I know Meopta's are an up and coming set of optics and they are priced right. I think they make the glass for either Leica, or Swarovski. Once this brand starts getting the commercial recognition it deserves, you will see the price start to climb, but know you can still afford them. Also we did a side by side comparison with the Meopta and Swarovski spotting scopes. The Meopta is brighter!!! and less expensive. Not taking away from Swarovski, the are very, very good. I have never used the Vortex brand.