Scope Advice

dsdmmat · Nov 26, 2016

I have a couple of the 8-32x40 monarch ED scopes, one has the nikoplex the other has a BDC. I have never noticed the image being dark.

Have you tried adjusting the eye piece when you have your glasses on?

Eddie Gunks · Nov 26, 2016

STS556 said:
I have tried endlessly adjusting the eyepieces to get that sweet spot with my glasses on. Never happens. .

Sound like you have a problem that has nothing to do with the scopes.

Go see your eye doctor. Bring your scope and see what he says.

meketrefe · Nov 27, 2016

Yes the monarch scopes are a tad better but even low end nikons they tend to put some pretty decent camera quality lenses on them.
have you adjusted the ocular lens correctly for your eyes?
Also find out what is the parallax as there mght be some moving that can be distracting. Parallax in the nikons is not too bad but in others
can be huge. I would say review the ocular adjustment first. Do this by focusing in a white or clear/plain background so you don't have any distractions
and concentrate simply on this.
In the category of the monarch I would take a look at other scopes like the weaver grand slam but all the BDC and drop compensating reticles
specially with the 2nd focal plane (the most popular) have pretty limited value in terms of accurate correction.
The best thing is to go and test as many as you can. Look through them. Adjust them properly because light, definition, contrast this is all
pretty subjective and it changes as we all have different set of eyes. Once you get to a certain level of scope what looks good for me might look
different to you. So the only way is to go and try them as get a real feeling for the scope.
If the correction is not important to you and more magnification and contrast perhaps look into a target scope. with some you can read the newspaper
at 300 yards. but then there is the trade off on the reduced field of view. If you need correction at different ranges for hunting and practical shooting
I would look into a quality scope with first focal plane and consistent units of measure between the reticle and the turrets.
I understand this is not needed by many people but the investment in the scope is always a good one.
BTW I just remembered monarch has some BDC in first focal plane. the issue with these bdcs is that some fo the 2nd plane were too coarse and
not really an accurate system but perhaps in the first focal versions you have a thinner reticle and more practical.
Keep in mind there is nothing like a simple stadia design in universal popular units of measure like mil dots or Moa designs.
I hope this makes sense.

Snappo · Nov 28, 2016

STS556 said:
I have a Remington 700 in .243 with a Nikon 2.5-10x50 scope. Yesterday I went to Blue Mountain to the 200 yard range. I don't know if it was just the day or what but my eyes were not up to par yesterday. I was having a little trouble seeing the dark part of the target through the scope. I switched to the white part of the target where they write the corresponding number to your table. I started shooting in the belly of the number 5 and did much better. I wear glasses but with the type of prescription I have I can't wear them to look through the scope. The images are blurry with my glasses on.

I was looking at the Nikon Monarch 5 5-20x50 ED non illuminated scopes. I know the higher the magnification the darker the image is but it may be time to go with a higher magnification if I want to hit my intended target.

Anyone have any experience with these higher magnification ED Nikon Monarch scopes? Is the image still bright at the higher magnifications?

My experience disagrees with your view of brightness. I have an 8.5x32 Pentax that is so incredibly bright I have to run the sun shield most of the time. The amount of light that is let in has a direct relationship to the glass positioning and focal plane design, the size of the central tube, and the size of the end portion of the scope (called the objective lens diameter). I therefore recommend you move to scopes with a 30mm tube and a really large objective lens. There is one caveat to that statement though - the larger the objective lens diameter, the higher the rings you need. The higher the rings, the further offset from the center of the barrel your scope is. The further offset your scope is, the more accuracy can be affected.

From the "I see blur" perspective; I get that too. I am developing cataracts, and I cannot read anymore without glasses. When I use one of my scopes that has that extra focal point you adjust (called AO or parallax adjustment) I can see clear as a bell without wearing my glasses. So definitely I would recommend you move to scopes that have AO on them.

I had a thread a while back when I had a problem with LightSeeker 30. If you can find that thread, toward the end one of the posters walked me through how to check the MOA drift and elevation using a mirror. He clearly knows a ton about scope theory. If you can find that thread and find that poster, he can help you with your issues as well. I do have about 30+ pieces of glass so my experience is "in the field" experience but I don't really spend too much time trying to understand the dynamics of how light and prisms work with regard to rifle scopes. I just observe different designs and how they affect my shooting.

Snappo · Nov 28, 2016

STS556 said:
I have tried endlessly adjusting the eyepieces to get that sweet spot with my glasses on. Never happens. I have the same problem with my telescopes and one of them is a fluorite lens and the other a Schmidt-Cassegrain.

I use the BDC on all my scopes. It works very well for me. Its good to hear the higher magnification ED scopes still have a bright image. Looks like one will find a home on the 700 soon.

Not to hijack, but do you do astrophotography? I am really wanting to get into that. I bought a Nikon D7200 and retired my D200 thinking I needed a better sensor with more density. That didn't help. I clearly am messing up with regard to ISO and shutter speed. Also, I cannot seem to get my stacking software to give me the outcome I want. I have an 8" Dobsonian; but haven't tried shooting through that. I am just using the D7200 and an 80-400 VR Nikor lens on a fixed tripod. Since I have a fixed tripod and don't yet have an EQ tripod; I am shooting <15 seconds. If you have done some astrophotography I would love it if you could run me through your settings when you do moon, milky way, etc. Here are my present results. You can see I am getting grain on the milky way and not enough lunar clarity.

meketrefe · Nov 29, 2016

A bit more about scopes...

Snappo has a good point here.

If you look look though some glass they will look very bright and clear although perhaps the main characteristic one will appreciate is perceived
contrast. Perhaps is that definition and contrast combined with a clean reticle design that is easy to see in any conditions and stacks
really well with the background.
This really depends on many factors including what type of coatings the manufacturer uses in the lenses and with the application in mind.
Also consider there is no such thing as 100% light transmission. Anyone saying this or even 98%, they are not being honest.
Swarovski who is well known for amazing quality and contrast (and expensive) advertise a very modest 90% light transmission.
You see, scopes do not "transmit" light. They merely filter images and arrange optical planes and provide adjustments but they do not
"amplify" / "transmit" light in any shape or form like some people are lead to believe.
These buzz words of dawn and dusk scopes are just simple marketing catch terms to lure buyers and not a representation of any 'secret' feature
that might augment brightness or light.

One thing that quality scopes have is amazing contrast like the Swarovski, Leupold, and many japanese and german makers, and this at any
magnification range w/o introducing any significant distortion, occurrence or aberration. These are some of the effects that distort, funnel and
or stretch images towards the edges. If you want to learn about optic distortion the encyclopedia is a good start.

Distortion (optics) - Wikipedia

Then to all this, you have to add the mechanical part that might be more of less accurate. The best we can hope for is that scope that not only
looks good but it holds zero when the pounding begins otherwise it becomes another paper weight. Also that the zero doesn't change with zoom
nor turret adjustment when moving and coming back to the original position. Yes, some cheap scopes do that.
This is about the most fundamental and minimum requirement for any scope to be useful to one degree or another.

I think one really has to look through the scope one wants to use and consider all aspects. I am not an optics expert but I do like to test them
put them through their paces when I can and if nothing else look through them and get a perception on how they would be good for me and
potentially for other people and uses. I have made a few mistakes trusting optics makers that were not consistent and paid the price.
Perhaps it was the cost of learning how not to buy a scope. lol

IMO today we are blessed with pretty decent optics even for the budget minded people and equipment the working man can afford.
First thing when you go into your LGS or get to try one you have to adjust the ocular lenses. This is "a must do" and do it right away otherwise you
are not looking through a scope objectively. Then look for both plain and rich backgrounds and get familiar with the adjustment.
When someone tells you the eye relief is great it might mean something but in the end it might not be the same for you just because
our eyes are different so everything is kind of subjective.

Did you try adjusting your ocular lenses and find a good place to slowly evaluate the scope? Take other optics even if you have binoculars
or a reflex camera and look at the same objects at different ranges and even write down what you see in your own words.

One thing we all shooters can agree on is we hate crappy optics. Sometimes all it takes is testing the scope next to the one you had in mind
that might be 100 dollars more and notice a huge difference in the glass, construction and function.

Nikon are a good value even in the lower end. Of course the monarch are quite good even the older 1" tube just because of the glass.
The BDC was too coarse though and any BDC or comp reticle has limited value in 2nd focal plane. But now they are releasing 1st focal
plane so that makes more sense. BDC /comp will still work for the typical hunter and weekend shooter. Perhaps a decent quality magnification
is more important than fast accurate adjustment like it is for a tactical long range shooter.

Good luck and let us know how your test and potential selection process goes.

Acer-m14 · Dec 2, 2016

I was a Opticalman in the Navy .. no not the eye glass's with black frames man ... i worked with any optical navigation equip .. bino's to periscopes and sextants , even compass's , then i got into photography ,., OMG the junk out there in lens's .. and i'm just talking about the glass .. any camera lens i picked up and looked thru .. bubbles in the glued compound lens's .. sure it might not show up or have a effect on the photo but why should i spend XXX on a lens with poor glass work ..

SO !! when your looking at a scope have it in hand .. look through it both ways .. looks for little specks of shit in it .. some might be bubbles some might be lint .. .. when I had to make a lens there to be ZERO bubbles in the cementing process ..

there is a lot that goes into the glass .. what type .. angle of refraction .. light loss .. and so on .,.

I have use of a crossbow with a BDC and a friend has one on his gun .. I hate them .. give me a Mill dot and i don't care what the turrets are .. Mil-Mil preferred

now that i need reading glasses I need new scopes GRRR so i can adjust the target focus also .. or deal with a blurry deer and clear raticle or visa versa ..

getting old sucks LOL ..

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