Leupold BX-5 vs Vortex Razor HD Binoculars?

[COBoy97]

I was trying to get some opinions on what would be the better choice. I'm looking at getting a set of 10x50 binoculars for this upcoming fall. I am set on 10x50 since it still has a 5 mm exit pupil as that helps gather light in early morning and and late afternoon situations but provides a little more magnification than 8x42. I know that with modern lens coatings that the exit pupil isn't as big a deal as it used to be, but it still helps let more light in to the eye.

The two binoculars I am mainly interested in are the Leupold BX-5 Santiam HD and the Vortex Razor HD. I've looked through the 10x50 Vortex in store and the giant 15x56 BX-5's in store (mainly because no where in 150mi near me has a pair of 10x50 in stock) and they are both super clear edge to edge, but the lighting in store is very different than natural sunlight.

Thanks for input.

P.S.- I've heard and read great things about both companies warranties, so I'm not too concerned about the warranty aspect.

 

[schmalts]

You are going to have a hard time finding anyone who actually compared the 2 in an outdoor setting. What you will get is a lot of people saying "this is what I have and it is great" That being said, in this case I would rather buy from a company that has some products made in the USA over one that has little to NONE made in the USA. So, if both being equal in performance, it is a no-brainer who to buy from. PM me for a price on the Leupolds

 

[COBoy97]

Good point on the comparing the two, since not many people out there would buy both to compare. I should've clarified that I would like to know peoples opinions who've used either of them.

I'm mostly curious on the BX-5's. I can't seem to find tons of reviews on them. Seems like everyone tends to lean towards vortex because of the no-fault warranty, and most sales people at sporting goods store tend to push them more than other brands in my experience.

I pretty sure Leupolds Binos are made in Japan and the Vortex are in China.

 

[Ridge Ghost]

Any reason you are limiting yourself to just these two brands? In that price range I would be looking at Maven B2's, Meopta Meostar and Zeiss Conquest.

 

[Ridge Ghost]

I'm mostly curious on the BX-5's. I can't seem to find tons of reviews on them. Seems like everyone tends to lean towards vortex because of the no-fault warranty, and most sales people at sporting goods store tend to push them more than other brands in my experience.

I pretty sure Leupolds Binos are made in Japan and the Vortex are in China.

What you will find is that pretty much all of the big optics brands have a great warranty, including Leupold. Vortex just happens to advertise it more. Don't let that be a factor in your choice.

The sporting goods stores employees push Vortex because they get higher points towards their commission than with other brands. I have several friends who have worked in the retail sporting goods industry and they all confirm this.

The Razor line used to be made in Japan but are now made in China.

 

[COBoy97]

I’ve looked through the Conquest in store and the glass is very good, but the Vortex and Leupold feel more comfortable in the hand in my opinion.
I’m mainly looking at those two because I have an opportunity to get a deal on either one of these is the main reason.

 

[Stingray]

I like Leupold a lot and I’m inclined to buy the BX-5 in 15x56 and the new RBX-3000, but I’m hearing poor reviews from people I trust. The 15x56 gave some people headaches and they thought the clarity was just okay and eye cups were too large. And I read a disappointing pair of reviews at Outdoor Life for the 10X42 and the 15x56 Santiam’s. So, I’m not sure I want to give them a shot.

As for the RBX-3000, I read several impressions from guys at another forum who have seen and played with the RBX-3000 at several recent outdoors shows. While the posts generally said the unit is impressive and that Meopta and Leupold built a nice product, the price is very high and the unit seems a bit less impressive than the Leica, Zeiss or Swarovski that are roughly the same price. Does anyone have first hand experience with them? Have those people compared these new units to the big three? I’d be interested in thoughts before ordering them.

I did pass on the Santiam scopes. I found they didn’t seem to be quite as good as the Meopta for roughly the same price. But I’d still like to spend money with Leupold but not if the products aren’t quite as good as the competition. So, I would really appreciate any feedback from real world users.

 

[COBoy97]

For rifle scopes, Leupold are my favorite. They’re tough and I believe most if not all all of them are made here in the US. Plus I mainly only use them for hunting, and I like the fact that in some of their higher end hunting scopes I can still get a simple reticle. I don’t really plan on shooting anything past 500yds so I don’t have the need for all the long range reticles.

I agree with you about learning from others experience with the bx-5. I know they’re fairly new to the market only being out about two years, so that’s probably another reason I can’t find a ton of reviews on them. It sounds like some people you know have had issues, so maybe I’ll continue looking around or just decide on the Vortex Razors or take another look at Zeiss.

 

[Stingray]

Agree. I have a VX-6HD that I love. Great scopes.

 

[OzzyDave]

Love my BX-5’s. Was watching hogs feeding under the full moon the weekend just gone. Could pick out the boar in the mob. Oh i would have loved to have my recurve with me.

 

[COBoy97]

I like Leupold a lot and I’m inclined to buy the BX-5 in 15x56 and the new RBX-3000, but I’m hearing poor reviews from people I trust. The 15x56 gave some people headaches and they thought the clarity was just okay and eye cups were too large. And I read a disappointing pair of reviews at Outdoor Life for the 10X42 and the 15x56 Santiam’s. So, I’m not sure I want to give them a shot.

As for the RBX-3000, I read several impressions from guys at another forum who have seen and played with the RBX-3000 at several recent outdoors shows. While the posts generally said the unit is impressive and that Meopta and Leupold built a nice product, the price is very high and the unit seems a bit less impressive than the Leica, Zeiss or Swarovski that are roughly the same price. Does anyone have first hand experience with them? Have those people compared these new units to the big three? I’d be interested in thoughts before ordering them.

I did pass on the Santiam scopes. I found they didn’t seem to be quite as good as the Meopta for roughly the same price. But I’d still like to spend money with Leupold but not if the products aren’t quite as good as the competition. So, I would really appreciate any feedback from real world users.

I agree with spotting scope. I looked through the Santiam and a Razor side by side. The razor had more detail in image and even though they were both at same magnification the Vortex image seemed a little larger. I will say that the Leupold image was brighter, but did not have the level of detail in the hairs on a mount in the store that the razor's had.

It makes me curious to know if its the same with the binoculars comparing the BX-5's to the Razor's as far as the image detail.

 

[Tomas]

I'm not good at binoculars, but I found the review about best binoculars for safari https://hikezone.org/best-binoculars-for-safari/ . I liked the description of the Nikon Monarch binoculars. Perhaps because I have several quality lenses for the camera of this company, but I really would like to buy this particular binoculars. Do you think this will be a good choice? I believe that their price is high, but if these binoculars are of high quality and will serve no less than my lenses, then I would like one.

 

[Kotimaki]

I recently sent a pair of gold rings in for service , They were replaced with 12x50 santiams. I have only had them out twice turkey hunting so far but I can say Im impressed with the clarity and light gathering ability thus far. Also , I cant say enough good things about Leupolds customer service!

 

[Jim Bradbury]

For what it is worth. I have both a pair of Vortex Razor 12X50 and a pair of Zeiss Conquest 10X42. Both are very good binoculars. My choice in the field even though they are a little bit heavier are the Vortex Razor's. Now that is just my opinion and I am sure that there are many others on here who will disagree with me and that is fine. As for warranties many manufacture's say they have life time warranties. Now I am not going to Knock Leupolds as they are a very good product. Last year, my hunting partners and me drove up to Alaska for a three week long moose hunt. When we got up there, I discovered that my Leupold range finder would not work. I live in the Seattle area and Portland Oregon is not too far away. My wife and I made a day trip to Beaverton and the Leupold headquarters. Leupold did not manufacture the rangefinders that I had and the warranty was basically void. What the did do for me was offer me 40% off on a new rangefinder. Which I did take them up on and purchased the RX - 1600i rangefinder which I am happy with other than having to purchase them instead of them warranting and replacing the pone that went bad on me. Whichever binoculars you decide on I am sure you will be happy with them.

 

[SoCalHuntr]

The warranties are not created equally. You could lose a pair of binos in a house fire and vortex will replace them. No matter if your the original owner... or 5th hand used buyer...

 

[FoggDogg]

Sorry to resurrect an old thread. I’m looking for some new binos. 1 set to do-it-all. I’ve narrowed it down to Leupold Santium BX-5 12x50 or some Maven B.4 12x56. Budget is about $1100. Uses would be whitetail hunting and 3D. Thanks.

 

[Qubo]

I just got Bx-5s in the 10x42 before the hunting season and love them. I was considering the Mavens as well but didn’t get a chance to look through them to compare. Contact @schmalts and he’ll hook you up. I bought the Leupolds cause he gave me a price cheaper than the Mavens.

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