bigfellascott wrote:Islander7 wrote:Just did a very non-scientific test/comparison of my new scope in low light situation - Meopta Meostar R1r 3-12X56mm.
Basically I setted up the scope ~60m from a shipping container on my property and tried to read some numbers written on a container (white letters on green background). I also tried to do the same using my old budget ($300 from ebay USA) binoculars Nikon Monarch 8.5x56mm with one eye shut.
In both cases (through Meopta scope that I set to 8.5X and Nikon binoculars 8.5X) I could not read the text any longer at exactly same minute 9:33pm. I moved 20m closer and was able to barely see the text again, after few more minutes the contrast faded away, again, at exactly same time for both.
I then directed both to the bush behind the container - contrast was pretty poor through Meopta, while I still could distinguish different branches via Nikon. Both were about same brightness however.
Slightly dissappointed to be honest, considering that these binoculars are budget model and this scope is often comparable to much more expensive models. There are numerous reports online that this scope is better optically than Z3 and just slightly behind Z5/Z6, S&B, Zeiss Victory etc. I trust those reports, and now glad that I didn't pay twice the price for other brands, because it wouldn't make any difference for my eyes most probably.
P.S. very unscientific I know. Maybe my eyes are poor enough to be able to distinguish the difference in optics and superiority of Meopta, who knows. I'm keeping the scope anyway, as I like it still and it's more than enough for my hunting needs anyway. It's just that I was prepared to be blown away by low llight performance and I wasn't after all
It doesn't surprise me at all! I've done plenty of testing of euro and cheaper offerings and there really was SFA diff in brightness in between any of them at last light. I was expecting to be able to use the euros without any added light source but it wasn't the case at all.
When it comes to scopes & low light, the difference in seeing things for longer in fading light is a furphy i believe.
In low light like the last throws of daylight, with good or bad optics of similar construction, there is only "X" amount of light period...so a better scope cant make more light & allow you to see for 15 minutes longer.
Where you will notice the better optics perform is in the saturation levels of colours, lower or no chromatic aberration, & naturally sharper fine details and a greater tonal range in across a greater variety of lighting conditions
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I always like to test a scope on a bright sunny day...look into the shadows & see how much detail you can see...then look at the highlights--for example--if you could/can, look at a white lace curtain or a wedding dress out in the sun then in dark shadow--you will find with poor quality optics the curtain will appear blanket white, as opposed to a Z5 for example, you will see the intricate detail of the lace (let your eye/brain adjust to the light level of course).
The sucker for testing scopes is on an overcast day--the cheap ones make things look bright, have way more contrast & therefor appear sharper, where as immediately against the quality optics, initially appear dull & lifeless--but again, thats where you look into shadows for the real test...so its easy to be fooled into thinking a Z5 is not worth the coin when compared to a cheaper Bushnell of a mere fraction of the price
Cheaper optics have coatings that make the poor glass "appear" brighter & sharper by way of increasing the contrast...when in actual fact what you want is a low contrast image with good saturation.
This can even make a difference at night--say for example, a fox in a stubble field under halogen light at 200-250 yds (fox not looking at the light so you cant see its eye reflection)...with a cheap high contrast optic, the fox's fur blends in to the stubble & you rely more on movement to see it...however with a low contrast high definition quality optic you will see detail enough to make out the fur.
Its all a matter of training our eye to see what we actually see, rather than what our brain percieves us to see...
So relating that to dusk situation & the very last throws of daylight, you wont "get longer use" out of a better quality optic, rather you will just see things clearer & be able to make out better detail in a wider variety of lighting conditions..