Spotter comparison: Leupold, Vortex, Swarovski 20-60x85mm

[MTHunter10]

I recently purchased a Leupold SX4 Spotting scope 20-60x85mm and wanted to add my .02 since there hasn't been a lot of discussion on Leupold Spotters that I can find. I tried the Swaro ATS, Leupold's SX4 and SX5, and the Vortex Razor all in 80-85mm bell at my local Scheels I was able to watch a herd of Elk at 2.5 miles. I would rank these spotters Swaro, SX4, SX5, Razor. The Swaro was the clearest (obviously) but also about $2000 more than I wanted to spend. Me and the employee both agreed that we liked the clarity and brightness of the SX4 better than the SX5. Clarity was almost negligible, but the SX4 seemed to show a brighter picture. I believe the SX5 did have better edge clarity but the center clarity was about the same. It was an overcast day late in the afternoon. The Razor was a bit blurrier at long range and noticeably darker than the other three scopes. I talked with Leupold and they said the main difference is that the SX5 was assembled in the USA and the SX4 was not, otherwise I believe the glass and internal components were very similar (if not the same). It was an easy choice for me to save $800 and purchase the SX4 Spotter. Shout out to the local Scheels for offering to take these spotters outside for a test run!

 

[fatrascal]

You did it the right way. You went out with several scopes you were interested in and picked the one you like. Kudos to you. Hope you get many years of good use out of it. I just gave an SX4 65mm away in a Big Buck contest and was wondering how good it was. Thanks for the review. Fatrascal.

 

[sigguy3]

Nice they let you do that. Curious if that was that the gen II razor or the original?

 

[MTHunter10]

Nice they let you do that. Curious if that was that the gen II razor or the original?

I can’t say for sure, but I would assume it was the newest model razor being at the new scheels store in town

 

[Xlr8n]

Scheel's still stocks both old and new models as they are close with Vortex. If it was two colored gray and green with dual focus knobs it was the Gen I. If it was all green with the helical focus ring it was Gen II.

 

[Elk_Reaper]

Thanks for the information! I'm going to have to try and do this at my local sportsman's Wearhouse. Could you tell a difference in optical clarity at full zoom vs. not full zoom? In my experience it seems like some cheaper spotting scopes loose clarity at full zoom.