{"id":743,"date":"2018-08-27T10:23:28","date_gmt":"2018-08-27T14:23:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.wholesalehunter.com\/?p=743"},"modified":"2019-04-05T13:26:38","modified_gmt":"2019-04-05T17:26:38","slug":"optics-magnification-light-craig-boddington","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wholesalehunter.com\/blog\/optics-magnification-light-craig-boddington\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Great Truths About Optics"},"content":{"rendered":"
I\u2019ve written a lot of magazine articles about optics, and for several years I even wrote a continuing optics column. I don\u2019t claim to be an expert, but I know a little bit about optics. At least, I thought I did. Just last week, at the annual Outdoor Sportsman Group \u201cround table,\u201d Zeiss\u2019s Kyle Brown gave us an update on new products. He started with two very astute comments.<\/p>\n
The first one I\u2019ve said wrong so many times that I\u2019m embarrassed: \u201cOptics don\u2019t gather light; they manage<\/em> light.\u201d The second is something that I have long believed, but Kyle said it better and simpler than I ever have: \u201cMagnification is over-rated!\u201d<\/p>\nThis Stone ram was taken with a Kimber .270 WSM mounted with a 3.5-10X Leupold. Variable scopes in this power range have been the most popular for 40 years, and are still among the most versatile for much hunting.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/p>\n
Managing Light<\/strong><\/h2>\n
The \u201cTwilight Test\u201d Belies the Quality of Your Optics <\/strong><\/h3>\n
On the one hand, this is another way of saying the same thing, but light is what it is. Optics don\u2019t create more light. However, in that critical half hour before sunrise, good optics do manage available light and enable you to see better than is possible with the naked eye. Note, please, the word \u201cgood.\u201d The obvious test is to go outside at dusk or dawn, check the light with your eyes, and then look through a quality modern optic. The image through the glass will be brighter than that recorded by your eyes alone. This is done through quality of lenses and coatings.<\/p>\n
Magnifying lenses aren\u2019t new; the first telescope goes clear back to 1608. In 1668, Sir Isaac Newton added the first internal mirror to reflect light into the lenses. Binoculars and riflescopes go back to the 19th<\/sup> Century.<\/p>\nDonna Boddington with an excellent blacktail, taken with a Mossberg Patriot 6.5mm Creedmoor topped with a Riton 4-16x50mm scope in 30mm tube. Today\u2019s trend is toward more powerful scopes; this is a good example of a versatile modern riflescope.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Lens Coatings Led to Revolutionary Improvements<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Lens coatings, however, are products of the 20th<\/sup> Century, and this technology continues to evolve. If you chance across a genuine antique optic, do the same test I mentioned above. If the glass is good the image may be clear, but you will not see enhanced brightness. Lens coatings prevent available light from being reflected away and transmit it through the lenses, allowing the optic to \u201cmanage\u201d that light.<\/p>\nThe view from a leopard blind. There\u2019s plenty of light now, but it\u2019s going to fade quickly. This is one situation where a clear, bright scope is absolutely essential. High magnification isn\u2019t needed, but a lighted reticle is also invaluable.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Coatings vary; many are proprietary and expensive\u2014one reason why great optics are costly. However, if glass and coatings are more or less equal, then larger objective lenses \u201cmanage\u201d light better than smaller objective lenses. So, a 10×50 binocular will be \u201cbrighter\u201d than a 10×42 binocular.<\/p>\n
Tradeoffs: Better Light Management Can Add Weight and Bulk<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Unlike magnification, I will not say that brightness is over-rated\u2026 a major reason for spending extra money for extra-good optics is to gain just a couple extra minutes of visibility at dawn and dusk. Good glass costs, so you\u2019re probably going to pay more for optics with larger objective lenses, and you will be adding weight and bulk, so there are tradeoffs.<\/p>\n
But here\u2019s another factor. Purely as a matter of design physics, the \u201cEuropean standard\u201d 30mm riflescope allows better light transmission than the smaller American standard one-inch (26mm) scope tube. So, again with quality more or less equal, you are gaining light transmission (\u201cbrightness\u201d) just by going to the 30mm scope, but you\u2019re also adding weight and bulk. More frequently we are seeing 34mm and even 36mm scope tubes. Again, more weight and bulk.<\/p>\n
When Choosing a Scope, Consider Your Priorities<\/strong><\/h3>\n
European hunters are big on large riflescopes, but keep in mind that in much of Europe \u201cshooting hours\u201d don\u2019t exist. Typically, we worry about a half hour before sunrise and a half-hour after sunset. Depending on cloud cover and shadows, good optics manage dawn\/dusk light levels pretty well. In Europe, it\u2019s perfectly normal to sit on stand long after dark, waiting for moonrise. This, to them, is what a big 30mm scope with 56mm objective lens is all about.<\/p>\nNorth American hunters went home hours ago, but \u201cshooting hours\u201d are unusual in Europe. Artificial lights are rarely used, but Europeans developed bright scopes with big objectives for maximum management of natural light.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Just remember, a one-inch scope tube cannot manage light as well as a 30mm tube, and there can be diminishing returns: A one-inch tube gains less benefit from a huge objective than a scope with a larger tube. Additionally, the small, handy straight-objective scope that we think of as a \u201cdangerous game\u201d scope\u2014like a 1-4x32mm\u2014can\u2019t manage light as well as a slightly larger scope with a bigger objective, regardless of quality. These scopes are great for stalking buffalo; more magnification isn\u2019t needed, and max brightness is rarely an issue. However, this is also the type of scope we often put on, say, a .375 that we might take into a leopard blind, or on a .45-70 that we might use for black bear over bait. In those scenarios, light management is critical. You don\u2019t need a \u201cbig\u201d scope for such purposes, but you might be better served by a scope with a traditional objective bell and larger objective lens that offers better light management.<\/p>\nThis CZ .22 Hornet is topped with a 1-4x20mm scope. Whether on a short-range Hornet or a .375, low magnification straight-objective scopes like this, though useful for a lot of hunting and shooting, cannot manage light as well as scopes with larger objective lenses.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nA .416 Rigby topped with a Leupold VXR 2-7×33. Smaller scopes are more traditional on big rifles, but a bit of extra magnification and better light management adds versatility to the rifle. Obviously, magnification has little to do with accuracy!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Magnification is Overrated<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Riflescopes are becoming more powerful, a trend sparked in part by the current interest in extreme-range shooting and enabled by technical advances that make five and six-times zoom practical. Upper magnification settings in the high teens and well beyond 20X have been around for decades, but now these \u201chigh-range\u201d variables are increasingly common.<\/p>\n
Obviously, there are specialized purposes for these high-powered optics. Varmint hunting for small rodents like prairie dogs requires magnification; so does extreme-range shooting, regardless of what you\u2019re shooting at.<\/p>\n
Larger Images Can Mean Diminishing Returns<\/strong><\/h3>\n
A larger image allows you to see better and makes precise shot placement easier. I\u2019m not going to step back into the 60s, when variable scopes weren\u2019t quite perfected and, for good reason, were widely distrusted. Back then, our best gunwriters would pontificate that \u201ca fixed 4X was all you really needed.\u201d I like<\/em> magnification, but there are diminishing returns.<\/p>\nJack O\u2019Connor with one of his last rams, a Stone sheep taken about 1974. He used his .270 with a fixed 4X scope. At that time variables weren\u2019t perfected and were widely distrusted. The fixed 4X was king, and experienced hunters thought 4X was plenty of magnification.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Although a larger, magnified image is easier to see and hit, what matters most is clarity of image, which comes down to quality of optics. Also, there are two problems with extreme magnification. As an inherent engineering constraint, as you increase magnification on a variable-power optic the field of view shrinks, making it more difficult to acquire the target and stay with it. With a variable-power spotting scope of, say, 20-60X, do you try to find a buck on a distant hillside at 60X? Uh, no. You start at the bottom, find it, lock in on the tripod, and then zoom in.<\/p>\nSpotting scopes provide clear evidence that magnification isn\u2019t everything. In order to find a distant object, we almost always start at low magnification with the widest field of view, then zoom in.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The other problem with high magnification is it magnifies everything<\/em>: Heat waves, mirage, any and all wobbles, even disturbance from your heartbeat. Again, a variable spotting scope is a great example. At extreme magnification, a light breeze causes too much disturbance to resolve small objects (like antler tines and bullet holes in targets); conditions must be near-ideal to effectively use magnification much above 30X. On a smaller scale, binoculars are similar: Most people can hold a 10X binocular steady enough. Few people can hand-hold a 15X binocular steady enough to get real utility, although big binoculars are awesome when tripod-mounted.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s Best For Hunting? It Depends<\/strong><\/h3>\n
In riflescopes there are situations where high magnification is useful, but in big-game hunting there are good reasons why the 3-9X (or thereabouts) variable has been so popular for so long! 3X won\u2019t get you in trouble at close range, and 9X magnification is plenty for almost any shot at any range. These days, I often put a 2-7X or even 3-9X on my .375s. I don\u2019t need the power for buffalo, but the .375 is a versatile cartridge; on smaller African antelopes there are times when the extra magnification can be handy, and a 2-7×33 or 3-9×40 \u201cmanages\u201d light a lot better than a 1-4×32.<\/p>\nBoddington put an Aimpoint Hunter red-dot sight on his Sabatti .450 Nitro Express rifle; this buffalo was taken in Namibia at about 20 yards. Although the Aimpoint has no magnification, it\u2019s bright and clear and truly excellent for close-range work.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
On one hand, magnification isn\u2019t always necessary. These days I often use non-magnifying red-dot sights like the Aimpoint. They are fast and bright; at closer ranges they quickly prove how over-rated magnification really is.<\/p>\nCraig and Donna pulled this \u201cdouble play\u201d on buffalo in 2016. She used an Aimpoint, left, on a Blaser; he used a Sig-Sauer 1-5x20mm scope on a CZ. Both were .375s, a total of three 300-grain DGX bullets expended. Clearly there was enough magnification.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0<\/strong>On the other hand, for hunting in more open country I do use the higher-range variables: 2-12X, 4-16X, 3-18X. Having the larger image right there at my fingertips is handy, but, honestly, it\u2019s uncommon for me to actually use<\/em> maximum magnification. In tight cover I keep scopes like these turned almost all the way down; in open country I compromise and leave them at about 6X. I can always turn up the magnification for a longer shot, but with heat waves and mirage it isn\u2019t uncommon to be unable to use more than perhaps 12X.<\/p>\nHigh up on a mountain in Kyrgyzstan Boddington prepares for a 350-yard shot at a mid-Asian ibex. The scope is a Leupold VX6 2-12x42mm. A bit more magnification doesn\u2019t do any harm, but this is really enough magnification for any big-game hunting.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
I admit that I\u2019m spoiled by magnification. Last year I acquired a gorgeous .270 by retired custom maker Joe Balickie. He built it some 25 years ago, and it came with the original scope, a vintage Leupold 2-7X. I would normally put a larger scope on a flat-shooting rifle like a .270. However, this rifle shoots tight little groups just the way it is, so I decided I\u2019d leave it \u201coriginal.\u201d I took it to Namibia in July \u201918. There were no \u201clong\u201d shots, certainly not by today\u2019s standards, but I took several animals between 300 and 400 yards. This was an old lesson that was good to re-learn: The 7X image was plenty big enough, and although I\u2019ve only had this rifle a year, it hasn\u2019t yet missed. I couldn\u2019t do any better with twice as much magnification.<\/p>\nSeveral decades old, this Joe Balickie .270 is topped with its original scope, a vintage Leupold 2-7X. Boddington used it in Namibia in 2018. This hartebeest was taken at about 350 yards; at 7X the image was plenty big enough.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
<\/p>\n
When choosing optics, your environment and your priorities will help you determine what\u2019s best for you. Magnification can be overrated, but not always, and, depending on when you hunt, it might be worthwhile to invest in expensive glass that will manage light more effectively. Remember, hunting and shooting aren\u2019t one-size-fits-all sports; find what you\u2019re comfortable with, stick with it, and don\u2019t let anyone else try to force their preferences on you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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