Chromatic this... color shift that, what?....

I am not a scope connoisseur only owning two decent models, an Athlon Helos BTR and an Aztec Emerald, both FFPs. The glass on these scopes is clear to my old eyes and the reticles very useable at the ranges I shoot at. I’ve use both for target shooting, plinking and pesting. Both have been used throughout their magnification range. Occasionally someone chimes in with words like color shift and chromatic aberration. Which means what, to recreational shooters? I’ve yet to see or notice either. But then again, I’ll admit to not knowing much about scope lenses. I would welcome examples of what these users are purporting to see. And through which scopes? When I’m concentrating on the crosshairs or the center dot on a target or critter. Where exactly do I look to notice chromatic aberration or color shift? Color shift I can somewhat understand, especially if hunting chameleons... but the latter?
 
HELLO L.LEON! chromatic aberration is described as though you see like a halo ghosting effect around what you focus on which gets to be more pronounced the higher magnification you go. The images can still be clear while still having chromatic abherration. Only critical scope snobs can see it and know exactly what to look for. Most normal shooters won't notice nor even care enough to mind or be bothered by it. I think when someone looks through tier one glass then the more economical scope glass becomes more prevalent to that person. More easily noticeable that is. When you look at hunting videos online you sometimes see this phenomenon through their scope cams like a slight rainbow effect around objects looking through the scope. If you can't see this occurrence then consider yourself extremely lucky because you won't get frustrated as some of us do when looking through our scopes. I personally get dizzy when I see it matter of fact sometimes even nauseated when using it shooting all day long. Many folks are called scope snobs so I must be a scope A$$ hole. Consider yourself very lucky to be content. I on the other hand have seen too many high end scopes and must have gone through hundreds and even returned a sizeable amount that simply made me too dizzy including believe it or not a $4000.00 Schmidt & Bender that was pretty clear but at the bottom zoom range made me dizzy. I simply just can't shoot straight when I'm dizzy. Yo!
 
You do not have to be a scope snob to notice chromatic aberration, you just have to use a scope that isn't well made and know what you're looking at. In simple terms, it's when a scope's lenses cannot focus all the colors of the spectrum to a single point because of either inferior internal lenses or lenses that are not properly aligned. It is usually most apparent where edges of light and dark meet each other. 

Stoti
 
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These pics describe it as well as anything I've seen . 
 
Friday morning — with my coffee and.... this thread. Nice! 😊 Thanks to you I understand chromatic aberration much better now! 👍🏼




🔶 What it looks like: 

"a halo" "rainbow effect" in the scope image (Yo)



🔶 What it is: 

"It's when a scope's lenses cannot focus all the colors of the spectrum to a single point because of either inferior internal lenses or lenses that are not properly aligned. It is usually most apparent where edges of light and dark meet each other" (Stoti).



🔶 Why it does not matter:

"Most normal shooters won't notice nor even care enough to mind or be bothered by it" (Yo).

"Chromatics are not critical for 99.9% shooting scenarios [...] it does not affect accuracy" (Mballistics).

But is is a matter of personal preference at a rather subjective level: "Consider yourself very lucky to be content because you won't get frustrated as some of us do when looking through our scopes" that have significant chromatic aberration (Yo). 



🔶 When it does matter:

"I on the other hand have seen too many high end scopes" (Yo).

Which must be conducive to become what "many folks [...] call" a "critical scope snob" (Yo). [And I very much appreciate your self-critical honesty in this thread, Yo! 👍🏼]

To those people chromatic aberration can cause a sense of discomfort — like "a restaurant where dishes are good but the floor is dirty" (Mballistics). Yo explains: "I personally get dizzy when I see it, matter of fact sometimes even nauseated when using it shooting all day long."



🔶 Illustrations:

Biohazardman's and Joe's pictures/ diagrams speak a 1000 words! 👍🏼



Thanks again to all of you educating us! 😊

Matthias
 
Hey Joe, how are you bud? Haven't talked to you in a while, all is well I hope. So after reading this post, I had an idea. You're the scope man...Famous, cool, hilarious, well respected, a straight shooter(when talking about scopes anyway), and you know more about scopes than most people in the air gunning world.

I know you're a busy man but I thought it would be pretty cool if you did a quick write up on the terminology used when discussing scopes that are appropriate for air guns. It might really help out some people who are new to scope vocabulary or someone who just doesn't know about scopes...Lens coatings, AO, eye relief, FOV, magnification, MOA, MIL, resolution, reticle, twilight factor, zero, turret, chromatic aberration, parallax, exit pupil, point of impact, fringing, natural point of aim, etc. Just a thought. I certainly don't want to push you into doing something you don't want to do or don't have time for. Because you're so well known and respected in the optics/air gun community I thought it would be a great idea to have it coming from you. Have a great weekend my friend! 

Stoti
 
Set your magnification pass 15x or at the highest at 50 yards and beyond. Look at thin tree branches and the edges of hard objects with a light background behind it. Most low end, mid range and even some high end scopes will show that purple fringging (CA) on the edges. Also try looking at a power line or steel cable line from a distance. You might notice some fuzziness. I noticed CA in my SWFA 3-15 FFP when set to 15x. When set to 10x, not so much. Now that you know what to look for depending on what optics you have, it might bother you. Or maybe not.
 
I will definitely be looking out for it. But like many of you have mentioned it won’t make a difference to these older eyes. I confess to not particularly paying attention to the glass out to the edges. Thanks again to all for helping me understand something I didn’t previously.

Your eyes might be like mine in that I don't notice CA. Some people are the opposite and CA stands out to them so much it's annoying. 

You know how we all have our favorite colors??? Mine is purple and I often wonder if that might be a reason why I don't notice CA. CA also is supposed to stand out more on white backgrounds and I don't notice it even then.