Originally Posted by Formidilosus


As far as glass goes, it's a non starter. First off, no ones eyes are as calibrated as they think they are. Second, brand bias and general emotions play WAY more into "evaluations" of glass than anyone will admit. Thirdly, every major company knows exactly how their competitors match up by measuring them. The differance a between quality glass is measured in nanometers and microns. Every single lens has a prescription and it is measured.

Manufacturers make a balance between contrast and resolution with every scopes. Contrast being the "pop" that you see when looking through really good glass, and resolution being the ability to resolve fine details. Contrast and resolution are constantly at odds with each other. To get one you give up the other to an extent. Nightforce historically has lacked the "pop" of other Alpha glass because they put more into resolution than into contrast. That's what you're hearing when people "complain" about NF glass. It's not that it's not excellent, it is, it's just that it doesn't have the visual "pop" that people look for when they don't know what they are looking at.



This is very true regarding brand preference and I remember JB/MD citing a parallel story but using wine tasting connoisseurs. Folks see what they want to see to an extent and are constantly chasing barely measurable differences as evidenced right here in out own classified's section. When Swarovski comes out with a new bino, you can see the list starting to form with the sale of practically brand new SLC's, then SLC NEU's, SLC HD's, Swarovisions over standard EL's (they do have a different view, but the point being both are superb) and so forth.

I remember when Steiner first came out with their Predator lens coatings which have very high contrast with regard to " game colors". You didn't need any training or expertise to see the difference between those lense coating formulations and standard broad band coatings. They were the first bino's, to my knowledge, that were designed specifically for hunters and not birders. They also made a riflescope with the same coating technology and code named "inferred " coatings. The scopes were called Penetrator's and they used to have a promo video of a guy driving tent stakes with the scope and then remounting them on a rifle.

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