TassieTiger wrote:This is where I get confused....I currently have a vx2 and a vx 3 and if I put them on 7- 18 mag so they are comparable - I along with various friend - shooters and non shooters - cannot split them optically - so when you say the vx3 wins hands down, what is it that stands out ?
Hey Tassie...
Chromatic abberation is where the light "prisms"--refracts through the other end & seperates all the colours if you like...
It will appear as a slight warm shade (say orangy red) on one side of an oblect, & a cooler colour on the other side, say a greent blue.
I have a "fantastic" Ziess that cost me $1500 & is real bad for it.
There is also edge to edge sharpness--this same zeiss is sharp image for sure...but blurry outside the centre general viewing area, & badly distorted image around the edges.
Also test a scope in bright sunlight...look & see how much detail you can see in the shadows & for that matter the highlights...but if doing this, dont let your eyes do the adjustment for you...! cos your brain will adjust what it sees giving you a flase impression of how good it is, & or any differences between scopes...
Lke setting the dioptre on a scope for your own eyes, only have glances then look away to do these tests---seeing people look through a scope for long periods of time (like the test in that NIOA video) lets your brain adjust to what you see, which couldl be a reason they cant tell a difference between the top 2--(note i say could be)
for example...look at the likes of (maybe a bad exampe) a wedding dress in bright sunlight...a cheaper scope gives you the impresion its "very clear & sharp" a because the coatings on it give the image a very high contrast, so a red bucket will look VERY bright red on a dull day...
But if you look at the wedding dress in bright sunshine, it will be so bright you will only see a glary haze of white causing you to squint even looking through the scope...
Look at the same dress with i high end glass & you will se the detail in the lace & not have to squint...
That is an extreme examle, but food for thought hopefully mate...
You could do that type experiment in the snow on a sunny day--that will show up good optics for sure.
These things may be subtle, but along with the fine resolving power of good lenses, they do make a difference in such things as spotting goats from 600 yds on a sunny day...at long range, what you can barely make out with a Vx2 & thus come to the conclusion is an old burnt out stump that has silvered off on the outside, turns into a big billy goat with a Swaro Z6.
And what JSS says too...
Clever marketing...
Jonny Walker is not a great scotch by any stretch, but people think a black label is classy---yuk---!!...but it sells hand over fist...
The man who knows everything, doesnt really know everything...he's just stopped learning...