East meets West Part 2 – 8x32 Binocular Shootout - Zeiss Victory SF vs Vortex Razor UHD
Arguably the most popular binocular for western hunting is the venerable 10x42 so why not do a comparison of these? My reason is twofold, first and foremost is Field Of View (FOV) - I prefer a good balance of magnification with wide FOV, and second, I prefer "light weight" over "chonky" for most applications. I am now in my mid 50's and I confess, it is harder for me to stabilize a nice set of 10x binos these days, that along with the fact that I am no longer a "western hunter" (having spent almost 30 years in Colorado), I am now a southeastern hunter which means I am contending with pretty thick jungle environments making the 8x32 more ideal for the situations I find myself in the majority of the time. So that establishes the what, now let’s talk about the who...
If I were to ask you, “who makes the best sport optics in the world?” Most would respond with one of three options – Zeiss, Leica or… you guessed it, Swarovski. All three of these manufacturers happen to reside pretty close to one another so I’m going to call them the GA3 (German/Austrian 3). Every few years one of these manufacturer’s seems to produce something as good or better than the other in a never-ending game of leap frog. And each manufacturer makes varying grades of optics from their absolute best to their more recession friendly options. Currently, if you want the absolute best the GA3 has to offer – it is the Swarovski NL Pure, the Leica Noctivid and the Zeiss Victory SF. Go to any reputable online forum for outdoor enthusiasts and you'll find the age old arguments about who's glass is better mostly by splitting hairs and manufacturers bias, but in the end the results are that each one is phenomenal in its own right. At the end of the day it most often comes down to personal preference. I chose the Zeiss Victory SF and really for one main reason - it offers the widest FOV (in an 8x32) and for most of you who’ve followed my reviews over the years you know I am a huge proponent of larger FOV.
So, if Zeiss is going to represent the “west”, then who would represent the "east"? For the longest time Japan has been "close" but not quite on par with the finest European glass, but recently we've seen Japanese sport optics OEM's producing some pretty phenomenal riflescope optics that come surprisingly close to some of the best alpha brands on the market today, so when Vortex announced their new Razor UHD last year in an 8x32 optical formula with class leading FOV I knew I had to give it a try and see if the latest design from Japan could hold up to one of the best from the GA3. Unlike Zeiss with their long history, Vortex is a relative newcomer to this industry having started their business in this century… meaning Vortex, as a brand, didn't even exist prior to 2000. This may come as a surprise to some but even though Vortex may be one of the newest brands, they have risen to be one of the largest sport optics manufacturers in the world and recently secured a military contract for the XM-157 NGSW-FC (Next Generation Squad Weapon - Fire Control) which is an impressive piece of kit that will help our soldiers be some of the most effective on the battle field. The Vortex Razor line has always been their "top shelf" representing the best glass they have to offer (AMG excluded) and a few years ago they upped the ante with the Razor UHD, but only in 8x42 and larger sizes, and to be honest their FOV numbers weren't the greatest and the units were a bit on the heavy side - that aside they are known to be impressive optical performers.
THE BINOCULARS
I thought of bringing in some of the other players but time these days limits me, so just the two:Zeiss Victory SF 8x32 and Vortex Razor UHD 8x32.
I have had both binoculars for about a year allowing me to use them in different situations in the field giving me a good idea about what I like about both along with what I think has room for improvement. One thing to note is that there is quite the disparity between street price with the Vortex UHD running about $1000 less, so that gives the Vortex a significant advantage… let’s dive in and see.
As with my scope reviews, this review will cover the optical and mechanical characteristics of the binoculars with a few tweaks appropriate to the differences between handheld and weapon mounted optics. The same bias is still at play; there are certain characteristics and features that my eyes prefer so, throughout my review you will see me make mention of those items to better help you decide if what I “see” will be an issue for you. Also similar to rifle scopes, it is very important that you setup the diopter correctly and binos can be a bit tricky, in general, most binoculars have only one diopter adjustment and it is usually on the right barrel and some mfr’s offer a locking diopter which is usually a pull (to unlock) and push (to lock) design. To adjust the diopter correctly it is generally recommended that you find an object about 50 yards away (neighbor’s yard) and cover the right barrel (the lens cover will suffice), keep both eyes open and look through the binoculars, you will only see the object through the left barrel/left eye and you will adjust the focus wheel until the object is as sharp as possible (recommend putting the binos on a tripod or other stable platform so you are not battling hand shake), once you are confident the left barrel is in ideal focus, switch the cover to the left barrel and open up the right barrel (be careful not to touch or bump the focus wheel) – now look at the object which will now be viewed through only the right barrel/right eye and now adjust the diopter (NOT the focus wheel) until the object is in ideal focus, once done you can lock or mark the diopter for future reference but once you uncover both barrels the object should be in ideal focus for both your eyes. If you do not set your diopter correctly (for either rifle scope or binocular) you can make the best glass in the world underperform (I have seen it multiple times) so it is critical that you get this right from the beginning.
SPECS
The below specs are provided by the manufacturers which provides a good baseline for what these binoculars offer and how they compare.| Manufacturer: | Zeiss | Vortex |
| Manufacture Country | Germany | Japan |
| Model: | Victory SF | Razor UHD |
| Glass: | Schott | Japanese ED |
| Lens Type: | ED Fluoride (FL) | UHD OPTICAL SYSTEM |
| Prism System: | Schmidt-Pechan | Schmidt-Pechan |
| Coating: | LotuTec® / T* | XR™ Plus Lens Coatings |
| Magnification and Objective: | 8x32 | 8x32 |
| Fogproofing: | Nitrogen Purged | Argon Purged |
| Waterproof: | 400 mbar | |
| Reticle (Mil/MOA): | No | No |
| Exit pupil diameter (mm): | 4.0mm | 4.0mm |
| Eye relief (mm): | 19mm | 19mm |
| Field of view (ft/1000 yds): | 465.7 ft | 472 ft |
| Close Focus (ft / m): | 6.4 ft | 5.9 ft |
| Length (in / mm): | 5.9 in | 5.7 in |
| Width (in / mm): | 4.5 in | 5.1 in |
| Height approx. (in / mm): | ||
| Weight (oz / g): | 21.2 oz | 21.9 oz |
| Warranty: | Lifetime for any owner. 5-year first owner accidental. | VIP Lifetime |
| Special Features: | As an added benefit, a NEW, exclusive green GlassPak™ Pro Binocular Harness is now included with every Razor® UHD model. |
MECHANICAL ASSESSMENT OF FOCUS WHEEL AND DIOPTER
Unlike riflescopes, there are fewer moving parts with a set of fixed magnification binoculars. The diopter should really be a set it and forget it option (however, if you are going through a lot of eye issues or changes it would be a good idea to check diopter every once in a while, especially if you have eye surgery). So, the main mechanical feature is the focus wheel itself.Mechanical Assessment criteria (ratings: = (equals) > (greater than) ranked highest to lowest):
Focus Wheel Adjustment ranking: Zeiss Victory SF 8x32 = Vortex Razor UHD 8x32
Both feel very refined with smooth adjustment, neither felt too tight or too loose, I would consider both to be ideal.Focus Wheel Adjustment Forgiveness ranking: Zeiss Victory SF 8x32 > Vortex Razor UHD 8x32
What exactly is focus “forgiveness”? I define this as how much or how little you have to mess with the focus wheel at varying distances. The less you have to mess with the focus wheel the better (more forgiving), and the more you have to mess with the focus wheel is worse (finicky). At distance the Zeiss performed slightly better, meaning it was a bit more forgiving but the Vortex was not far behind.Diopter Adjustment Rankings: Vortex Razor UHD 8x32 > Zeiss Victory SF 8x32
The Zeiss and Vortex use the more traditional diopter setting, right in front of the right-side eyecup making for an easy set it and forget it adjustment; however, the Vortex offers a locking diopter which inhibits the ability to accidentally bump the setting.
Eye Cup Adjustment rankings: Zeiss Victory SF 8x32 = Vortex Razor UHD 8x32
Due to the short eye relief design of binoculars you have to get them up close and personal and for eyeglass wearers that could be an issue so most manufacturers give you adjustable eyecups. Both Swarovski and Zeiss use a design with 3 main adjustment notches and you can choose what is most comfortable while offering the largest sight picture possible. Both units were easy to adjust and for the most part held their position with multiple use.
Overall Focus and Diopter Mechanical Assessment Rankings: Vortex Razor UHD 8x32 = Zeiss Victory SF 8x32
All things considered the two are pretty closely matched, I will call this one a tie.OPTICAL QUALITY
One of the most debated topics among the forums with regard to sport optics is how “good” is the glass in any particular optic. There are many things that can affect how our brain perceives the image through an optical lens and since we all tend to “see” things a little differently optical quality can be somewhat hard to quantify; however, I think I have a pretty good review formula that breaks down some of the different nuances of optical characteristics along with my personal preferences in each category to hopefully give you a better idea of what I’m seeing and how you might agree or disagree based on your own preference.Optical Assessment criteria (rating lower numbers are worse and higher numbers are best):
Pop (Combination of Color, Contrast and Clarity) on resolution chart
Pop is the ability for the image to really stand out and come alive. This is the overall impression your brain receives when first looking through the optic (bearing in mind that you must have the diopter setup correctly to begin with, if you look through someone’s optic at the range which was setup for their eye then you are shortchanging yourself and possibly get a false sense of how well the optic could perform if properly setup for your eye).Pop (Combination of Color, Contrast and Clarity) at distance >500y
How well does the overall image look when viewing objects at distance. Sometimes I have seen some optics perform very well closeup but not so great at distance and vice versa.Contrast (High)
My high contrast target has very bright white paper with very black lines, the numbers represent the smallest value I am able to discern.Contrast (Low)
My low contrast target has a gray background with darker gray lines, the numbers represent the smallest value I was am to discern.Chromatic Aberration (CA) Center
A hotly debated topic – CA, which is typically seen at the edges between high and low contrast objects in what is termed fringing and usually comes in a band of color along the green/yellow and magenta/purple spectrum, some are greatly annoyed by this optical anomaly while others insist they cannot see it, one thing to know is it has little to do with your ability to hit a target, but can affect the clarity of the target (especially in lower light situations). I tested for both center CA and edge CA. One other area is CA sensitivity with lateral movement off the center of the scope, you can quickly induce CA in these situations which are often rectified by proper eye placement behind the center of the optic.Chromatic Aberration (CA) Periphery/Edge
Many scopes may have really good performance in the center of the image, but quickly fall apart as you move toward the edge of the image which can affect your ability to accurately see and define objects towards the edges.Color Accuracy
If you’ve ever heard the term “it’s all in the eye of the beholder” that in large part describes the experience of color for each of us. It seems our eyes have different sensitivity to different parts of the spectrum and while I tend to prefer “warmer” images and am somewhat put off by “cooler” ones, others see colors differently.Resolution (Center)
This is different from my line resolution testing, this is how “sharp” the image appears, I’m looking for details and the optics ability to resolve those details.Resolution (Edge)
Same thing as center resolution but now I’m focusing my eye at the extreme edge of the sight picture and determining if there is any image degradation that occurs toward the edges. An optic can have very sharp center resolution but poor edge sharpness and it will give the user the impression that the overall quality is not very good.Resolution (Edge) at distance >500y
I added in this test because I was beginning to notice that some scopes did not perform so well in the close testing but seemed to do better at distance, I still prefer an optic that has superb edge to edge sharpness, but found that some optics did not bother me as much as I thought they would at distance.Eyebox Forgiveness
Eyebox with binoculars is a bit different from that of rifle scopes due to different designs within each, the nature of the design of the binocular with shorter eye relief than most rifle scopes along with eyepieces that are designed for you to rest your brow against (or at least close to). That said, there is still an advantage with some designs over others and they just “feel” easier to get a good sight picture.Depth of Field (DOF) Forgiveness
DOF forgiveness is the ability to have both near objects as well as far away objects appear “in focus” in your sight picture. An example would be to set your focus at some far distance and you notice that both an object that is closer as well as one that is further look relatively in focus.Focus Forgiveness
How much, or rather how little, do you have to play with the focus wheel in order to get an object in focus as you change distance.Mirage (effect)
This is another one of those terms that requires a definition. Mirage occurs because light bends to move through warmer, less dense air, this “bending” of light is the effect we see when our target appears to dance or wobble in the distance, we know the target is stationary but as the heat waves rise from the ground, the light is bent and gives the perception that the image is distorted. What I am looking for here is the ability of the scope to tame or limit the effect of mirage, within the community this is often referred to as “cutting through mirage” and some optics handle this situation better than others. Keep in mind that my results are based on what I saw on the particular day I was testing; however, different atmospheric conditions can either decrease or increase the effect of mirage by quite a large margin.Optical quality Test Results (higher numbers are better)
Field of View (FOV)
With rifle scopes FOV can be tricky because manufacturers list FOV at only two settings – the bottom and the top magnification making the middle of the range hard to evaluate, but the vast majority of binoculars are fixed magnification so the FOV should be accurate if the manufacturer did their due diligence. There has been a growing trend of offering optics that provide greater FOV and Zeiss’s latest shows just that with outstanding FOV; however, the Vortex managed to squeeze out even more.| Mag | Zeiss Victory SF 8x32 | Vortex Razor UHD 8x32 |
| 8x | 465.7 ft | 472 ft |
Twilight Transmission (low light performance)
From about 20 minutes after sunset, I begin testing both binoculars side by side as the evening becomes darker and darker. These results are very subjective and as I have aged, I believe my eyes low light acuity has decreased. You may have very different results depending on your age and how good your eyes are. What surprised me in this test was how well the Vortex did with pop, color and perceived brightness – both binos have the same magnification and objective but more than likely Vortex has done something with their glass and coating that give it an edge in low light.Resolution Line Chart (LPI)
It’s one thing for me to look through an optic and judge resolution based on a 1-10 ranking, but it’s quite another to look at line charts and determine how many lines I’m able to resolve at a given magnification, my resolution testing above is a good “first impression” but the line chart does not lie and provides a more quantitative result. For most results you’ll see a range – it is hard to resolve exact values with your eye and I would try to narrow it down as best I could but sometimes eye strain, perfect alignment, etc. would get in the way. The Zeiss had an edge here and this is where it’s $3k glass really shines.
Other factors:
Sight Picture (HD)
- ZEISS VICTORY SF 8X32: Excellent, very immersive.
- Vortex Razor UHD 8x32: Great, somewhat thick periphery.
Outer Periphery
- ZEISS VICTORY SF 8X32: Somewhat thick periphery but thinner than Vortex.
- Vortex Razor UHD 8x32: Pretty thick periphery.
Flare/Halation (direct sun on objective at 10x)
- ZEISS VICTORY SF 8X32: Very good but some wash.
- Vortex Razor UHD 8x32: Outstanding, very little wash.
Overall Optical Assessment Results: Zeiss Victory SF 8x32 >= Vortex Razor UHD 8x32
This was an interesting comparison, first off you have a $3k optic going up against one about half its price from two of the biggest names in sport optics, one has the very best glass from Germany while the other boasts arguably the best glass from Japan. They each have their nuances, in the evaluation above the Zeiss comes out on top with superb IQ to the edges and excellent contrast at close range; however, at distance I actually preferred the “look” of the Vortex over the Zeiss slightly as the Vortex felt like it had a more natural view as well as greater depth, but up close the Zeiss offered a more 3D like view and I felt like I could see the different focal planes of separation between both near and far objects. My thought is this, if your primary goal is birding where subjects will be pretty close the Zeiss is going to win out, but if you are scanning distant objects, I think I’d prefer to be behind the Vortex. I actually did a little “birding” with both binoculars off my feeder in the back yard, fine details in the feathers could be seen with both binos. CA on the Vortex was a little stronger than with the Zeiss and the edge-to-edge performance of the Vortex struggled up close, but the Vortex performed better in low light testing. Hopefully this is enough information to help you make a decision based on your specific needs, I don’t think you can go wrong with either but I would say the Zeiss Victory SF lives up to its name and is the victor here if you’re looking for the absolute best in optical performance, but if you’d like to save a little you are not going to miss much and in some areas have a better experience with the Vortex. For the price, the Vortex offers outstanding price/performance ratio.
ERGONOMICS
Overall Ergonomic Assessment Results: ZEISS VICTORY SF 8X32 = Vortex Razor UHD 8x32The overall ergonomic assessment is based on the features of the optic, how intuitive they are to use, how easy are they to manipulate. The hinge on both are outstanding and provide the right resistance allowing for proper pupil spacing without easily moving off the adjustment. Both focus wheels are easy to access from left or right hand and manipulate. Both eyecups are easy to set without fear of them getting bumped out. Both feel very good in the hands so I would rank this as a tie. Both binoculars utilize the Schmidt Pechan design which provides excellent optical performance and a lighter weight design.
FIT & FINISH
Overall Fit & Finish Assessment Results: Vortex Razor UHD 8x32 >= ZEISS VICTORY SF 8X32What I’m looking for here is quality of the finish, how each piece interacts which each other, materials used and function as a working whole. I feel the Vortex eeks out the overall victory in this category while the Zeiss is not far behind. This may be more personal preference but I really like the fit and finish of the Razor UHD, they are very comfortable to hold and use over long periods but the Zeiss aren't bad, in fact, quite good but I suppose I was expecting a little more for the price.
AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT
Zeiss Victory SF 8x32I would like to see Zeiss offer some type of flat field lens but honestly, they do very well edge to edge, just not quite as good as Swarovision; however, some can’t stand flat field so this might be an excellent compromise.
Vortex Razor UHD 8x32
I’d like to see better edge to edge sharpness, outside of that there is really not much to complain about.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I used both binoculars for many months in different scenarios outside the test environment. The more I used the Vortex UHD’s the more I liked them, especially at distance. As previously mentioned if my main goal was birding with up close critters then I’d rather have the Victory SF due to their better IQ and DOF; however, I am not a birder (though I do enjoy it) and so I think of my binos as more of a piece of kit that is going to help me identify things further out and this is where the Vortex UHD really shines. I also think of low light applications and once again the Vortex offers the better experience. I really like that Vortex gives you a full chest harness that is well constructed. Overall, the Vortex UHD offers a very well rounded package that offers excellent value for the price. The Zeiss Victory SF live up to their reputation of being some of the best glass on the market today, but that performance comes at a cost so if you can afford it by all means indulge but if you need to save a few pennies while still getting most of the performance the Vortex UHD is a worthwhile investment. Both binoculars are highly recommended.Below is about as close to an unboxing video as you'll see me get... (sorry I didn't do this for the Victory SF)
