50,44,42 mm scopes ?

[WildRose]

Originally Posted by Code4

All else being equal a 42mm scope at 6x will transmit the same light as a 50mm at 7x. No scope 'gathers' light as such. I would submit that other factors such as lens glass quality and lens coatings will have a bigger impact than lens size.

You 'get what you pay for' with diminishing returns I'm afraid. You can pay twice the price for a scope with only a 10% increase in quality. For some of us, it is worth it.

Emphasis mine. That's exactly what scopes do. They gather and focus light on a specific point so that it may be viewed.

The objective diameter is directly proportional to the amount of light which may be gathered by the scope and focused at that point.

As I said "all other things being equal" the larger diameter gives you more light to work with.

[The Surgeon]

Diriel and Wild Rose are spot on. +1

[budlight]

The best thing about big objective lenses is the wider field of view. My small scopes are only 50mm. my best scopes are 56 and 60 mm. Scopes are rated in field of view at a certain power at 100 yards.

When you start cranking up between 12X - 24X bigger is better. The center tube diameter of 33 mm is also a good thing.

[budlight]

I did some area calculations.

a 42 mm objective lens has 13.85 cm

50mm = 19.63

56mm = 24.63

60mm = 28.27