Originally Posted By: slush719I am defiantly interested in the N230. Not sure how the higher magnification will look. What does the 8X function mean?
I think the meaning of "smooth digital zoom" as seen in the ad means constant zoom up to 8 times the base, meaning you start at the base of 3.6x and can increase the magnification smoothly instead of pre-designed increments, and can change the magnification anywhere alone the range of zoom. I hope that's correct. That's my interpretation anyway.
For instance, if you zoom all the way up to 8x, then that is 8 times 3.6 giving a total high end mag of 28.8. That's my understanding anyway. Zoomed up to 2x would be 2 times 3.6 for a mag of 7.2x, and if I understand correctly by the smooth zoom, it means that you can zoom the scope to anywhere along the way up to 8x. At less than 2 times, maybe one and one half for instance that would give 5.4x. This scope has great resolution and the 3.6x base magnification with the possibility of considerably higher. For me personally, 7x or 8x would be as much as I would ever need where I hunt, definitely 10x and I can get by with much less, with 5x being about ideal at the ranges I hunt. If the scope will have good clarity at those reasonably zoomed magnifications then perhaps it would be a good scope to have. Most likely there will be a blurred or pixilated view at the higher end magnifications. Time will tell how it works out.
One other thing I like about the N230 (and the Sightline from their specs) is the 67mm eye relief that helps eyeglass wearers like me. The new Pulsar thermal Trail rifle scopes have only 50mm. That may not be an issue for non-eyeglass wearers but can make a big difference for those of us who do. It seems that eye-glass wearers are left out many times with optics, much like left-handed people are with guns designed for the right-handed. For instance, I have a limited amount of binoculars that I can choose from since most have short eye reliefs. I searched hard to find a binocular that has a 20mm eye relief. Binos like that are rare. I can put the rubber part of the ocular right up against my glasses and get a reasonably good view, although a bit more than 20mm would be ideal. Just a little education here.
My 6.5x Photon has a 60mm eye relief and I have to get the scope pretty close to my glasses in order to get a good view. I am using it on a bolt action .308 and had it bump me one time. It didn't cut me but wasn't comfortable either. If I had not been wearing glasses it most likely would not have touched me.
