Thread: Low light hunting scope circa 2021 ?

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

devided by 7 is THE RULE for low light.....why a 4x32mm- 4 x28mm works well and 6x42mm does still work....it lets in the maximum amount of light your pupil can use...
Ive got similar scope to one EBF uses and if you leave it down below 8x...its still pretty good in low light.

Agreed. If the light is that bad then I would expect the distance your shooting would not be extreme?, say not more than 100m to 150m tops? 6 power at that range would be enough and bolting the Hubble telescope (50+ objective) on top does not have much appeal. If it was a dedicated low light rig maybe fair enough.

Well after sunset (25 minutes), just looked thru both out of curiosity.

Binos are 8x42 Trinovids, bloody awesome.

Looked at a bush about 75m away, rifle scope was set to around 4 power (walking around setting for me), Could clearly make out the trunk/stem of the bush in the binos (good definition on edges etc), with the rifle scope it was just a dark blob :-)

Vari power scope has more lenses than fixed power scope or binos. More lenses mean more internal reflective l7ens surfaces and lens coatings all reducing light throughput . 30mm tube allows greater diamete erector lens which helps light transmission too.
Large high quaility lenses esp say 56 mm objective allow good light at 8x wheras 42 mm objective with equivalent lenses and coatings can only be equal at 6 x.

Originally Posted by Woody

Vari power scope has more lenses than fixed power scope or binos. More lenses mean more internal reflective l7ens surfaces and lens coatings all reducing light throughput . 30mm tube allows greater diamete erector lens which helps light transmission too.
Large high quaility lenses esp say 56 mm objective allow good light at 8x wheras 42 mm objective with equivalent lenses and coatings can only be equal at 6 x.

Not sure I agree there . From my understanding it is the lense coatings that increase light transmission . The difference being the coatings used and not all scopes have coatings on the internal lenses , and it is that lack of internal lense coatings that reduces light transmission .
You will probably find that cheaper scopes don't have internal lenses coated , just the external , hence cheaper price . Most pricier scopes will specifically mention all lenses coated in the specs.

Note; I stated EQUIVALENT LENSES.

Originally Posted by Woody

Note; I stated EQUIVALENT LENSES.

Ooops , just re-read , my bad ...

Crazy how good a red dot in the center of the recticle makes a black pig standing in the shade with the invisible cross hairs very shootable
Firedots are my current favourite

Schmidt and Bender T96 sublime but too heavy 34mm tube
Swarovski Z8 beautiful and my pick for 30mm tube
Swarovski Z3 4-12x50 is really good for 25mm tube
Worth mentioning the Nightforce ATACR and NX8 they are level with the best euro scopes.

What’s the new illuminated Z5 2.4-12 like I looked at it in daylight and was impressed but not a true measurement. Who’s using one??

An illuminated dot is the only feature I miss on my Z5 but not that often. Last deer was a sika hind at 565yds at very last light. I couldn't make out much even with the Geovids but with a struggle made a correct guess as to where the crosshairs were and levelled it. Because of the distance, I had to use decent magnification and 12-13X was best compromise between light and definition. One minute later couldn't see a thing really.
A Z6 with the dot on would have been far easier.

Hi EBF
It will be interesting to hear what people have to say about scopes available now in 2021.
My observation is that you want the three a es if your optical system to be in proportion. That is “ naked eye”, binos and scope. Two eyes can make out a hell of a lot and really take some beating for up close in the bush. Binos are good further out and remember they have TWO lenses so double the light gathering area of the same spec scope. So, without need for multi lens systems, reticles, tubes and so on they should be easier to design for light gathering. Higher powered ones tend to be optimised for daylight open country or maritime use. The recipie for satisfaction is a scope thats equal or fractionally better than your bare eyes and. Binoculars. Slightly poorer and you can be very unhappy. I find my S&B 3-12x50 and Kahles 8x32 are very similar and can see just a bit more than naked eye so im very pleased. But you could have the same good experience with much cheaper gear ev x50 VX3HD and leupold 8x32 binos.

Think about the colour cast of the lenses. Some like leupold have optimised for the blue light at twilight while others like steiner and possibly kahles have a nice yellow tinge that makes animals stand out in good light but i guess might waste useful blue at dusk and dawn. Anyone else got thoughts on that ?

Plus one for the “rule of 7”
Although more light intensity is also good eg 7x50 is better than 4x32.

A good reticle is important. Those skimpy disappearing duplex ones are a waste of good deer

IMO Firedot (illuminated reticule) will definitely increase your low light shooting capability. Will worth the extra no matter what scope you choose.

Two other things that improve what you can see in low light are:

Focus - always a compromise with fixed parallax scopes because only one distance is exactly in focus - often set to about 80 or 100m. The parallax adjustment can compensate for short sightedness ( myopia) without making the reticle blurry.

Magnification - in lower light your pupil is dilated and imperfections in your eye geometry (cornea, lens and retina) degrade your visual acuity. Higher Magnification can overcome this quite a lot. You can see more detail on 6x than on 3x. As long as you meet the rule of 7mm exit pupil.

Another thought is, as the light deteriorates how much of the targets background can be checked for the safety issue. Don't think this gets much thought in the bush hunting environment when a snap shot is presented, would state it's the the last thought to enter the shooters head. Now in my 70's can't bush hunt as early or late as was possible 40 plus years ago.