I've had a pair of Bushnell Fusion 1600's for about 7 years now, and while they have worked well for me, I also had a pair of Viper HD binoculars for a time and they really showed me the short comings of the Bushnell glass. So having heard Fury glass was on par with Viper HD's, I was naturally very curious to know how they stacked up.
Luckily, a coworker was gracious enough to lend me a pair of Furies yesterday and I spent a few hours driving around the countryside doing side by side testing between the two.
Long story short:
The Vortex Fury is probably 95% of the range finder the Bushnell is, and 300-400% the binoculars. I may be slightly overstating the binoculars part, but the clarity, colors, sharpness, contrast, etc... blow the Bushnells clean out of the water. It's readily apparent to everyone at work (avid shooters/hunters) after the first look through each optic.
Long story long:
There were very few instances where the Fury could not range something that the Bushnells could.
Flat/gentle sloped grass:
Both units worked well to about 350-400yd then stopped working well consistently. The Vortex was actually able to ping some gentle slopes out to 600-800yd that the Bushnell couldn't. Never found anything the Bushnell could range that the Vortex couldn't.
Steep sloped grassy hills/bluffs:
Both units had little trouble out to 1000-1200yd, and in the right conditions, both were able to hit grassy berms at 1700-1750yd. No real distinguishable difference between the two units, other than the Bushnell maybe had a better success rate of first attempts on the farther end of that spectrum.
Dirt berm:
There was a large dirt/gravel berm that I found that I was able to hit with the Bushnell at 1819yd. I had to close the distance to 1664 to have it pick up with the Vortex. I had to close in under 1600 for it to pick up consistently, where the Bushnell seemed consistent (every attempt) under 1750yd.
Live trees:
Bushnell did okay to about 1450-1500yd consistently. Occasionally could ping out to 1700
Vortex was consistent to about 1400, occasionally a little further, but wasn't able to get anything past 1600.
Dead trees:
Only tested one row of trees at 1220yd. Bushnell could ping it, the Vortex could not.
Buildings/large flat objects:
Bushnells out to a little over 1800, Vortex out to about 1750. Not always consistent with either unit that far out.
OPTICS:
Clarity:
Vortex wins. The Bushnell can be fiddled with to get pretty clear, but the Vortex requires much less fiddling, and has a pretty clear lead on clarity.
Color:
Vortex massive win. This is the first thing I noticed. The Bushnells have a milky blue hue going on. Through the vortex, greens, tans, browns, reds, are all much more vibrant and distinguishable.
Contrast/depth:
Vortex massive win again. I don't know how to explain this, but objects appear almost like they're in a filing cabinet-- it's EASY to see what is in front of what. With the Bushnells everything is just kind of one 2d image.
Light:
Vortex wins hands down here, too. Along with being milky blue, the Bushnells are darker. Very noticeably so. In low light the Vortex unit excels.
So yeah, I'm probably going to be picking up some Fury's soon. One caveat on this whole thing is that I do have an older pair of Bushnells. It is a different housing etc. from the current offering, so there may be better glass in what is available now, I do not know for sure. But I am damn impressed with the Fury for the optical qualities, and honestly do not feel like I'm losing very much in terms of range-finding. It's more than adequate for the type of shooting/hunting that I do, and a lifetime warranty is hard to beat.
Luckily, a coworker was gracious enough to lend me a pair of Furies yesterday and I spent a few hours driving around the countryside doing side by side testing between the two.
Long story short:
The Vortex Fury is probably 95% of the range finder the Bushnell is, and 300-400% the binoculars. I may be slightly overstating the binoculars part, but the clarity, colors, sharpness, contrast, etc... blow the Bushnells clean out of the water. It's readily apparent to everyone at work (avid shooters/hunters) after the first look through each optic.
Long story long:
There were very few instances where the Fury could not range something that the Bushnells could.
Flat/gentle sloped grass:
Both units worked well to about 350-400yd then stopped working well consistently. The Vortex was actually able to ping some gentle slopes out to 600-800yd that the Bushnell couldn't. Never found anything the Bushnell could range that the Vortex couldn't.
Steep sloped grassy hills/bluffs:
Both units had little trouble out to 1000-1200yd, and in the right conditions, both were able to hit grassy berms at 1700-1750yd. No real distinguishable difference between the two units, other than the Bushnell maybe had a better success rate of first attempts on the farther end of that spectrum.
Dirt berm:
There was a large dirt/gravel berm that I found that I was able to hit with the Bushnell at 1819yd. I had to close the distance to 1664 to have it pick up with the Vortex. I had to close in under 1600 for it to pick up consistently, where the Bushnell seemed consistent (every attempt) under 1750yd.
Live trees:
Bushnell did okay to about 1450-1500yd consistently. Occasionally could ping out to 1700
Vortex was consistent to about 1400, occasionally a little further, but wasn't able to get anything past 1600.
Dead trees:
Only tested one row of trees at 1220yd. Bushnell could ping it, the Vortex could not.
Buildings/large flat objects:
Bushnells out to a little over 1800, Vortex out to about 1750. Not always consistent with either unit that far out.
OPTICS:
Clarity:
Vortex wins. The Bushnell can be fiddled with to get pretty clear, but the Vortex requires much less fiddling, and has a pretty clear lead on clarity.
Color:
Vortex massive win. This is the first thing I noticed. The Bushnells have a milky blue hue going on. Through the vortex, greens, tans, browns, reds, are all much more vibrant and distinguishable.
Contrast/depth:
Vortex massive win again. I don't know how to explain this, but objects appear almost like they're in a filing cabinet-- it's EASY to see what is in front of what. With the Bushnells everything is just kind of one 2d image.
Light:
Vortex wins hands down here, too. Along with being milky blue, the Bushnells are darker. Very noticeably so. In low light the Vortex unit excels.
So yeah, I'm probably going to be picking up some Fury's soon. One caveat on this whole thing is that I do have an older pair of Bushnells. It is a different housing etc. from the current offering, so there may be better glass in what is available now, I do not know for sure. But I am damn impressed with the Fury for the optical qualities, and honestly do not feel like I'm losing very much in terms of range-finding. It's more than adequate for the type of shooting/hunting that I do, and a lifetime warranty is hard to beat.
