Vortex Razor UHD 8x32

Have you rated your binoculars yet?

12 October 2024

Optyczne.pl

Currently the Razor UHD series is the top-of-the-range line of Vortex. These instruments are supposed to compete successfully with the best products of other top brand names such as Leica, Nikon, Swarovski, or Zeiss. Our tests of 10x42 and 12x50 models confirmed that in this case you deal with optics of the highest quality.

In the middle of the June 2024 the 8x32 and 10x32 models appeared among the Razor UHD instruments. Their parameters show clearly that they constitute a very strong attack on the latest launches of Swarovski from the NL Pure series and Zeiss from the Victory SF series and they differ from the older and bigger Razor UHD models with Abbe-Koenig prisms; this time the producers decided to employ the Schmidt-Pechan system.

The field of view of the Vortex Razor UHD 8x32 amounts to as much as 9 deg, one of the biggest fields on the market. It's half of a degree more than in case of the Swarovski and 0.2 deg more than in case of the Zeiss. What's more, despite such a huge field, they managed to ensure a confortable eye relief distance, amounting of 19 mm. The Vortex also prevails when it comes to its minimum focusing distance that amounts to just 1.8 meters (and even a tad less in practice). Weights and physical dimensions of all the three binoculars models, mentioned above, are very similar as you can find out by consulting the following chart.

In the case of the Razor UHD 10x32 the field of view amounts to 7.4 deg, exactly the same like the field of the Zeiss Victory SF, a tad narrower than the field of the Swarovski NL Pure. The eye relief of the Razor is 17 mm, 1-2 mm less than in case of the rivals. Still, the new pair of binoculars provides a better minimum focusing distance. The following chart presents a comparison between all parmeters of these instruments.

The optical system of the Vortex UHD series of binoculars includes elements made of ED glass and Schmidt-Pechan prisms phase-correction coated. All air-to-glass surfaces are covered by the highest quality antireflection XR Plus Lens Coatings. Outer surfaces of elements are additionally protected by ArmorTek hydrophobic coatings. All of this is closed in a waterproof, argon-purged casing made of magnesium composites. As it is a tradition of Vortex their products are sold with a rich accessory kit and a lifetime warranty period. The binoculars are produced in Japan.

The suggested price of the 8x32 model on the American market is 2149.99 USD, and the 10x32 model is slightly more expensive, costing 2199.99 USD.

Pictures

Manufacturer data

Manufacturer:

Vortex
web site

Distribution / Sales:

Kolba.pl
web site

Magnification	Lens diameter	Angular field of view	Prisms	Eye relief	Weight	Price
8	32	158/1000(9^o)	BaK-4/roof	19 mm	620 g	6999 PLN
Owners opinions: 0 Specifications

Results of the review

Real front lens diameter

Left: 32.02+/- 0.05 mm
Right: 32.03+/- 0.05 mm

8 / 8.0 pkt

Real magnification

7.99+/- 0.05x

3/3.0

Transmission

89.1+/- 1%

17/25.0

Chromatic aberration

Low in the middle, slightly higher than medium on the edge.

6.4/10.0

Astigmatism

Low.

8/10.0

Distortion

Distance between the first curved line and the field centre compared to the field of view radius: 45% ± 3%

5/10.0

Coma

Appears in a distance of 75% of the field of view radius and is on the borderline of medium and high values on the very edge.

6.6/10.0

Blurring at the edge of the FOV

Blur occurs in a distance of 73% ± 3% from the field of view centre.

4/10.0

Darkening at the edge the FOV

Slight but noticeable.

4/5.0

Whiteness of the image

Transmission graph with a slight loss of blue and purple light; it produces an effect of slight warming of colours.

4.5/5.0

Collimation

Perfect.

5/5.0

Internal reflections

Left:	Right:

Lighter arcs near the pupil stick out at once.

3/5.0

Housing

As usual in case of Vortex products the casing is stylish, with a good design, but quite bulky for the 32 mm class. It is made of magnesium composites, very solid, and produced in Japan. The binoculars are comfortable to hold (thumb indentations help a lot) and to look through. Rubberized eyecups are soft, with 4 detention stops. The rubber armour is slightly rough, sticks well to your hands but it sticks out a bit next to objectives. The objectives themselves are hidden inside the casing about 1 cm deep.

7.5/8.0

Focusing

Huge, comfortable, and ribbed central wheel that moves smoothly and is properly damped. A really crazy focus throw value, amounting to 1170 deg – there is a lot of turning! Dioptre correction via a comfortable, ribbed ring on the right eyepiece that can be shifted. It moves the outer element. At this price point such operations should be done inside the construction.

4.5/5.0

Tripod

A quite comfortable access. In our tests of 8x32 binoculars all models are awarded an average value of 1.5 points in this category because the tripod socket is rarely used in this class of equipment.

1.5/3.0

Interpupilary distance

from 55 to 75.1mm

5/6.0

Closest focusing distance

1.65 meters.

2/2.0

Eyepieces FOV

Apparent field of view of 71.2 deg (simplified formula) and 63.8 deg (tangent formula).

16/20.0

Field of view

Measured by us amounted to 8.91 +/- 0.04 deg and it was slightly narrower than stated in official specifications. A huge field for this class of equipment.

8/8.0

Quality of the interior of the barrels

Inner tubes right next to objectives are dark, matt, and ribbed. Well visible long screw for moving the focusing system. Deeper inside blackening and matting are of weaker quality but there are no shiny parts. Some specks of dust on one of the prisms.

4/5.0

Vignetting

Left:	Right:

OL: 0.76%, OR:1.52%

6.5/8.0

Prisms quality

High quality BaK-4.

8/8.0

Antireflection coatings

Purple-yellow-blue on objective lenses, green-purple-yellow on eyepieces, purple on the prisms. Low intensity.

5/5.0

Warranty [years]

lifetime

6/6.0

Final result

78.2%

148.5 / 190 pkt

Econo result

0pkt.

Summary

Pros:

solid and stylish casing made of magnesium composites,
very wide field of view,
good transmission,
properly corrected astigmatism,
slight chromatic aberration in the centre of the field of view,
sensible coma correction,
moderate brightness loss on the edge of field,
good colour rendering,
high quality of coatings,
good quality of prisms made of BaK-4 glass,
sharp images already from 1.65 metres,
lifetime warranty,
problem-free performance against bright light,
proper blackening of the interior of the tubes.

Cons:

too weak sharpness on the edge of the field of view.

At the beginnig of our summary we can say at once that the Razor UHD 8x32 managed to obtain a truly record-breaking field of view and we speak here about the premium segment. It is a tad short from the declared 9 degrees but still the result of 8.91 deg is just by 1% lower than the official value so it remains the same in the engineer's margin of error and also our 2-sigma measuring level. At the same time it is a result noticeably higher than 8.75 deg of the Zeiss Victory SF 8x32 and 8.44 of the Swarovski NL Pure 8x32. If you are a fan of wide fields this one will certainly meet your expectations.

Unfortunately, proper correction of such a wide field is another matter. Swarovski and Zeiss corrected their fields exceedingly well but the Vortex failed on the edge of the field and also its distortion result is rather mediocre. Its rivals also prevailed when it comes to coma, astigmatism, and chromatic aberration – the influence of the latter remains noticeable even near the middle of the field of view, a problem that, in case of its more expensive rivals, simply doesn't exist.

The quality of optical elements and coatings is beyond reproach for a change. They seem to be top-of-the-range, the best technology available, definitely worth the best premium instruments.

The results are visible in the transmission graph. The higher values, brushing against 91%, can be noticed for red light and in the middle of the visible spectrum the results are of 89-90%. The graph is relatively flat, with just a slight deficit of blue light that provides an impression quite pleasing to the eye, that of warm images with proper saturation and white ballance.

However, the result is such that the Vortex Razor UHD 8x32 is not able to exceed 150 points in our test, lagging behind its immediate rivals - the Swarovski NL Pure and the Zeiss Victory SF. Of course you should keep in mind the fact that these pairs of binoculars are almost two times more expensive than the Razor UHD. Does it sound like a consolation? Not really. Many renowned producers offer you also cheaper models that are able to compete successfully with the newest Vortex product. If you look at our 8x32 binoculars ranking you can find out that, for example, the Swarovski CL Companion 8x30, a model cheaper than the Razor UHD, managed to get a higher score. Still, the field of view of the CL Companion 8x30 is distinctly narrower so it is not an especially strong rival. A comparison with some Zeiss instruments might be far more problematic. For example the SFL 8x30 model, a pair of binoculars that is small, shapely, with a field of over 8 degrees, can be bought for the same amount of money as the Razor UHD 8x32.

In my opinion the lately revamped Zeiss Conquest HDX might be even a bigger threat for the Razor. Its previous HD version's result in our test was just a tad lower than the result of the Razor UHD but the HDX model might perform better than that. After all it features better coatings so its transmission level might be higher and white balance - more natural. There are chances that its final score might approach that of the Vortex. Both models weigh the same and the Conquest HDX is smaller. Of course the Vortex is able to provide a field by one degree wider but the Conquest's HDX price is by over 500 USD lower. If you are not a big fan of the Conquest binoculars you can get interested in the Kowa Genesis 8x33, a set of binoculars that is also able to compete with the Razor successfully while being distinctly cheaper.

Taking it all into account, I think the launch of the 32 mm Razor UHD series models was a kind of false start. I regret that Vortex's Razor HD line doesn't feature anything with this objective diameter; after all it's full of instruments that combine excellent optics quality, dimensions, and price. I hope that soon they will try to catch up because currently Vortex is not a strong contestant when it comes to premium 8x32 class binoculars.