I saw this post and thought, well, I am a Nikon fan and have been for years now. Matter of fact, every single one of my weapons wearing glass wears a Nikon product. BUT I am a big fan of giving companies a look if they offer me value in a product as well as quality. So, over the weekend I made my usual little trip to Cabelas for some x-mas looking. Looked through a few scopes then did me a little comparing. 3-9x40 Prostaff for $179 vs. 3-9x40 Diamondback for $199.....Results as far as clarity and light?? Not even close!!! Nikon won that one hands down. Vortex wasn't even in the same league. So, to give them a fair shake I picked up the new Diamondback HD 3-12x42 that sells for $389. It was about the same as the cheaper Nikon!!! Maybe a smidge brighter but certainly not $210 brighter! Conclusion, if their top end scopes can't match wits with another makers cheapest line then I honestly can't see them staying in business for much longer. I didn't even bother to compare the Monarchs to the Razor. A warranty means absolutely nothing to me if the quality of the product sucks wind to begin with.