Vortex Vulture 15x56 review

[Subwrx300]

Picked up a set of Vultures today to try out for PRS comps (stage spotting, mirage reading and stage observation). Quick photos below from unboxing. I'll post a full review later after spending more time with them at matches. I've got two matches coming up over the next 12 days: Michigan PRSC and K&M Kahles match.

Initial impressions: very clear, super bright, colors are virtually spot on with a *tiny* *slight* cooler blue. CA is pretty well controlled and minimal to zero for a 15x zoom. Have scopes with far FAR worse CA that coat $1000 to $1500 more.

Some people have reported the focus is a bit touchy but I don't find that to be the case. If anything, its a bit on the long side (pro in my book as it makes it easier to get fine focus without bouncing back and forth).

Diopter adjustment is good but I would love to see it have a slower movement. The detents are spaced just a bit far apart and diopter was more finicky than expected but better than other vortex offerings in the $200-600 range.

At 15x, it's very clear with bright edge to edge picture. A very slight amount of light gray shadowing can appear at extreme edge if you are not set behind them properly or have interpupillary distance set wrong. Once set, it's nearly perfect.

Spotting mirage and swirl is relatively easy with these at 300-600 yds. Focus and depth of field is very tunable to allow mirage reads near vs far. Haven't taken to range to spot trace so that will be in part 2.

Based on what I'm seeing so far, I will be keeping these. Planned on buying to test and return but

I'll be able to compare them to other sets of 15x and similar binos and spotters when at the upcoming matches. Such as Leupold spotter, Swaro 15x binos, Athalon Chronus tactical spotter and a few others.

If you have any specific questions or tests you want me to try, please comment below and I'll do my best to test against requested optics.

 

[dave300]

Kinda looking forward to grabbing a secondary pair of 15’s for when I have another friend out hunting with me and as a backup. Looking forward to your findings.

 

[lush_dawg]

You’ve had these for most of the season...what is your opinion on them?

 

[Subwrx300]

You’ve had these for most of the season...what is your opinion on them?

Good timing. I think for entry level PRS/Spotting binos, it's hard to be the value of the Vultures. They are $500 and have enough clarity and resolution to spot trace cleaning to 600-800yds. However, I would say that the Bushnell Forge is certainly a significant step up in resolution for only 300-400 more. I just picked up a set of 12x50 Razor HDs and will run them side by side to see if there is an advantage to the mid range line by Vortex. The new UHD is in another class much closer to Swarovski 15x56 than I ever thought possible.

One sacrifice the Vultures give up though is eye fatigue. Over the course of a 2-day match weekend, I find it harder to stay focused behind the Vultures. Your eyes work just a bit harder to see very small details compared to the Forge, Razor HD and Swaro SLCs. Is it worth extra $500-$1500 to see slightly more? Possibly, but it truly depends on your goals, shooting skills and how much time you actually spend behind your glass.

Overall, would I buy them again? If I needed a starter set of binos on a limited budget, absolutely! They gave me enough clarity and imaging to make it through a full season with very few times that I felt "limited" by glass quality. But for my goals (working to stay top 10-20 at national matches) they give up just a bit too much resolution to see fine details of foliage, mirage and trace, all of which are necessary to make ultra precise wind calls in changing conditions.

For a starter bino, I don't think I've found anything close to the Vultures for the money.