and liking the scope I tried to learn more about the company as I had never head of Vortex before and had made my purchase based on high ratings in reviews. I found Vortex Optics is a DBA (Doing Business As) of Sheltered Wings, Inc. which is listed as a Veteran Owned Business in Wisconsin.