Vortex Optics Razor Binoculars 18X56 Review

I was very pleased with these new binoculars but had to return them as the tripod mount cap was broken. The screw is in the hole. For over $1600 I would expect better quality control

Looking through these binoculars is literally – and I can't stress it – like opening your eyes and seeing the world for the first time. The field of view and clarity just sucks. My friends also hate me for not shutting up about these binoculars. I've actually never seen a Swano EL or Zeiss compete head-to-head with the Razor UHD, but I don't care if I ever do.

We mounted an 8x42 on a Vortex Pro tripod and set it up in the living room. When something happens, we usually take out our phone and click on the pickaxe while pressing the phone against the binoculars. Perfect clear shots. Vortex UHD's clarity, brightness and usability are top-notch. The front lens caps are a snap-on design compared to the bottom model's Vortex caps, which slide over the lens. Love snaps in caps because you can squeeze the set really tight for small faces.

If you are familiar with Vortex, you know that their quality is excellent. Maybe there are better glass manufacturers? Sure, but you're paying twice as much for their stuff. And the differences are small, at least for me. And the quality of Vortex gear is second to none. Lifetime Guarantee. said Nuff. "These binoculars have a surprisingly good field of view, even at full magnification. I can easily and conveniently glaze the entire mountain slope. I use them regularly to see the mountains…

I mainly use them for bird watching and they are great. Much brighter than other good binoculars I've had in the past with a nice wide field of view. I haven't directly compared them to Swarovski, but they "feel" similar. Focusing is much more sensitive than other binoculars I've used (two full turns of the knob across the range), making it difficult to follow a radially flying bird, but handy for pulling a bird out of a thicket of bushes . It has excellent focusing at close range (around 1.5m)

My wife wanted to give me something special for my 65th birthday and she complained that I always buy what I want, why don't you just tell her and she can buy it. I thought about it and decided that a good set of bird watching binoculars would be great. I already have a good set of 12x50 binoculars and while excellent for distant subjects you can often see birds a bit closer and 12x gives too much magnification. I chose the Razor USD 8x42 binoculars, they are a bit heavier but have better glass

It's really great. I wanted binoculars for a sailboat. I loved my Razor HD 10x42 which I had for about 6 years but often forgot at home. So I needed a specific pair of binoculars that I could leave on the boat. I compared my Razor 10x42 to a typical Steiner 7x50, which is often considered the ideal marine binocular. My 10x42 had higher magnification (10 vs 7) but had a slightly wider field of view. The wider field of view helped provide better context and allowed you to better stabilize your…

I was in the market to replace my 16 year old Audubon Birder Bausch & Lomb 8x36 binoculars which I used all the time for bird watching. I wanted "the last bird watching binoculars you will ever need in your life" so I decided to really give it a try. IMHO the icing on the cake is the Swarovski EL 8.5x42 which usually sells for >$2500 which I couldn't justify so I started looking for good binoculars in the $1200-$1500 price range. Did a lot of research and finally decided on the Vortex Razor…