Swarovski z5 issues

[Nubba0681]

Purchased one new a few months.
Having shot behind 3 before I decided to bite the bullet and order one, clarity was beyond anything I've sat behind before. In the day time...
Hunted Kentucky last week and had a decent size deer come out right at dark. Tried to pick him up in my scope which was my first attempt at any low light tests... To my surprise I couldn't see crap! I'm not comparing apples to oranges but my binoculars picked him up and I could see detail and make out exactly what it was. $200 binoculars... I know binos transmit more light and it's not in line to compare the 2.
i could even see the deer with a naked eye at the 80 yds away.
Scope is a z5 5-25x52
All on 5-12 power
Parallax and eye piece adjusted several different times in the tests.
Tried this the following 4 mornings and evenings in low light conditions with same results. My buddy's have them and don't have this problem.
Any suggestions?
bad scope?
Anybody else have this problem?

 

[barrelnut50]

Scope is a z5 5-25x52
All on 5-12 power
...
bad scope?
Anybody else have this problem?

Sorry, I've not had problems with any Swarovski scopes in low light, and I've done side-by-side of testing in low light. If there is a transmission problem with the scope optics, you would have noticed it in daylight. I can only suggest you keep the magnification below 7X so that the exit pupil is at least as large as your eye pupil. 12X is definitely too high for low light - that produces a 4.1mm exit pupil that is even smaller than my old, dark adapted eyes.

5X should not have been a problem unless your eye wasn't centered in the exit pupil. In low light it may not be obvious that your eye isn't centered because the shading at the side of the field of view is essentially black against black.

FYI, in low light I keep my scope on the lowest possible magnification, then dial it up after I acquire the target.

 

[Rich Coyle]

I bought four of them. Two were good in low light and two were not. Their quality control sucks.

 

[Nubba0681]

I bought four of them. Two were good in low light and two were not. Their quality control sucks.

I have buddies that swear by them.
I can't see hardly anything through it at low light.

 

[shphtr]

I have 5 Z5's (all 3.5 x 18 x 44) on various sheep rifles used for backpack mountain hunts over the years without any prob in low light situations.

 

[thechamp]

I've owned several Z5 models in the 3-18 and the 5-25 and never had a low light issue. I usually use the Z6 or Z8 in low light because they do have better light transmission. Z8i 2-16x50 is unbelievable in low light. The z6i 2.5-15x56 is also a low light phenom. I use the Z6i 5-30x50 for night hunting with spotlights. Have had a bunch of their scopes over the past 20 years and never had a light issue at all. In fact never had an issue that was the fault of their optics period.