New spotting scope help

[Yukon Cornelius]

I was dead set in buying a vortex razor 11-33x 50mm objective and decided to take one last comparison.
I discovered the Leupold 15-30mm gold ring with hd glass for about 1/2 the cost. And the Kowa 50mm platform.
I only have access to the vortex to sample. Anyone have experience with the Leupold or Kowa? I’ve used a Leupold gold ring in 60mm that wasn’t HD but was just quality.

Before you suggest saving up for a bigger or more expensive glass, understand, I have no desire to spend $2300 on a piece of gear that a $700 piece will be sufficient for. Main purpose is moose hunting and counting brow times.

 

[zeroforhire]

Just picked up the hawke Ed 50mm scope. It compares very well with the razor. Way cheaper though.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

 

[Napperm4]

I had and used the leupold 10-20x40 and the 15-30x50. Both beautiful scopes and I preferred the Leupold 15-30 over the razor.

Light, compact and clear up to full 30x zoom minus a little edge distortion at full zoom.

Only reason I sold it was that I find the FOV on 50mm spotters too small for my liking

 

[AkMtnRunner]

I have the 11-33 Razor. It's pretty neat, but it isn't vastly more helpful for counting tines than a good pair of binoculars. In fact, I'd say it's probably on par with good higher power binoculars on a tripod for counting tines. After viewing a couple bulls from about 500 yds with this scope, I am looking at investing in a good full size spotter to help making those crucial determinations. And I don't believe it would take more than $2k, as decent 85mm's in the Razor line can usually be found for close to $1k here in the classifieds.

 

[6mm Remington]

I have the 15-30x50mm Leupold Gold ring spotting scope and I really like it. It's light and compact and I feel the clarity and quality of the optics are very good.

 

[Yukon Cornelius]

I have the 11-33 Razor. It's pretty neat, but it isn't vastly more helpful for counting tines than a good pair of binoculars. In fact, I'd say it's probably on par with good higher power binoculars on a tripod for counting tines. After viewing a couple bulls from about 500 yds with this scope, I am looking at investing in a good full size spotter to help making those crucial determinations. And I don't believe it would take more than $2k, as decent 85mm's in the Razor line can usually be found for close to $1k here in the classifieds.

That is my fear kind of. That it wouldn’t be that much better than a decent pair of binos. I found myself using my 8x monarch 7s during this past season and used the spotting scope to confirmmsex of caribou. Only problem, the caribou didn’t move that slow. Lol