VortexOptics Diamondback HD Spotting Scopes

My wife and I bought this spotting scope for viewing wildlife, particularly wolves in Yellowstone National Park. We have not had a chance to do that yet but in using it here at home, we are satisfied with the optical quality and ease of use. It's Arca-Swiss compatible "foot" works perfectly with all of my photographic tripods. It is also a nice, solid and comparatively light-weight unit. My only complaint is the way it was packaged at Amazon. The scope was securely and safely packaged in a box by the manufacturer; however, the manufacturer's box was repackaged in a larger box by Amazon. No packing material of any sort was placed in Amazon's box so that the manufacturer's box would slide back and forth inside. In fact, when my wife picked it up on the porch, the box slid inside the larger Amazon box. As a result, the imbalance caused the box to slip from my wife's hands and fall to the floor. Fortunately, the scope was so securely packed in the manufacturer's box that no damage incurred. It wouldn't have taken much packaging to prevent this from happening. We have ordered a lot of items from Amazon but in this instance, I would have expected more care from Amazon workers.

Let me tell you something here : I am not optics expert here. I am your average Joe who always had middle of the road binoculars (like Nikon Monarch 7, three of them in different configurations). I am not expert, bur guess what : I have eyes !!!! i ALSO HAVE A GOOD VISION. And I know what to look for.I got me this Vortex Diamonback HD 20-60X85 and I am pleasantly surprised what a great quality optics this is. First of all it's super clear. It is shoulder to shoulder with my Nikon Monarch 7 witch has ED glass. View is very clear with plenty of light even on the cloudy day. I have NO distortion whatsoever even at the high end Zoom. The build quality of this thing is phenomenal. It's built like a tank.Please don't listen to these optics snobs here that are picky about this scope. They clearly have no clue what they are talking about. How come ? Very simple : You DO NOT compare Honda with Mercedes S Class, do you ? And this is what every one of them does. This scope is a Honda. It will get you there, it will last long time, and it will give you good service. Mercedes will do that too, and more, but at what price ?If you are on the fence, go for it and don't look back.

the optics are awesome

Received my 20-60 Vortex spotting scope today and promptly unpacked it from the box and set it up on my tripod. I followed the instructions and screwed the eyepiece into the body. It's important at this point that the eyepiece be hand screwed in VERY tight, per the instructions, until it cannot turn anymore. Tighten until you cannot turn the ring any tighter. If you don't you will not be able to effectively select the various magnifications as the adjusting ring will just spin and not lock onto the desired magnification. My real complaint, however, is with the included cover for the scope. It is made of a thin version of wet suit material and is impossible to tug and pull over the scope. After about 20 minutes I gave up as I didn't want to damage the scope. A friend has an older version of this Vortex and it has a nylon cover with a zipper. You don't even take it off the scope once mounted on the tripod, just unzip and the cover falls to the sides. Simple and effective. I am always amazed at manufacturers that make changes to their product when the old version works perfectly. Other than the ridiculous cover, I think the scope is excellent. Anxious to hit the range and see if I can check my targets out to 500 yards.

I bought the Vortex HD binoculuars at the same time. Those are amazing. This spotting scope however SUCKS. I don't know if there's a problem with the crystal or what but I can't focus clearly on anything at any range. Really hoping I just got a bad unit (i will try again) because normally Vortex makes great stuff.Returning it.