1” Tube VS 30 mm Tube?

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ClarkT

ClarkT

Member
Aug 23, 2020
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New York, United States
If you take two of the exact same premium scopes. One is a 1” tube the other is a 30mm tube. What will be the visual difference when you look thru the scope? 


I have never had the opportunity to see this and I’m looking to save a little weight and money with a 1” tube. So hoping someone can chime in. It’s said that there is no difference in optical quality that you will see but I want to make sure that is the case.

Thank you
 
I've used dozens and dozens of scopes at multiple quality levels and honestly I don't buy that you get greater light availability from a 30mm. I know that technically this may be possible but the microscopic extra light you might get is unnoticeable at least to me. The main reason for getting a 30mm is more range in adjustment. You simply get more clicks from a 30mm. Perhaps another feature is more durability but this does not matter to me in the least. I treat my stuff like tools and have bumped my gear around on accident multiple times and hardly ever have a failure. Perhaps 30mm may be better on a springer who knows. If I were you I'd stick to the 1in if that's what serves your needs more. BTW an objective lens size is far more important to light gathering than tube diameter. 
 
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No matter how many extra clicks you might get from your turret, every scope mfgr recomends not more than one full turn from optical center! As stated, lens quality is more important than tube diameter, however the fact still remains that a 30 mm tube allows more light to pass than a 1" tube. Your eyes collect light to see, look at any binocular or scope rating on exit pupil....the amount of light your eyeball can use. Human eys can use up to a 7 exit pupil, any higher your eye wont know the difference, but if you drop below 7 it will appear as a darker picture. Your eye will probably never notice the difference in tube size same as it wont really notice the difference between a 44 and a 50mm objective unless your in really low light situation
 
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The exit pupil has nothing to do with tube diameter. The exit pupil is calculated by dividing the objective lens diameter by the magnification the scope is set on. The larger tube diameter usually just gets you more elevation/windage travel like Raden said. However, 30 and 34mm tubes do usually come with a larger objective which might make it seem like the tube diameter has something to do with light gathering, even though it does not.

Stoti


 
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Thanks for all the input. I struggle to put a 30 plus ounce scope on my current set up and have been looking for the holy grail for a month now. It’s my opinion that some scope manufacturers need to play catch up to today’s airguns as far as weight for those of us that care to keep it down.

I have also been trying to save a few bucks so my final choices are a Zeiss Conquest 4-16x50 or a Hawke Frontier 3-15x50. There’s a few hundred dollar difference between the two....



 
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The exit pupil has nothing to do with tube diameter. The exit pupil is calculated by dividing the objective lens diameter by the magnification the scope is set on. The larger tube diameter usually just gets you more elevation/windage travel like Raden said. However, 30 and 34mm tubes do usually come with a larger objective which might make it seem like the tube diameter has something to do with light gathering, even though it does not.

Stoti

Click to expand...


+1

And as mentioned in another post most people can't dilate the pupils more than about 7mm... Now if you go out on a night hunt on a moon lit night but you sit in a dark tent for half an hour before going out into the night you might get 9mm and then that 6x56 optic will amaze you.

You want to see better at dusk or on a moonlit night? Reduce your magnification till the ratio of objective lens diameter to magnification is about 8:1.
 
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Exit pupil is one of the important aspects of scope selection and often overlooked. I will take less magnification over high power small objective lens any day. 

Also I prefer fixed over zoom, but on the zooms I have I keep ration 3 or for to 1 IE 3 TO 9 or 4 to 12 as examples. 

There are a lots of physics in scope design that can't be changed no matter how much a scope cost. 

Tim 
 
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Wow a lot of good info thank you. So as far as exit pupil what is ideal? I’ve never paid attention to it so trying to understand
Click to expand...

Here is a chart put together by our own JungleShooter, I believe. Notice it changes based on magnification and objective size. 

Exit pupil.1620852198.PNG

 
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