That's fair. Sounds like an industry standard for glass quality; I rekcon the glass quality is an exact specified selling feature in camera lenses...similar to diamond quality in selling diamonds... there is an exacting reason for why a 1 carat stone of X quality and costs $28,000, and a 1 carat of Y quality is $899.99. But Hoorah fake scope tiers sells scopes I guess...albiet I dont even know what a tier of scope is.
I dont really think there is an industry standard for scopes... ask 10 different guys what the best scope is you'll get 10 different answers and...I bet theyre all "tier 1." And theyre all $1000 to $8500. Too many people with hard ons for the scope THEY have, and other scopes arent worth the box they're sold in.
Theres a lot of reconizable scope brands out there.... Rhetortically...what makes a Khales cost twice what a vortex razor costs. Or 5 times as much as a pst gen ii. Or 10 times as much as an arken. Or 1.5 times as much as a Schmidt and Bender. Or 3 times as much as a Sightron. Or a Tangent Theta cost 1.5 what a Khales does.
Where exactly does diminishing returns come in? Somewhere around fisher price and needing to meet an exact purpose.
If youre just glancing through the scope shooting milk jugs at 1k... I think a guy can get away with a lot less scope than someone sitting on the X ring all day for score.
IMO, the best scope is the cheapest scope that satisfys the criteria it is required to meet. Probably dont need a tangent theta to pick off a couple milk jugs at 1k.
You bring up some good points.
All too often you get guys pushing the scope they have as the best there is out there. 1st question to ask them: have you tried any better scopes, and most say: NO! Then how do you know you have the best?????? Most will never even think about paying $5K or more for a scope, so will never see the difference, and to those you just can't explain it to good enough.
I look at it this way for hunting. You spend a few months if your lucky on the weekends getting out to find your quarry, and then you get a chance at an animal, and you can't tell if its a shooter or not, (most places have antler restrictions) and you end up not taking a chance. You might not get another one for a few years. And all this because of pour glass quality???? You need to rethink your strategies if this is you.
You here the term "alpha" glass and "top tier", or "tier 1" and those are usually the best of the best out there. Generally I have found that the better optics are not always about the glass quality, as much as the whole package as well. Weight and actual size, and components used also play a part in the final $$. There is plenty of info out there on how to tell for optical clarity, and many great tests that have been done on all the glass out there, you just have to weed through all the other stuff to get there.
You don't need alpha glass to get out to shoot distance. This is proven all the time. You can do that with $500 optics and still enjoy it, as proven last weekend. You could not wipe off that smile off my daughters face and she will remember that for a looooong time. You will mostly see the difference in low light, cloudy days, in fringe shadows to see crispness that you don't need at the range to shoot 1K meters, but while out hunting you will run into those situations, and that is where you tell apart the scopes as some shine and others, well lets just say don't perform. Its about the weight and $$ that most pick and depends on what the end use is going to be. Are you sheep, goat hunting, or moose hunting. In the hills, bush, or open plains, determines which you end up with and the options you choose. If you have the means to, why not have the best out there, so you have the best chance. No alpha glass doesn't make you a sniper, so in the end you still need to put in the time and $$ to practice.