Expensive/European optics

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Springer101

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Was alone at home tonight (finally yeah loll) and was wondering how fantastic is European optics vs let say Japanese optics. So I took some scopes that were just sleeping in boxes and went in my backyard at 10PM. There is a home at about 300Y with some lights on outside.

Nothing scientific in my opinion, but here we go:

I took 3 scopes:
Swarovski Z6i 1.7-10x42
Steiner Nighthunter Xtreme 1.6-8x42
Bushnell Elite 3200 3-9x40


Well, at the same powers (3x & 8x), I realized that Steiner & Swarovski had way more field of view than Bushnell; I guess it's because those 2 first have shorter tube?

For the clarity, I must admit that there is not much difference between my 3000$ and my 300$ scope at this time in the night. During the day, the image is crisper with the European scopes.

Last thing observed, at 3x as at 8x, the target (a window) seemed to be much bigger (took more place in the eye's lens) in the Bushnell than it did in the 2 European scopes. Is it because of the bigger field of view on the Europeans scopes that it make the target bigger in the Japanese scope?


Jean
 
Doesn’t seem like a fair comparison of euro vs jap. I’ve done comparison tests with my wife, who is the ultimate authority in all things optical, and we agreed that a recent Leupold VX-3, an East German Zeiss Diavari and a Japanese Tasco Titan were about equal, with the Zeiss having a small edge at night. The newer Zeiss Conquest was about as good too.
All other scopes I own fell short.
A window doesn’t seem to be the best target to me. To compare scopes I look at trees and foliage in the dark among other things.
A longer eye relief will make something look smaller even at the same magnification.
 
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I own a range of optics across different values / levels of quality.

I can really tell a difference between a really cheap optic (like a Simmons or something) and even a mid-level consumer-grade optic (like Primary Arms silver line). It's like night and day. The simmons is like looking through a soda pop bottle almost.

However between the mid-level consumer grade (Primary Arms) and the more expensive "professional" kit or high-end consumer grade (like Trijicon ACOG or accupoint, or eotech magnified optics) I really don't notice a lot of difference. In fact, I used to own four Trijicon accupoints and an ACOG and an eotech magnifier, I've sold three of the accupoints and the magnifier and replaced them all with Primary Arms, because really I can't tell that much of a difference in glass quality. There's slightly less of a black ring around the accupoints, but not so much that it's worth three times as much in my opinion and the image quality is otherwise indistinguishable.

Then... You get to the high end stuff, and I start noticing a difference again. I own a couple 3.2-17x US Optics scopes (one's for sale on the EE!), and they are noticeably better than any of the consumer grade stuff I've owned. My buddy's Steiner is at that level too, the Primary Arms and Trijicon stuff doesn't compare.

Never looked through S&B or Swarovski so can't comment on that...
 
Compared them too during the day. The image was crisper with the Z6i & Steiner than with the Bushnell. But at night, I couldn't see much difference. When I have time, I will looked the details in the stones arround the window.
 
I am very partial to Zeiss Victory glass. Not overly impressed with Swarovski. S&B is ok.

Tangent Theta really makes my heart skip a beat. Euro glass in a Canadian tube, set up with perfect geometry.
 
Love my Schmidt and benders, have a couple very nice meopta .Looking through them makes me smile Everytime . Swarovski was very popular where I hunted in Africa. I haven't used their scopes, but their binoculars are quite nice.
 
the reticule is part of the equation as well. i tested some vx3 in different pattern and my old vari IIIx with a german 1 was clearer than the last version vx3i with a standard duplex and a vx3 with bc reticule ... i have an old kahles 8x fixed with a german 1 that is really fantastic despite is age ...
 
Those top end scopes do give you quite a lot of features for shooters need them and also clear picture especially at long range.

Quite a few budget scopes will do the job at certain distance. For the expensive high end one's, you will get what you pay for, it's a buy once cry once thing.
 
Seems to me that the short comings in glass/coatings don't really show up until you get into those really crappy conditions.

Everyone of my upgrades came after a hunt or a match in bad conditions!
 
dusticles said:
Seems to me that the short comings in glass/coatings don't really show up until you get into those really crappy conditions.

Everyone of my upgrades came after a hunt or a match in bad conditions!
Click to expand...

And dusk/dawn. While I don't have any high end optics, I have a variety of brands from dirt cheap to a few hundred bucks plus multiple pairs of binos and a rangefinder. When the sun has gone down and you're in that second half of the hour between sunset and legal shooting light looking through even a $300 pair of binos or scope is like looking through night vision compared to the really cheap stuff, nevermind the naked eye.
 
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