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Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 361 Likes: 51
Sidelock
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OP
Sidelock
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 361 Likes: 51 |
I understand that quality glass reduces eye strain and I believe this is true but is it difficult to get the glass that clear that the price of these items rivals diamonds? My thinking is that the most valuable element is the clarity of the glass. Please understand I am asking this question for an education on the subject not to show any disrespect for those who have made such expenditures. Where would, say a Tasco World Class scope with Swarovski glass be on the scale with an actual Swarovski? Thank you.
I'm old an can't see as well as I use to.
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Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 2,814 Likes: 1
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 2,814 Likes: 1 |
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Joined: May 2004
Posts: 779 Likes: 38
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 779 Likes: 38 |
This depends on the use you are going to put it to. In the south of the UK, most of our stalking is woodland/farmland and dawn & dusk. Deer often appear in the very first or last moments of legal light and premium glass can give you the identification and shot when cheaper glass would have failed. However, in the Highland the stalking is more day time: getting up to high ground before dawn or extracting a deer in the dark is not really a option. Here, good but not premium glass is just fine. I have two deer rifles, one equipped with Zeiss Conquest and one with a Hawke Endurance, very much opposite ends of the stalking spectrum. Both are surprising good but the latter seems to lose me 5-15 minutes depending on the light conditions. My stalking binos are Vortex Viper HD 10x42. They are robust, have a fantastic warranty and a good depth of focus so you can scan without constantly fiddling with focus but last light becomes a real challenge. I have used Zeiss top end on occasion and find that I fiddle with focus endlessly. Would I pay 3-5 times as much for premium glass? Right now, probably not, money too tight, but if I was D&D stalking every week I would probably do so after a few more frustrating outings! IF I could find a really objective (no pun intended!), back to back review, I would definitely buy a compromise make at about 1000, not 2500.
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Joined: Aug 2017
Posts: 278 Likes: 92
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Aug 2017
Posts: 278 Likes: 92 |
Quality of the glass, quality of the coatings, design of the lenses, self-imposed manufacturing tolerances, and the ruthlessness of the manufacturers quality control department.
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 1,564 Likes: 23
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 1,564 Likes: 23 |
Its worth it and yes there is a big difference. Case in point was several years ago while I was at the Outer Banks. Had a Shrimp Boat offshore probably 800 yards out. Three people grabbed their binoculars. One has a set of Leupold 10 power, the other Bushness 10 power (10 x 40mm). The last person (me) grabbed a pair of Swarovski 7x50 (3 less in magnification). The only person who could make out the name of the boat at that distance was me with the Swarovski. They were that different.
Ditto on a deer stand this past weekend. Had a friend with Leupold 3x9 power in a box blind at 645 am and it was just breaking daylight. Doe came out, 8 point came out following the doe in a Rye field. At 75 yards he saw two blobs, one small, one big. The deer walked through the rye field. I was on the other end. 5 minutes later I saw the deer, saw clearly it was an 8 point and shot it. My Scope was a 3X9 Swarovski.
I look at high end optics as something special and something that you buy once and it lasts for 25 years unless you beat the hell out of it.
foxes rule
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 13,219 Likes: 1203
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 13,219 Likes: 1203 |
Toby hit the nail on the head. It's how badly you feel you need the extra minutes a day of use. When I hunted deer regularly, my rifles all wore Leupolds. I tried some of the European high end scopes on friend's rifles, but I never felt really handicapped with Leupold scopes. Kahles was probably the brightest scope I ever looked through.
My binos were bought used, but I never really knew how good a pair could be until I got them. They are Fujinon, and have no means for focus. Once you focus each eyepiece for that eye, they are always in focus at any distance, from up close to infinity. I didn't even know that feature existed until I got them. Now, I wouldn't have anything else.
SRH
May God bless America and those who defend her.
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 869 Likes: 2
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 869 Likes: 2 |
This depends on the use you are going to put it to. This is it. Exactly. Another consideration is mechanics. There are scads of sub-$1k scopes with decent glass but poor mechanics. You shouldn't have to rap on an optic to kinda, sorta believe an adjustment you just made. There are very few sub-$1k scopes with bankable turrets that will pass box tests as many times as you perform the test. But not everyone will ever touch a scope setting once "zeroed" at some preferred distance, with some preferred load. There are no free lunches. Everything costs. Mechanics. Range of adjustment. Glass. Variable magnification. Reticle. Focal plane. Do your homework so to make conscious, deliberate compromises. Or..........just spend the money, alot of it.
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Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 7,003 Likes: 407
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 7,003 Likes: 407 |
I tend to use Leupold VX3 scopes, not top of the line but quite good in my opinion. I am spoiled when it comes to binos after buying a good set of Ziess about ten years ago. Retail price was several times 1K but I paid a small fraction of that by purchasing them through a friend in the business. There is no going back for me now, I am sold on good glass. For a great source of info on good quality binos try visiting some of the bird watching websites. Those guys take good glass very seriously.
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 7,706 Likes: 106
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 7,706 Likes: 106 |
Middle priced scopes scopes work pretty well for me, but I insist on the best binoculars I can afford...Geo
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 1,146 Likes: 37
Sidelock
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Sidelock
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 1,146 Likes: 37 |
Where good glass really shines is sheep or goat hunting. When you need to reach to the other side of a valley and size up an animal you just can't have poor glass. Trying to judge whether a sheep is 4/5th curl or just inside a 3/4 curl at 2000 yards is very difficult. You can select to spend a half day humping across the valley and up the other mountain only to find it is a 3/4 curl or you can buy good glass. In those conditions that extends from the rifle scope to the binoculars to the spotting scope.
Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool.
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