Vortex Optics Viper HD Spotting Scopes

For those of you that are overwhelmed by the wide variety of optics available for purchase, I know what you mean . In as few of words as I can I will explain my findings. Although I almost purchased a Bushnell spotting scope at first, I changed my mind for the reasons of size and overall reviews. I never tried it , but I'm sure I would have liked it as well. I did however purchase this spotting scope, the Vortex Optics Viper HD 20-60x80 and also the Celestron 52252 100mm Ultima . I searched and searched for a spotting scope with perfect reviews. Good luck at finding one even at a very high dollar price tag. Yes there is about a $500 dollar difference between these two scopes I purchased . I was going to keep the cheaper of the two because $800 bucks is a lot of money for anything. With that said , I looked through both and set up both on tripods, very good tripods I might add. If I had not looked through the Vortex then I would have kept the Celestron no problem. It was a very clear big view. And the size of it is also very big. I thought the Vortex was big till I saw the Celestron. The Vortex was so much easier to focus and so much smoother and so much smaller, and a crisp clean image( so did the celestron). My mind was made up, I was keeping the Vortex and paying the higher dollar for a great spotting scope. I also purchased( and have used both already)these two excellent tripods. The Bushnell Advanced Tripod and the Reti-CAM MT01 Table tripod. Both handled either of those spotting scopes I compared. Hope this helps someone , somehow.

This is the third spotting scope I've owned and used as a birder. I highly recommend this scope. Coarse focus is comfortably stiff, fine focus smooth and precise. Visually the glass is bright sharp and distortion free edge to edge. Zero chromatic aberrations. Absolutely stunning low light resolution. This scope works fantastic in all conditions, but really and truly excels when conditions are dicey. Top that off with Vortex VIP lifetime warranty and I just toss it in the back of my jeep bury it in crap and bounce off down the road. Haven't had any problems at all and I do not protect the scope as i should. Solid product.

We purchased this scope after visiting Yellowstone National Park and being able to use ones to view wolves, bear and elk in the Lamar Valley. The adjustments are easy, the quality of the lenses are excellent, and the clarity equal that of some of the other scopes we used that were 3x the price. It comes with a carrier which is very helpful to protect the scope.

Was second guessing my purchase before it arrived, thinking I should have paid the extra cost for the Razor. I was not disappointed. Very high quality product. Negligible difference between the Viper and the Razor. See bullet holes at 100 and 300 yards. Use it with reactive targets at 600 and 800 yards. Use it at 1,000 yards to see bullet strikes on steel plates. Purchased the tri-pod and zip-on sleeve separately.

I have had it a short while but so far its been great. The cover isn't easy to install but it only took 5 minutes. Including pictures of my deer stand from 500 yards away. The first one is my SG3 at 4X optical zoom, second is the scope at 20X and the last is at 60X. I was just holding my phone up to the scope so I couldn't get the entire range of view. Viewed several deer at 600+ yards. Very happy with my purchase.

I love this Vortex Spotting Scope. Although the protective sleeve was kind of had to get on. Maybe a zippered sleeve would be nicer in that aspect. Amazon is a different story. I ordered an angled and received a straight but before I sent it back I did a comparison, straight vs angled, and found for my application (hunting) a straight is more advantagous. Just how did Amazon know a straight would suit me better?.

This is an excellent scope, and is backed by a lifetime warranty. The picture is crisp and crystal clear, and is rugged enough that I don't have to worry about the wind accidentally knocking my tripod over and smashing up my scope. This also works well to look at the moon and stars! A must-have for the avid birder.

I have previously hated using spotting scopes because they always had something wrong that made them not worth the expense and hassle. This Vortex unit has dispelled all of my prior dissatisfaction with spotting scopes. Super clear optics, easy to focus with both gross and fine focus control, the zoom control is fast and easy to grab and adjust without needing to lift your view from the eyepiece, and the smooth operation of both the focus and the zoom make it so you can adjust without jiggling your image so much as to make it useless to look through, like a bad action film. The included neoprene cover was a little hard to put on over the already rubberized exterior, but is nice and leaves all the controls and interfaces still accessible. The lens covers are also a nice touch, keeping the lenses dust free.

Vortex is the best product for what you pay