Swarovski, at least on their high end stuff and not the built to price stuff, has a short warranty but that is a legal thing with warranties in Germany. They will fix your high end optics free way past warranty. My experience was with Swarovski SLC binoculars that one of the screw out eye cups broke - don't let stupid people touch your high end stuff. So my fault it was broken, and worse yet not purchased through Swarovski authorized dealer and several years past warranty. I got a massive price break from an american indian whose tribe had purchased many binoculars from Swarovski, and they had two unspoken for ones. Brand new, sealed in box still, hundreds below MAP pricing. I called Swarovski, was honest and they said send it in, to Germany, I had to pay shipping there. Less than two months later it came back, on their dime with a detailed report of checks/cleaning/repairs. No charge. I know of people with top line Zeiss, not price point Zeiss, who have had the same experience.
Here’s what YouTube guy Michael Mahoney said two years ago: March has a five-year warranty due to Japanese law. But if you send your scope back they only charge for the part. I cannot speak further; I am simply repeating what someone who has several March scopes said. By the way, while his viewership is modest, and he is not the most professional of YouTubers, I learned something interesting or important from each of his March videos that I have watched. Thanks. S7
Greetings, Ozark.
Three, I have heard here and there that compact scopes compromise image quality. Is this true? Would it be true of a higher-end company like March? Thanks. S7
True on all counts. I have not had to use their customer service yet (hopefully I never have to). I contacted them to ask if they'd cover damage if it was put on an airgun and they replied that they'll cover it (no matter what it's put on....they won't even ask). Makes sense if you're spending that much. However, their glass is crystal clear, bright, no chromatic aberrations at higher mags (none that I see), and image clarity and brightness doesn't suffer at all at the higher mags. It's built very well, and not as heavy as a tank. I'm impressed with March, but I almost never recommend it because I know people don't usually ask for high end scopes.
Got it. And yes, that price tag is daunting for most people, including me. But I am the type to spend $400 or $500 multiple times over a period of time and not feel too badly about it. Perhaps less (unneeded) scopes and one or two great ones is the way for me to go.
Never found fault with my 2.5-25x, or any March for that matter, lol. But it would stress me out if I did, lol.
That's what I would expect, and what I would think. But someone, on this thread, I believe, said someone (??) found a problem with the 3-24x. If this person, whom I may track down on this now seven-page thread, was watching the video I saw, Mahoney the YouTuber is the guy. I think it was some distortion or chromatic abberation on either higher or lower power. S7
Greetings, rsfrid. I am rereading these posts and came across your comments, and logged your experiences. Also, you said, "Element is pretty low budget." Not all are, right? Are you referring to the Helix or Helix and Titan? Thanks. S7
www.snipershide.com That is the best review I have seen to date. Thank you for the link and info@Sanctify7
It's good to see you've been diligently doing your research on choosing a scope. In regards to short bodied scopes having compromises in image quality, you are correct. A scope with a high zoom erector ratio (5× and up) and a scope body usually under 13-14", the compromises are shallow/narrow depth of field (DOF), finicky eyebox, and sensitive parallax adjustment.
If you want to expand your horizons and research in scopes, I suggest heading over to the Snipers Hide forum. Look under the subforum category "Observation and Sighting Devices". If you can get by the scope snobbery and flaming, you'll be alright lol. Don't get me wrong. There's still a lot of good info on that forum that will be a benefit to your knowledge.
Check out this comparison review by one of their members, Glassaholic.
Rifle Scopes - Alpha Class Long Range Scope Review - TT, ZCO, Schmidt, March, Vortex
For those who've known this has been coming, thank you for your patience, it is finally here, hope you all enjoy! Tangent Theta 5-25x56, ZCO 5-27x56, Schmidt & Bender 3-27x56, Schmidt & Bender 5-25x56, Vortex Razor G3 6-36x56, March G2 5-40x56, March 4.5-28x52 and Burris XTR III 5.5-30x56 It...
It's lengthy but a good read if you want to know what separates "high end", Alpha Class/Tier 1 scopes from the others. It's very well written and how a review on optics should be done IMO.
There are three price ranges, but no ED glass. While they may be popular amongst hunters, for long range bench rest at known distances, single focal length lenses stand out. The Sightrons with ED glass are good. The March scopes (High Master) with multiple ED elements are better. The ED (similar to Flourite elements) elements work to reduce or eliminate chromatic aberrations which manifest themselves as color fringing particularly at long distances. It's not about money alone, it's about lens group designs (and patents) with Japanese being world leaders in this design.
