Ram94
WKR
- Joined
- Jul 24, 2019
- Messages
- 627
I recently had the opportunity to compare a few different spotting scopes side by side and figured I would share my thoughts.
I had been using the 20-60x80mm Vortex Viper for the past 4 years and got by okay with it but was struggling with its size and weight in the pack so decided to go for a smaller 65mm scope. I had read nothing but good reviews about the Athlon Ares 15-45x65mm and had seen it compared to the Vortex Razor many times. When they went on sale, I went for it and ordered one up. A friend of mine was generous enough to lend me his 65mm Gen1 Razor to compare so that I could see for myself. If the Athlon didn’t stack up, I would return it and look for a used Razor. A couple days later, a coworker decided to also lend me his Pentax 65edii with a fixed 28x eyepiece to add to the mix.
Later that week I received the Athlon and was a bit taken back at the compact size. It really looks more like a 50mm than a 65mm but if it can hang, then that’s a great feature. I got out yesterday and put them to the test.
Really, the 65mm Pentax, 65mm Razor and 65mm Athlon beat out the 80mm Viper pretty easily. I set up on a hill off the side of the highway and was looking at two trucks parked 950 yards away. With the Viper, I couldn’t read the license plates through any of the zoom range. I really could barely make out that there was letters and numbers there. The Pentax, was the nicest image but I was not quite able to read the plates either. (maybe with a higher mag fixed eyepiece or zoom eyepiece, but this is what I had to compare) The Razor and Athlon I could read the license plates from about 30x to 45x and there was not a noticeable difference between them. A bit better eye relief on the Razor but wider picture on the Athlon. To my eyes, it was too close to call one better than the other.
I’m very impressed with the Ares as it is considerably less expensive than the other scopes and boasts the same no fault warranty as Vortex. All this in a smaller/lighter package. Needless to say, I’ll be keeping the Ares simply for the fact that it is smaller and performs identical to the Razor. I don’t think you can go wrong either way though. Reading a plate at nearly 1000 yards is pretty impressive in my mind without taking out a second mortgage to buy glass.
80mm Viper
65mm Razor
65mm Ares
65mm Pentax
65mm Razor
65mm Ares
I had been using the 20-60x80mm Vortex Viper for the past 4 years and got by okay with it but was struggling with its size and weight in the pack so decided to go for a smaller 65mm scope. I had read nothing but good reviews about the Athlon Ares 15-45x65mm and had seen it compared to the Vortex Razor many times. When they went on sale, I went for it and ordered one up. A friend of mine was generous enough to lend me his 65mm Gen1 Razor to compare so that I could see for myself. If the Athlon didn’t stack up, I would return it and look for a used Razor. A couple days later, a coworker decided to also lend me his Pentax 65edii with a fixed 28x eyepiece to add to the mix.
Later that week I received the Athlon and was a bit taken back at the compact size. It really looks more like a 50mm than a 65mm but if it can hang, then that’s a great feature. I got out yesterday and put them to the test.
Really, the 65mm Pentax, 65mm Razor and 65mm Athlon beat out the 80mm Viper pretty easily. I set up on a hill off the side of the highway and was looking at two trucks parked 950 yards away. With the Viper, I couldn’t read the license plates through any of the zoom range. I really could barely make out that there was letters and numbers there. The Pentax, was the nicest image but I was not quite able to read the plates either. (maybe with a higher mag fixed eyepiece or zoom eyepiece, but this is what I had to compare) The Razor and Athlon I could read the license plates from about 30x to 45x and there was not a noticeable difference between them. A bit better eye relief on the Razor but wider picture on the Athlon. To my eyes, it was too close to call one better than the other.
I’m very impressed with the Ares as it is considerably less expensive than the other scopes and boasts the same no fault warranty as Vortex. All this in a smaller/lighter package. Needless to say, I’ll be keeping the Ares simply for the fact that it is smaller and performs identical to the Razor. I don’t think you can go wrong either way though. Reading a plate at nearly 1000 yards is pretty impressive in my mind without taking out a second mortgage to buy glass.
80mm Viper
65mm Razor
65mm Ares
65mm Pentax
65mm Razor
65mm Ares
. I'm looking to buy my first spotter and have been told from several others to not go with anything less than the 80mm but it seems like many of you like the 65mm. I would be using it for a western hunt and carrying it around in my pack so I like the smaller size of the ares...
. I'm looking to buy my first spotter and have been told from several others to not go with anything less than the 80mm but it seems like many of you like the 65mm. I would be using it for a western hunt and carrying it around in my pack so I like the smaller size of the ares...
