First impressions are good.
Scope is unmounted but I played a bit with it yesterday. Occular ring is easy to adjust and it was near bang on for my eyes from the factory. I would like a way to lock it.
I can compare it with an Athlon Ares ETR 3-18 and a Bushnell Elite DMR II 3.5x21.
Glass: definitly better than the Bushy but I would need to compare at the range with the Athlon. From my backyards they are close but it's close range and it's hard to hold the Apex unmounted without shaking when you zoom in. My DMR II has more CA. Contrast and clarity is also better on the Apex.
Eyebox: eyebox is good as I'm able to hold a clear view of the reticle even at 32x. Will update once it's mounted but it's far better than a NX8 (I had trouble getting behind one). I consider the eyebox to be good as well on my Bushy and Athlon. More info to come when mounted.
Turrets: Stainless steel so they are much better than my Bushnell and at least as good as the Athlon. Tactile with a clear sound and not mushy at all.
I get 2 full turns with the elevation (so 30 mils). I didn't check or play with the zero stop
On windage I get 5 mils right and 5 mils left so there's a mechanical stop that I didn't investigate. Perharps someone can enlighten me.
Illumination: At 3 or 4 power it is perfect for low light. At 6 (max) it's really too bright with some bleeding in the reticle (mostly numbers). The knob is perfect as you feel a click at each setting and I don't see how you would move it accidently. Also I like the off setting between each level.
I tried illum at dusk so maybe max setting is fine for a sunny day but I never use illum then.
Reticle: one of the high point imo. The reticle is useable at 4x which is impressive and it's one of the cleaner christmas tree I have seen.
Parallax: it goes down to about 15 yards which is true. The knob has enough resistance so you don't move it by accident but it's smooth enough to turn. More tests to follow at the range. At first glance it doesn't seem too finicky to play with.
Tracking: didn't test anything.
Everything else is very good. The only thing that sucks is the scope lens caps. They barely hold but they will get the job done before I switch. For info I use a mix of Vortex Defender and Tenebraex.
