Light transmission

If a scope looks darker when you look through it, compared to other scopes, does that really mean it has less light transmission? I know scopes (glass) look different to different people. For some reasons Nikon's look kind of dark to me compared to other scopes but they are suppose to have really good light transmission. They do look really clear though.
 
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That is my understanding of it as well, if it looks darker, it has lower light transmission.

You would really need to take the scope(s) outside to look through them,for a proper test.

Some years ago, Nikon was advertising 'up to 98%' light transmission. When you read the 'fine print' they said it was Per Lens. So, with 7-8 lenses per scope, the actual light transmission would be closer to 84-86%.

I am not a fan of Nikon for 2 reasons:1) there are lots of vendors selling Refurbished Nikon scopes, so I wonder how many crap out on people;
2) Go to NikonUSA.com or Nikon.com and try to find a riflescope on there. You wont! I suspect Nikon doesn't want to 'offend' the camera customers by informing them Nikon also sells 'bloodsports' equipment.

If Nikon is ashamed of me, screw them.
 
Magnification and Objective play a part in this as well. If your comparing an optic that's at 20X to one that's on 3.5X your going to get noticeable differences.

So does glass quality. Annnnnnd, it all comes with a price.
 
Originally Posted By: K-22hornet.That is my understanding of it as well, if it looks darker, it has lower light transmission.

You would really need to take the scope(s) outside to look through them,for a proper test.

Some years ago, Nikon was advertising 'up to 98%' light transmission. When you read the 'fine print' they said it was Per Lens. So, with 7-8 lenses per scope, the actual light transmission would be closer to 84-86%.

I am not a fan of Nikon for 2 reasons:1) there are lots of vendors selling Refurbished Nikon scopes, so I wonder how many crap out on people;
2) Go to NikonUSA.com or Nikon.com and try to find a riflescope on there. You wont! I suspect Nikon doesn't want to 'offend' the camera customers by informing them Nikon also sells 'bloodsports' equipment.

If Nikon is ashamed of me, screw them.



Nikons scope website is under www.nikonsportoptics.com
 
I hunted in Germany while stationed there years ago. I learned a lot about scopes and hunting, since the Germans hunt year round and hunt wild bore at night. Prior to going to Germany I hunted with Tasco scopes (thought they got the job done). After one month in Germany, all my Tasco scopes went into the garbage.

Two rules come into play when talking about low light transmission. First is the ratio of the scope magnification to the front objective. Second is the quality of the scope and glass in it.

The Europeans where hunting boar at night many decades before our modern night vision, so they needed optics with great glass and the right objective sizes. At night in the dark, the human pupil dilates down to about 6 to 7 mm. So one would want a scope that has an exit opening on the rear objective of at least 6 to 7 mm. Anything less would not let enough light through to match the pupil opening. Anything greater would allow the eye to see more.

The best combinations in fixed power scopes where 8X56, and 7x42 which were quite common in Europe. The magnification divided into the objective mm size equals 7, to match the eye opening. The 8X56 having a larger objective lens would let more light through.

This can be applied to variable power scopes also. A 3-9 X 40 scope would have eye exits of 13.333 and 4.444 respectfully. In low light on 3 power it would look much brighter than on 9 power the same light.

Then the quality of glass and coating come into play. Most of the European optic manufactures have very good reputation in this area.
 
I have several Nikons and can't say that I have ever had a problem with them. I don't night hunt so they are work fine for me.
 
Originally Posted By: K-22hornet
Yes, I was aware of that. But, does Zeiss, Swarovski, Leupold, Bushnell, etc. separate their 'bloodsports' products from the camera stuff? No, they do not.

Actually Nikon.com you can get to their scopes. Just takes some clicking on things just like the Zeiss web site.

Leupold, Swarovski and Bushnell I didn't know made camera products. Don't see any on their websites.
 
As a Nikon camera dealer we are not permitted to buy Nikon riflescopes directly from Nikon and cannot offer Nikon riflescopes on our website as Nikon photo Japan does not approve of blood sport and will not allow their photo products association with the riflescopes 2 totally different divisions of the parent company
 
Originally Posted By: gr8fuldougAs a Nikon camera dealer we are not permitted to buy Nikon riflescopes directly from Nikon and cannot offer Nikon riflescopes on our website as Nikon photo Japan does not approve of blood sport and will not allow their photo products association with the riflescopes 2 totally different divisions of the parent company

Sound like a good reason not to but Nikon rifle scopes
 
If we keep boycotting everything that the companys product offends us, soon we'll be walking around in a tanned hide hunting with a stick. I'll keep on using Nikon scopes. My money won't make or break them one way or another.
 
The belief that Nikon is ashamed of it's customers who are hunters and somehow wants to hide the fact that it has customers who are hunters seems like a stretch to me. If they manufactured scopes and sold them under a different brand name maybe I could believe that. But they don't do that. The scopes carry the Nikon name for all to see, including those who buy their camera equipment.
 
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It was never stated or suggested Originally Posted By: fitzthat Nikon is ashamed of it's customers who are hunters .

Nikon Photo, which is a totally different branch of Nikon and MUCH bigger that the sports optics division, does not want to be associated with the hunting side of the business. It's not about being "ashamed"
 
The glass on the P5s and even monarch 3s just look dark to me. They are very clear but dark. I wasn't sure if it was the actual light transmission or if it was coatings or both of maybe just my eyes. And they still advertise as having 98% and 95% light transmission depending which scope.
 
Well maybe it was never stated by you or suggested by you, gr8fuldoug. It was most definitely stated by someone else on this thread.

All good though.
 
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