50,44,42 mm scopes ?

[Tnwhip]

I have never owned a 50mm scope. How much difference is it ?

 

[WildRose]

I have never owned a 50mm scope. How much difference is it ?

Depends on the overall quality of the scope line.

All else being equal though it will increase your low light, light gathering capability by about 15-20%.

 

[long450]

The larger the lens the more light it gathers, thus better view as it is getting daylight or getting dark. How much better depends upon scope lens clarity and other factors. In good light it will not matter which one you have.

 

[Tnwhip]

I was looking at the vortex today. They had a 44 and a 50mm. It is just hard for me to get use to the big 50 sitting on my rifle. Now if it will give me another 15 minutes of shooting time that is another story.

 

[WildRose]

I was looking at the vortex today. They had a 44 and a 50mm. It is just hard for me to get use to the big 50 sitting on my rifle. Now if it will give me another 15 minutes of shooting time that is another story.

It will.

It's only a difference of 6mm. You won't be able to tell the diff looks wise vs the 44mm, but you certainly will when it comes to shooting time.

It can easily mean the difference in a once in a lifetime buck on the wall and the "one that got away".

I've shot coyotes @ 300yds under a full moon with a 50mm Leupold and no spotlight.

 

[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.

 

[diriel]

Objective Diameter Divided by power magnification of scope = Exit Pupil. An exit pupil of about 3.5 up to about 5.5 or so will tend to give you good results in low light situations. Of course the quality of the glass and coatings makes a huge difference too. Thing is, as a persons eyes get older you can't take advantage of as much exit pupil. A young set of eyes can take advantage of maybe an exit pupil of 6, while a guy in his mid fourties might be lucky to be able to take advantage of 4.5 to 5 or so.

Gary

 

[WildRose]

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