Birding The Strait
Razor HD 10X42 Roof Prism Binocular Review
We have been testing the Vortex Razor HD 10X42 binoculars (from now on “the Razor”) in the field for six months and we think is worth telling you our impressions from a birder’s perspective.
Vortex is an American company that has been building optics since 2004. They are already well known in the US and Canada and becoming increasingly popular in Europe as well for providing high quality optics at very reasonable prices.
The Razor in particular is made in Japan and comes with the VIP warranty that is provided by Vortex to all its high-quality optics, which means that if your Razor HD accidentally breaks or is defective in any way, you can send it to Vortex and they will repair or replace it and send them to you at no cost, no questions asked. Remarkably, this is a lifetime warranty, fully transferable and no receipt is needed to hang on to. From what we have heard from several clients that use Vortex, this system really works and is probably the best warranty you can get.
We have intensively tested the Razor in the field for six months, in all sorts of conditions and habitats: from the rainforest in Panama, to the highlands of Costa Rica, the desert of Morocco, the farmlands of the Netherlands, Whalewatching off Tarifa (Spain) and observing the raptor migration in the Strait of Mesina (Italy) and our local patch, the Strait of Gibraltar. They have suffered extreme temperatures and insolation, heavy rain, snow, hale, sand, saltpetre, strong winds… and as you can imagine, they have not been exempted from a long series of falls, bangs and knocks. Yes, we have given the Razor a hard life almost every single day during these last six months!
Additionally, the Vortex equipment has been at the disposal of our international clients and birders visiting the main raptor lookouts in the Strait of Gibraltar during the spring raptor migration period, which has provided us with very instructive feedback.
We will not get into very technical details about the materials used, optics theory and statistics, but focusing exclusively in our own field experience and “feel” of the Razor. If you want to know more about the main features and specifications of this model, we recommend you to check out the page for the Razor on the Vortex Birding Website: www.vortexbirding.com/product/vortex-razor-hd-10x42-binoc...
In the Hand
Our first impression when we handled the Razor is that it has a relatively small magnesium body that feels balanced, robust and light. Indeed, when we compared it to other high-quality 10X42 binoculars, we realized that their weight is below average (703g). This is a remarkable feature that our shoulders thanked after long sessions of raptor migration counts in the Strait of Gibraltar.
It has a single bridge design that makes it comfortable to hold, with a thumb indent on the inferior part of the barrels that provides a good grip and extra comfort for intense birding sessions.
Most of the body is covered in a rugged dark green armor that is nice and natural to the touch that along with its shape provides extra grip, especially on humid conditions. The areas that are not covered by the armor are basically the bridge and a small part of the barrel.
The eyepieces are confortable; neither of us opens the eyepieces to look through them, but they sit comfortably on our glasses or on our eye sockets. They have two intermediate positions that hold well, in case you don’t need to fully extend the eyepieces.
The focusing wheel is also covered with a soft rubber that sits apropriatelly where your index finger tends to rest. The resistance is the right one … long… finer focus
The lens caps and eyepieces cover that protect the glass seem to be made from rubber, and they fulfill its function well.
Finally, despite the fact that this is a highly subjective view, we find the Razor design attractive and clever.
In the Field
If you have been using a pair of binoculars for a long time, you know that using a different pair can be, at first, uncomfortable, just because your eyes, your hands and your brain are used to your regular binoculars. This has happened to us to a certain extent, but the time to adjust our senses to the Razor have been very short. In fact, after the second day with them, we haven’t used our former binoculars anymore (which are of very good quality and between the most expensive in the market).
The Razor is supposed to be fully waterproof, thanks to sealed glass and interior filled with argon gas. In our experience, after heavy rain and high humidity weeks in the rainforest and the cloud forest of Central America, we haven’t had a single problem with water or internal fogging. Moreover, we have repeatedly clean the gear with a jet of tap water to remove accumulated sand and saltpetre. This is of paramount importance for birders like us that spend a good amount of time birding either in humid and harsh environments where chances for a more careful cleaning are limited. This treatment has neither affected the smoothness of the focus wheel and eyecups.
As we said, we have had very little consideration for the physical state of the Razor, as we have used them extensively during our travels in all sorts of situations. Up to this moment, the binoculars are in excellent conditions, with the exception of a few minor scratches on its body, and their optical and mechanical performance is equally well as new.
Through the eye
As soon as you hold the Razor and focus you get that “special feeling” you get when you are using top gear.
The 10X42 version of the Razor has 6.9° field of view, which we consider is very good in order to cover ground when scanning for birds in the field, migrant raptors in the sky or seabirds from a boat.
Our perception is that the Razor provides a clear, bright, high-quality image with excellent sharpness, up to the standards of the best binoculars in the market. They work well with different light levels, and they excel with middle levels of light. When tried before sunrise and after sunset, the most critical time to test binoculars, they perform very well too..
We had no impression that the glass provided warmer or cooler colors, but a neutral and natural tone, which we consider to be a very positive quality. Also, the Razor has an apochromatic lens system, which are supposed to reduce chromatic aberrations, improve sharpness and resolution. In fact, we haven’t noticed any chromatic aberrations.
For those of us who are interested on insects, like dragonflies, damselflies, and butterflies, for instance, is important to have a pair of binoculars with a small close focus distance. The company affirms that the Razor can focus on objects as close as 1.8m, and other sources talk about even shorter distances. In any case, we have used them to watch dragonflies often, and they are wonderful as well, significantly beyond the performance of some other binoculars within the same price range.
Conclusion and a note about the warranty
We are fully satisfied with the Razor. We think it’s a phenomenal piece of gear that provides excellent and reliable performance. Considering all the options in the market, we believe that the quality and price make the Razor one the best options and we (can) recommend it to any enthusiast birder, for all kind of situations and levels of birding intensity.
The VIP warranty deserves a special mention. We have talked both with Vortex users and specialized national dealers that have used the warranty, and are fully satisfied with Vortex customer service. They all got their binoculars or scope back, in perfect conditions. In some cases they even were totally new. This is an outstanding feature when thinking on purchasing a high quality of binoculars.
Finally, we wish to thank Vortex staff for their trust, kindness and support to our activity as field ornithologist and nature guides.
Yeray Seminario and Javi Elorriaga / Birding The Strait
Razor HD 10X42 Roof Prism Binocular Review
We have been testing the Vortex Razor HD 10X42 binoculars (from now on “the Razor”) in the field for six months and we think is worth telling you our impressions from a birder’s perspective.
Vortex is an American company that has been building optics since 2004. They are already well known in the US and Canada and becoming increasingly popular in Europe as well for providing high quality optics at very reasonable prices.
The Razor in particular is made in Japan and comes with the VIP warranty that is provided by Vortex to all its high-quality optics, which means that if your Razor HD accidentally breaks or is defective in any way, you can send it to Vortex and they will repair or replace it and send them to you at no cost, no questions asked. Remarkably, this is a lifetime warranty, fully transferable and no receipt is needed to hang on to. From what we have heard from several clients that use Vortex, this system really works and is probably the best warranty you can get.
We have intensively tested the Razor in the field for six months, in all sorts of conditions and habitats: from the rainforest in Panama, to the highlands of Costa Rica, the desert of Morocco, the farmlands of the Netherlands, Whalewatching off Tarifa (Spain) and observing the raptor migration in the Strait of Mesina (Italy) and our local patch, the Strait of Gibraltar. They have suffered extreme temperatures and insolation, heavy rain, snow, hale, sand, saltpetre, strong winds… and as you can imagine, they have not been exempted from a long series of falls, bangs and knocks. Yes, we have given the Razor a hard life almost every single day during these last six months!
Additionally, the Vortex equipment has been at the disposal of our international clients and birders visiting the main raptor lookouts in the Strait of Gibraltar during the spring raptor migration period, which has provided us with very instructive feedback.
We will not get into very technical details about the materials used, optics theory and statistics, but focusing exclusively in our own field experience and “feel” of the Razor. If you want to know more about the main features and specifications of this model, we recommend you to check out the page for the Razor on the Vortex Birding Website: www.vortexbirding.com/product/vortex-razor-hd-10x42-binoc...
In the Hand
Our first impression when we handled the Razor is that it has a relatively small magnesium body that feels balanced, robust and light. Indeed, when we compared it to other high-quality 10X42 binoculars, we realized that their weight is below average (703g). This is a remarkable feature that our shoulders thanked after long sessions of raptor migration counts in the Strait of Gibraltar.
It has a single bridge design that makes it comfortable to hold, with a thumb indent on the inferior part of the barrels that provides a good grip and extra comfort for intense birding sessions.
Most of the body is covered in a rugged dark green armor that is nice and natural to the touch that along with its shape provides extra grip, especially on humid conditions. The areas that are not covered by the armor are basically the bridge and a small part of the barrel.
The eyepieces are confortable; neither of us opens the eyepieces to look through them, but they sit comfortably on our glasses or on our eye sockets. They have two intermediate positions that hold well, in case you don’t need to fully extend the eyepieces.
The focusing wheel is also covered with a soft rubber that sits apropriatelly where your index finger tends to rest. The resistance is the right one … long… finer focus
The lens caps and eyepieces cover that protect the glass seem to be made from rubber, and they fulfill its function well.
Finally, despite the fact that this is a highly subjective view, we find the Razor design attractive and clever.
In the Field
If you have been using a pair of binoculars for a long time, you know that using a different pair can be, at first, uncomfortable, just because your eyes, your hands and your brain are used to your regular binoculars. This has happened to us to a certain extent, but the time to adjust our senses to the Razor have been very short. In fact, after the second day with them, we haven’t used our former binoculars anymore (which are of very good quality and between the most expensive in the market).
The Razor is supposed to be fully waterproof, thanks to sealed glass and interior filled with argon gas. In our experience, after heavy rain and high humidity weeks in the rainforest and the cloud forest of Central America, we haven’t had a single problem with water or internal fogging. Moreover, we have repeatedly clean the gear with a jet of tap water to remove accumulated sand and saltpetre. This is of paramount importance for birders like us that spend a good amount of time birding either in humid and harsh environments where chances for a more careful cleaning are limited. This treatment has neither affected the smoothness of the focus wheel and eyecups.
As we said, we have had very little consideration for the physical state of the Razor, as we have used them extensively during our travels in all sorts of situations. Up to this moment, the binoculars are in excellent conditions, with the exception of a few minor scratches on its body, and their optical and mechanical performance is equally well as new.
Through the eye
As soon as you hold the Razor and focus you get that “special feeling” you get when you are using top gear.
The 10X42 version of the Razor has 6.9° field of view, which we consider is very good in order to cover ground when scanning for birds in the field, migrant raptors in the sky or seabirds from a boat.
Our perception is that the Razor provides a clear, bright, high-quality image with excellent sharpness, up to the standards of the best binoculars in the market. They work well with different light levels, and they excel with middle levels of light. When tried before sunrise and after sunset, the most critical time to test binoculars, they perform very well too..
We had no impression that the glass provided warmer or cooler colors, but a neutral and natural tone, which we consider to be a very positive quality. Also, the Razor has an apochromatic lens system, which are supposed to reduce chromatic aberrations, improve sharpness and resolution. In fact, we haven’t noticed any chromatic aberrations.
For those of us who are interested on insects, like dragonflies, damselflies, and butterflies, for instance, is important to have a pair of binoculars with a small close focus distance. The company affirms that the Razor can focus on objects as close as 1.8m, and other sources talk about even shorter distances. In any case, we have used them to watch dragonflies often, and they are wonderful as well, significantly beyond the performance of some other binoculars within the same price range.
Conclusion and a note about the warranty
We are fully satisfied with the Razor. We think it’s a phenomenal piece of gear that provides excellent and reliable performance. Considering all the options in the market, we believe that the quality and price make the Razor one the best options and we (can) recommend it to any enthusiast birder, for all kind of situations and levels of birding intensity.
The VIP warranty deserves a special mention. We have talked both with Vortex users and specialized national dealers that have used the warranty, and are fully satisfied with Vortex customer service. They all got their binoculars or scope back, in perfect conditions. In some cases they even were totally new. This is an outstanding feature when thinking on purchasing a high quality of binoculars.
Finally, we wish to thank Vortex staff for their trust, kindness and support to our activity as field ornithologist and nature guides.
Yeray Seminario and Javi Elorriaga / Birding The Strait