Vortex Razor Red Dot Distortion

[Silverscooby27]

I was looking through 2 optics tonight, an Aimpoint Comp M5 and a Vortex Razor reflex type red dot and felt like there was a lot of distortion in the image on the Razor and no distortion on the Aimpoint. I felt that my eyes could see the target better with the Aimpoint because of this and I could get a better sight picture faster. I also felt the image was a little blue in color on the Vortex compared to crystal clear on the Aimpoint. Has anyone noticed this type of thing? Does this magnification/distortion of the image even matter? At this point I’m leaning more towards just using the Aimpoint. Are there any reflex sights that are better or worse in terms of image distortion?

[Tampa-XD45]

You get what you pay for.  You're comparing a $800 sight to a $400 sight.  And you're also comparing a reflex sight with a tubular sight.  8 ounces vs 1.4 ounce. Not really apples to apples.

Sounds like the Aimpoint is a good fit for your set of eyeballs.

 

I haven't noticed those anomalies in my three Vortex optics but they're not reflex sights.

[Silverscooby27]

Sure, I get that the more expensive thing will be of higher quality. Do all reflex sights have some distortion? I imagine the curvature of the lens has to do with it. My Vortex is a little magnified and blue. I’m also right handed but left eye dominant so it seems that my brain has trouble overlaying those two images because they are different, so it takes longer for me to process exactly where the dot is. With the Aimpoint, it is like I’m looking out normally, just with a red dot in my vision. To me, that’s the way it is “supposed” to look. Maybe because I’m left eye dominant, but it still seems to take much longer to acquire good sight picture with both eyes than closing my left eye, for example. If I can find a reflex sight with less distortion of the image, it will probably work better for me. That’s what I’m looking for.

[BartCarter]

I do not see the problems you see with the Razor with my Vortex Venoms (less expensive yet).  That seems odd because the Razor is the higher end Vortex red dot.  It could be personal because everyone's eyes are different.  A friend gets distortion with his Venom only when he wears his glasses, so he shoots a Vortex prismatic tube red dot.

[ToddKS]

The Razor I have looked through was more crisp than my Aimpoint. It may be your eyes or there might have been an issue with that particular unit.

[Silverscooby27]

Maybe it’s my eyes or my glasses because I have 4 of these Razors and they’re all the same.

[Startingover]

Sounds like you have an astigmatism? 

[1981Shooter]

9 hours ago, Silverscooby27 said:

Maybe it’s my eyes or my glasses because I have 4 of these Razors and they’re all the same.

I'll take those crappy Razors off your hands cheap 

[Silverscooby27]

I do have a little astigmatism but not bad. I don’t think the Razors are crappy. I think they’re well made. I just was wondering if all reflex sights distort or magnify the image because of the curvature of the lens or something because the Aimpoint is like I’m not looking through anything. I think if I could find a reflex sight that had no distortion that would be the best, but I don’t know which one that would be? But it doesn’t seem to be the Razor, at least not for me.

[ToddKS]

Have you ever looked through a 6 or 8 MOA Cmore? This is my preference over any I have tried.

[Startingover]

On 4/20/2018 at 4:39 PM, Silverscooby27 said:

I do have a little astigmatism but not bad. I don’t think the Razors are crappy. I think they’re well made. I just was wondering if all reflex sights distort or magnify the image because of the curvature of the lens or something because the Aimpoint is like I’m not looking through anything. I think if I could find a reflex sight that had no distortion that would be the best, but I don’t know which one that would be? But it doesn’t seem to be the Razor, at least not for me.

I am pretty sure that the distortion comes from the way the dot is projected.

 

I have an astigmatism, and I think the star burst/double dot that seems to come with it is a pain in the butt, but I am learning to live with it.

 

I just picked up a razor, and it seems to be a little bit better than my Burris Fastfire III,  but I don't know if that's just because the razor has a smaller dot, (6 moa vs 8 moa) or the way they are built.

[BartCarter]

FWIW, I have a friend that can't use red dots if he wears his glasses.  But when he changed to a prismatic sight it was perfect.

[jhgtyre]

43 minutes ago, BartCarter said:

FWIW, I have a friend that can't use red dots if he wears his glasses.  But when he changed to a prismatic sight it was perfect.

Ha, I'm the opposite!  If I don't have my glasses on the dot is a blur.

[Jeremyc_1999]

I have an astigmatism and all dots in red dots are distorted.  If there is a reticle, it is not distorted.  I am running 1-6 ffp scope on my AR and when I am on 1x the reticle is small enough that it looks like a dot.  I don't have a PCC set up yet, so it may not work well for that, but it seems to work well in 3 gun

[Silverscooby27]

This thread got a revival, but what I was talking about was not distortion of the dot itself but distortion and color change to bluish of the entire picture when looking through the Razor vs looking through an aimpoint. I’ve been using the aimpoint and I have been very pleased. I do not feel that it significantly blocks peripheral vision compared to the Razor. I do also have the lens caps flipped down. I hope this helps someone. I also have been using a Razor as a 45 offset and I have to say that in actual use, the image distortion doesn’t seem to affect me, but does it affect me by milliseconds to obtain a sight picture or something, I don’t know.

Edited June 2, 2018 by Silverscooby27