Vortex Viper 6x32 Binocular

Years ago, my first pair of binoculars was a pair of bog-standard 6x30 porro prism binoculars that came to me in a shoebox - in pieces. After head scratching and hours of torture I began using them and did all the standard things that people with more powerful and expensive bins do - Moons of Jupiter, albatross at sea miles away and lots of local birds. I eventually moved on to a very fine pair of Leica binoculars built with the same ethos which was utility combined with ruggedness. Recently I bought myself a pair of 6x32 Vortex Vipers. They are sharp, with fine abilities when pointed towards bright lights. They are now a permanent fixture when biking and they take to bicycle crashes with a vengeance. They are also nice to use in a rocking boat. Low magnification and a sharp image is a huge plus when I get off the bike puffing and use these bins to look at wildlife. My idea was I needed less magnification, not more and these little gems fill the bill exceptionally well. I was prepared to put up with a loss of quality in many areas to fill a need but I need not have worried. These are not merely good binoculars. They are extremely useful binoculars. 6X is cool.

I have compared the viper 6x32 versus the Leupold katmai 6x32 and found the viper to easily best the katmai in most areas. The viper had better resolution, better depth of view, a brighter view and the color rendition seemed more natural. Build quality on both was excellent , the katmai was more compact. Each was easy to use with eyeglasses on and had more than adequate eye relief. A colleague reviewed both and while he felt the katmai was an excellent little binocular he agreed that the viper was in a higher class. We both felt the extra cost of the viper was justified. Eagle optics as always provided first rate service.