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I just picked up a 16-48x65 version of this and absolutely love it. This version of razor is being phased out. The newer version has the focus dial on the body itself making it more streamlined. So these have been coming out cheaper lately. I picked mine up from amazon for $899 at beginning of Sept. However now its $995. Again this is for the smaller power and objective.
Quick review: At 16x, FOV to glass a side of mountain 1000 yards away is too narrow. You will be scanning left and right up and down seeing all brown bushes and dirt. Problem with that, it's very hard to tell if you have gone over the area already since you cannot pull back enough to get some sort of reference point (i.e. the skyline).
Glass is very clear with maybe a thin distortion at the very edge. Emphasize thin and maybe.
How is it at 48? I played a staring contest with a bush which I thought was a deer bedded in between bushes. After 20 minutes realized it hasn't moved and changing sun angle I determined it was a dead brush between 2 red brush. Crazy thing was I was looking past 2000 yards! I realized that I was looking beyond the ridge which was at 2000. Looking at google maps, it might be 3800-4k. Looking with my naked eye, I had to look multiple times to make sure I was looking past my ridge. This was early evening so can't mirage was not an issue.
Weight wise, very packable with a tripod. Hiked in 3-4 miles up and down without issues. Even carried it by hand mounted onto a tripod and it balanced very well. Carried it separated and packed away and also mounted onto the tripod strapped to the pack. This was done with either a bow in hand or strapped to pack (if that proves anything).
Overall: Im glad I went with this size. I would go with the 20-60x if I were trucking it or if I was hunting a bigger area. Im sure the newer model is better but there is nothing wrong with this one especially when they're giving out deals. I wish I could share the views I had but a bummer with this scope is they want over $300 for a camera adaptor. Even just an iPhone adaptor is $75.
Quick review: At 16x, FOV to glass a side of mountain 1000 yards away is too narrow. You will be scanning left and right up and down seeing all brown bushes and dirt. Problem with that, it's very hard to tell if you have gone over the area already since you cannot pull back enough to get some sort of reference point (i.e. the skyline).
Glass is very clear with maybe a thin distortion at the very edge. Emphasize thin and maybe.
How is it at 48? I played a staring contest with a bush which I thought was a deer bedded in between bushes. After 20 minutes realized it hasn't moved and changing sun angle I determined it was a dead brush between 2 red brush. Crazy thing was I was looking past 2000 yards! I realized that I was looking beyond the ridge which was at 2000. Looking at google maps, it might be 3800-4k. Looking with my naked eye, I had to look multiple times to make sure I was looking past my ridge. This was early evening so can't mirage was not an issue.
Weight wise, very packable with a tripod. Hiked in 3-4 miles up and down without issues. Even carried it by hand mounted onto a tripod and it balanced very well. Carried it separated and packed away and also mounted onto the tripod strapped to the pack. This was done with either a bow in hand or strapped to pack (if that proves anything).
Overall: Im glad I went with this size. I would go with the 20-60x if I were trucking it or if I was hunting a bigger area. Im sure the newer model is better but there is nothing wrong with this one especially when they're giving out deals. I wish I could share the views I had but a bummer with this scope is they want over $300 for a camera adaptor. Even just an iPhone adaptor is $75.
