Ed glass clarity significance

Top tier glass makes a difference for brightness, clarity and resolving details but maybe not needed for hunting or plinking but looking thru them is quite special! I recently picked up a higher end Zeis Conquest binos and the difference between them and my ED Athlon binos is very noticeable especially outside the central focusing area, they always make me smile using them. So, yup, you get what you pay for with top tier glass.

I think at this point there is little value in a manufacture marketing a scope as ED or HD glass. There is a wide margin of image quality now that so many companies and countries are making their own version of ED and HD lenses. The only way to truly compare the benefits is side by side with the same manufacture/factory versions of lenses. I can tell you first hand the difference between say, an S&B HD lense and an Athlon non ED/HD lense is dramatic.

But on the other hand, scope quality has skyrocketed so much in general that you can do a lot with the low tier glass out there now.

this is why i am saving for a S&B or March , just to see the difference .Wonder if any store has a 10 or 30 day return if not completely satisficed , but then i would have to tell a lie and say i wasn't .

It was and properly still is, most of the best glass is made by a few companies, and the scope makers buy the best glass from these manufacturers and use that glass in their top-of-line scopes.As in music the best are able to see the nuances,others can not see or hear those attributes.

My best scope has me rethinking my lesser scopes.I think I’d be willing to forego a gun, for another higher end scope. I spend too much time trying to fine focus my Ares 4.5-27, feels like my glasses are dirty and the beginning of cataracts isn’t helpful. 60yo eyes are becoming a larger part of the equation …what I’d really like is Razor 3 6-36x performance in a Vector Veyron package.

Scotty1 said:

My best scope has me rethinking my lesser scopes.I think I’d be willing to forego a gun, for another higher end scope. I spend too much time trying to fine focus my Ares 4.5-27, feels like my glasses are dirty and the beginning of cataracts isn’t helpful. 60yo eyes are becoming a larger part of the equation …what I’d really like is Razor 3 6-36x performance in a Vector Veyron package.

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What is your best scope? Curious minds want to know! (I am sure you have mentioned this elsewhere, I just don't read this sub-forum enough!)

-Matt

Stubbers said:

What is your best scope? Curious minds want to know! (I am sure you have mentioned this elsewhere, I just don't read this sub-forum enough!)

-Matt

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A Vortex Razor gen3 6-36x56, won at last year’s RMAC raffle

Scotty1 said:

A Vortex Razor gen3 6-36x56, won at last year’s RMAC raffle

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That is one hefty price tag, I bet it's nice!

Scotty1 said:

A Vortex Razor gen3 6-36x56, won at last year’s RMAC raffle

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if I had won such a jewel,, I would do a WTT classified for a March, as it would fit my use better , as I am not a bench rest type of shooter and that is a big scope

jarmstrong said:

if I had won such a jewel,, I would do a WTT classified for a March, as it would fit my use better , as I am not a bench rest type of shooter and that is a big scope

Length	15.3 inches
Weight	45.1 oz

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It sits on my already hefty Skout Epoch, not exactly an offhand shooter!

Your eyes my eyes what scopes....
I would just like to put on table for consideration. Me 64.5 as well, and I would start my story like this:
I am using reading glasses when I have things between fingers, but I hate to wear glasses on the go only sometimes over night car drive to see my odometer On borderline with diabetes (between 5 and 6) for over 5-8 years and not taking medications nothing at all, not for blood pressure not for cholesterol, nada....
Every morning coffee I like to sit on my rear porch (summertime), and train my eyes looking around far...training the muscles for details.
Mostly happy what I see, but sometimes I see a shocking blur...need 10-15 minutes concentrating to get back a full clarity. And no checking cellphone for emails - without glasses - because that will ruin my eyes for a half day for sure.
From here I go to my gun range, usually 100M BR.
I like high power scopes with thin reticle SFP, my favourite is 10-50x60.
Usually I zoom in all the way to ring center, 45x power if some mirage or the sunlight is behind my head and when the sun goes around I go with full x50 power.
At that power I don't watch the white paper or the rings colour (usually black this what I print diy),
I trained my eyes and the brain - not to see but to see - the X center dot and the reticle in a same time... not either one of the two but both.
So, just saying, for target shooting the sharpness and clarity is not a #1 in scopes.
But again I like toys as well, this scope I am dual purposing between my Impact @ 100 and my f-class 308 @300 because I can see the POI holes.

MongooseV8 said:

I think at this point there is little value in a manufacture marketing a scope as ED or HD glass. There is a wide margin of image quality now that so many companies and countries are making their own version of ED and HD lenses. The only way to truly compare the benefits is side by side with the same manufacture/factory versions of lenses. I can tell you first hand the difference between say, an S&B HD lense and an Athlon non ED/HD lense is dramatic.

But on the other hand, scope quality has skyrocketed so much in general that you can do a lot with the low tier glass out there now.

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When you and the commenter's above say "top tier" etc what are definitions that you're using? Honest question from a fairly new entrant to the sport.

rangur1 said:

May differ with some folks, but generally tier 1 or top tier scopes fall in the $1500 and above range price wise. But there are quality disparities between models up in that range as well, but a certain level of performance is there. otherwise, the scopes don't sell.

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Cheers. There are certainly lots of claims by the chaper units. I've not looked through enough - time to go to the stores and spend some hours.

A Australian guy that posts here sometimes spent $9600 for a S&B 10-60 or 5-45, can't remember exactly. It's considered top tier but it broke so he had to send it back.

I spent half that on a March Genesis and it's also considered top tier.

Up above $2500 you are paying for small diminishing returns. Better in some ways but can be very expensive for those nuances.

Nowadays you can buy a Athlon Helos G2 and it'll be pretty nice in all ways considering how inexpensive it is. I have three of them and have settled on them as good enough for most of my needs.

rangur1 said:

While there are several good points / observations made, I was merely mentioning the not so obvious effect of clearer glass on eyestrain. I've shot with scopes that were not bad to me. But even a smidge of less clarity with the glass seems to make my eyes work harder to remain focused. It only shows when I have been shooting over an hour at targets. Scope seems ok, but after an hour or two, my eyes bother me. I figure it's minute refractions caused by slightly less clear glass causing the focusing muscles of the eye to work harder to compensate / maintain a sharp image.

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Eye strain comes from the eye muscle's working, for the most part. I've read and experienced that a slightly out of focus diopter will cause eye strain. Try fine tuning the diopter adjustment to bring the cross hair into sharper focus. If it is out of adjustment slightly, you may be compensating clarity there with the parallax adjustment, and not realizing/seeing that the focus and parallax are not perfect for aiming and your vision.

Old school Nikko Stirling