comparison of vortex viper and other scopes

[jgerrington]

I just wanted to share my thoughts on the vortex viper 6.5-20x44 compared to the bushnell wlite 4200 2.5-10x50 and zeiss conquest 4.5-14x44. (I have all 3 for a side by side comparison.)

The zeiss has an edge over the other 2 in clarity and sharpness. I would say the bushnell second and vortex third.

Comparing them all 3 side by side at dark for light gathering, I would give it to zeiss slightly over bushnell and vortex. The bushnell has a bigger objective than vortex and I had to look VERY hard to tell any difference in light gathering. I bet if I had a 50mm vortex it would be even, but as is bushnell edged it out.

I have to exclude bushnell from this b/c it is not a side focus. The vortex is hard to get a sight picture on and if I move slightly it is gone. Kinda like i'm looking though a tunnel. With the zeiss I have more eye relief and it's easier to get my sight picture and keep it. The vortex has a 30mm tube and the others have a 1in tube. The vortex has the most features and I love the turrets on it. It tracks perfectly (the others do too.)

The zeiss tops the others in everything, but it costs about double the others, vortex being the cheapest. If vortex would fix the eye relief and sight picture it would be my go to scope. I think the new PST fixed those issues. Maybe they will upgrade the viper line also.

I think my midline priced scope (under $500) will be the bushnell elite for hunting, but is is not good for target shooting. For a $400 dollar target/hunting scope the viper is hard to beat. I got the BDC reticle, I like MOA/MOA. It would be hard to pay another 400 for a zeiss with slightly better light gathering and clarity, unless you need that extra eye relief.

Just my thoughts. Chime in if you disagree.

Hope this helps anyone when deciding on getting the viper or not.

[Captain Finlander]

I think I am going to need some details on your side by side comparison. I do agree that the Zeiss offers the better optic OAL but I am curious to know what power settings you compared. The testing is with three completely different scopes and to be fair one would need to compare apples to apples. Compromises are made to get 20x over 10 or 14 and as you pointed out the objective lenses are not all equal either. Just my humble opinion but to be fair you would need to compare all 3-9x40's or apples to apples.

[leather5to1]

One thing I noticed about the zeiss compared to my other scopes is that you don't get even a fraction of the glare that other scopes get. I don't have those other two but I noticed it on the range when I was shooting a bunch of differently scoped guns back to back.

[jhelmsfishing]

Yeah so I've been looking at a nikon pro staff 3-9 x 50 and even though its the same power seems like a much better scope than that simmons. I means the simmons ain't a horribly bad scope, but there are much better out there.

[jgerrington]

I konw it's not a completely "fair" comaparison, but it's all I got to work with. I had lots of questions about the vortex viper before I bought one. Every review I read compared them a zeiss or elite 6500 and 4200. Some said it was better than zeiss (wrong). I had the other 2 scopes and new they were good quality, so I bought the viper just to have a different scope. I believe the vipers all have the same glass no matter what power or objective you get. I adjusted each scope individually to their optimal setting (to me) when testing in low light. To be fair I believe the viper and bushnell 4200 as far as optics are even. I just don't like the tunnel vision and short eye relief of the viper. The viper has more features like semi target turrets and the power adjustment. A similar scope from bushnell elite 4200 or 6500 would cost way more than the viper.
I was just posting this b/c I had problems researching the viper and finding good reviews. Hoping to help someone else out.

[sage flats shooter]

Although I do not have a Zeiss to compare it to, I do have a Vortex Viper and I do agree it is the best bang for the buck. Mine has the mil dot reticle and I have used it with just the mils as hold over and also dialing in the moa. I also have a set of the vortex viper binos 10x50 and have compared them to swaroski's and zeiss. The vipers are behind... truly you get what you pay for.

Just my two cents for the night,
Steve D. the HP
Sage Flats Shooter

[Captain Finlander]

I konw it's not a completely "fair" comaparison, but it's all I got to work with. I had lots of questions about the vortex viper before I bought one. Every review I read compared them a zeiss or elite 6500 and 4200. Some said it was better than zeiss (wrong). I had the other 2 scopes and new they were good quality, so I bought the viper just to have a different scope. I believe the vipers all have the same glass no matter what power or objective you get. I adjusted each scope individually to their optimal setting (to me) when testing in low light. To be fair I believe the viper and bushnell 4200 as far as optics are even. I just don't like the tunnel vision and short eye relief of the viper. The viper has more features like semi target turrets and the power adjustment. A similar scope from bushnell elite 4200 or 6500 would cost way more than the viper.
I was just posting this b/c I had problems researching the viper and finding good reviews. Hoping to help someone else out.


I understand that you only have those to compare but to be fair what did you do the even out the test? I would suggest that you use set all the scopes to 7x then re-review them.

[AskDrTodd]

I picked up a 3-10x50 viper new for $250 and the optics are just beautiful. Surprisingly so. Great build quality and probably the best bang for the buck in the optics market right now. their FFP scopes should be on the market any day now.

[jgerrington]

It wouldn't be fair to set all scopes to the same power b/c the exit pupil would be different given they have different objectives. I adjusted the power until each looked it's brightest. Maybe I shouldn't have thrown the bushnell in there, but the only other different brand scope I have is a burris fulfield 2 and it is not as good optically.