Steve,
What were the differences optically between the 3? Also, do you know what percentage the Cronus G2 tracks to?
What were the differences optically between the 3? Also, do you know what percentage the Cronus G2 tracks to?
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The new Cronus BTR G2 4.5-29x56 is available for sale!
- Thread starter steve123
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I think the S&B won out because of it's warm IQ and one of my buds said he could make out the dead grass 110 yards away easier as well as the 22 cal bullet holes in an old target at 100Y. The other friend and I just liked the pleasurable picture through it.
The March is a really weird scope! On 15x it's brilliant, on 25x it's still very good, on 35x it's faltering, on 42x the IQ has "lost it" - getting dim and grainy, and slightly blurry to me. Granted my younger friends at a NRL22 match liked it fine at 42x???!!! My old eyes....
No faulting the Cronus, just exceptional glass for the price! Nothing more nothing less. I almost feel silly paying over double the price for these other fine scopes
At the same time I find it difficult to be satisfied with the $1000-sh scopes, the exception being the Midas TAC 6-24 which I WISH had the APRS6 reticle offered in it. Speaking of the MT 6-24, which one of my friends has that was there yesterday, I said here feel the elevation turret, he replied eh I doubt it's any better than my MT, but upon trying the Cronus G2 turret he was surprised it was much improved over the MT! Like hmmm, wow, those "are super distinct", no lash, and perfect alignment with a very audible snappy click. Some scopes I've had with 25Y minimum focus were still pretty blurry at 10M on lowest magnification so I'm delighted that this one "isn't" which for an airgun is a definite desire of mine.
I don't do tracking tests but it'll probably be less than 2%. Mostly likely 1% or less. You've probably been around the scope world enough to know that typically most scopes in the $2000+ range are like this and it's more of a unit to unit thing vs a brand thing. If I were serious about ELR I'd buy a jig to test my scopes tracking but otherwise I'm okay if I'm a click off at 10 mils.
The March is a really weird scope! On 15x it's brilliant, on 25x it's still very good, on 35x it's faltering, on 42x the IQ has "lost it" - getting dim and grainy, and slightly blurry to me. Granted my younger friends at a NRL22 match liked it fine at 42x???!!! My old eyes....
No faulting the Cronus, just exceptional glass for the price! Nothing more nothing less. I almost feel silly paying over double the price for these other fine scopes
At the same time I find it difficult to be satisfied with the $1000-sh scopes, the exception being the Midas TAC 6-24 which I WISH had the APRS6 reticle offered in it. Speaking of the MT 6-24, which one of my friends has that was there yesterday, I said here feel the elevation turret, he replied eh I doubt it's any better than my MT, but upon trying the Cronus G2 turret he was surprised it was much improved over the MT! Like hmmm, wow, those "are super distinct", no lash, and perfect alignment with a very audible snappy click. Some scopes I've had with 25Y minimum focus were still pretty blurry at 10M on lowest magnification so I'm delighted that this one "isn't" which for an airgun is a definite desire of mine.I don't do tracking tests but it'll probably be less than 2%. Mostly likely 1% or less. You've probably been around the scope world enough to know that typically most scopes in the $2000+ range are like this and it's more of a unit to unit thing vs a brand thing. If I were serious about ELR I'd buy a jig to test my scopes tracking but otherwise I'm okay if I'm a click off at 10 mils.
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Thanks for the feedback Steve. I'll be keeping an eye out on this one. There are so many good scopes out these days and even in the mid $1500 price range.
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I was comparing 3 scopes a couple days ago to see what was up with the glass on my Helos G2 2-12x42 as compared to much more expensive scopes. It was a cloudy gloomy day outside and snowing some during my test. I had my March HM 5-42x56 and the Cronus G2 4.5-29x56 and I put them all on 12x.
The Helos of course came in last place, after all that was expected for a $500 scope, right?! But it faired well and I had zero complaints, still very good glass for the price point.
Afterwards I started comparing the two more expensive scopes. That darn Cronus really excelled in some ways! It was superior to the March above about 23-24x! At 29X the Cronus was bright and had a clean crisp IQ! The March started falling behind and by 29x just wasn't showing it's prowess anymore. I might give the edge to the March on 15x, it's brilliant right there, but I've been using it on 22x for EFT practice. To be fair part of the reason is the compromise present in super compact scopes like this March which effects IQ at higher magnifications. My old eyes don't deal too good with 30x and above with the March as well.
Everytime I get behind the Cronus G2 I leave that experience as impressed as the first time I looked through it! What a winner it is this year!
The Helos of course came in last place, after all that was expected for a $500 scope, right?! But it faired well and I had zero complaints, still very good glass for the price point.
Afterwards I started comparing the two more expensive scopes. That darn Cronus really excelled in some ways! It was superior to the March above about 23-24x! At 29X the Cronus was bright and had a clean crisp IQ! The March started falling behind and by 29x just wasn't showing it's prowess anymore. I might give the edge to the March on 15x, it's brilliant right there, but I've been using it on 22x for EFT practice. To be fair part of the reason is the compromise present in super compact scopes like this March which effects IQ at higher magnifications. My old eyes don't deal too good with 30x and above with the March as well.
Everytime I get behind the Cronus G2 I leave that experience as impressed as the first time I looked through it! What a winner it is this year!
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Well the Gen1 Cronus I must say it's pretty damn close to tier1 glass almost like the Tract Toric. I'd say that the Athlon Cronus is a cheaper alternative to the Nightforce NX8 if you don't need 10 yard focus.
There's still a noticeable gap between my March scopes though and should be based on price difference however Athlon has the no BS Lifetime Warranty that's 1000x better than March. Pretty BS to me..
There's still a noticeable gap between my March scopes though and should be based on price difference however Athlon has the no BS Lifetime Warranty that's 1000x better than March. Pretty BS to me..
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Unfortunately I haven't peered through the NX8's, but I have with a ATACR 7-35x56, which was compared right then to my S&B 5-25, and honestly the S&B pretty much out classed it in glass, and the owner of the NF agreed.
I have read of quite a few disliking the NF 2.5-20 for various compromises in it and people preferring the NF 4-32 which for whatever reasons turned out better??? I think one of them was a tight eyebox at high magnification. But here's what two guys thought of them in the below paragraph in """".
2nd guy - """100% agree with this. I’m a huge NF fan, but I just couldn’t get myself to like the NX8. I wanted it to be “like the S&B Ultra Short” but no where even close. Although price isn’t either. I just didn’t like the parallax, eyebox, distortion either. I’d go March all day."""
Me- I have owned 5 NF NXS series scopes years ago and definitely wouldn't say any of them have any more than acceptable glass, good glass yes, but not great glass. Many at the time agreed on the forums and prefered Vortex G1 Razor 5-20 glass back then.
All that to point out that my G2 Cronus has glass nearly equal to my S&B 5-25 and my March, it's very hard to see any difference.
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The NX8 is a good little optic, when weight is important, but when comparing it to larger optics with “more space to work with”, it isn’t as good of an option, for me. I liked it ok, but I would rather have my cheaper Cronus, as my eyes liked it better. I thought weight was important so I tried the NX8, but I found weight wasn’t as important as I thought it was.
As said, the NX8 is no ATACR, and doesn’t come close, but that doesn’t make it bad either. My ATACR was my favorite scope I have owned (even over a SB I had), and I would still rather have my Cronus. The difference between those two is not enough for me to own another ATACR unless I just needed one scope only and had the money to blow. I would rather buy a 2-3 Cronus scopes. I have not tried the newest Gen2... yet... but it is just a matter of time until I have a new rifle and need another scope. I’m not taking my Kahles off my Crown for one.
As said, the NX8 is no ATACR, and doesn’t come close, but that doesn’t make it bad either. My ATACR was my favorite scope I have owned (even over a SB I had), and I would still rather have my Cronus. The difference between those two is not enough for me to own another ATACR unless I just needed one scope only and had the money to blow. I would rather buy a 2-3 Cronus scopes. I have not tried the newest Gen2... yet... but it is just a matter of time until I have a new rifle and need another scope. I’m not taking my Kahles off my Crown for one.
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Thanks for that info!
I suppose it can come down to what a guy wants most in a scope. If 10Y minimum focus is mandatory then the NX8 is certainly a top candidate. Or the size of the scope, weight, or the reticle, etc. As we all can agree on, there is no perfect scope, so we live with whatever compromises are present.
I almost went for the March 1.5-15 but because it had mils correct at 10x vs 15x I had to disqualify it. Other things about it too but what it comes down to is, nope, it wasn't for me. As it turns out I'm very pleased with my Helos G2 which exceeded my original expectations while being 6 times less money!
I might have to bite the bullet and buy a Kahles 10-50 for my ordered Thomas FT which won't arrive until fall.
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You know how important the reticle is, and I don’t want to sidetrack this thread, but that is one thing I like about my Kahles. The reticle is larger than others I’ve tried. I made a spread sheet so I could compare sizes of reticles a couple years ago, when I kept finding them to be too fine. The Kahles was the largest and I found a good deal. Glad I did, because the optical prescription seems different from other manufacturers and I like it. (Never tried a March) Has made me consider a Kahles FFP, but I always compare FFP to the Cronus (brought it back around) and can’t convince myself to pay more than a Cronus.
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I just received my Cronus BTR Gen2 over the weekend from Cameraland NY. It came with a Steiner P-Series AR cantilever mount for $1600. I'm still playing with it so time will tell. I'll be swapping out the SWFA 3-15x42 on my R5M with the Cronus BTR Gen2. The only optics I could compare it to over the $1500 mark is my Nightforce NX8 2.5-20X50 F1 and my Kahles K525i 5-25×56.
My first impressions so far are the following;
- Turrets: Clicks are very positive and audible compared to my Kahles and Nightforce. The serrations on the knob are very aggressive. Your fingers will not slip when making adjustments. Windage turret is also good. All the click values line up and there is no lash/play when making adjustments. Zero stop is easy to setup. With the Cronus, I don't think you would need locking turrets. They are very stiff. It's actually easier to grab the whole elevation knob to make adjustments than it is with just my two fingers. If I had to rate it as far as feel, it goes to the Cronus at #1, Kahles #2, and Nightforce NX8 at #3. What I do like about the Kahles is that the illumination knob has a hidden hex key underneath it so you can zero out the turrets and set the zero stop.
- Side Focus Knob: Minimum focus is 25 yards. I forget what the maximum range is and I'll have to check again. Yardage markings appear to be spot on. I still have to play with it more. In regards to how they feel when making adjustments, it's pretty smooth out of the box. In regards to smoothness, I rate them in this order. Nightforce NX8 #1, Cronus BTR Gen2 #2, Kahles K525i #3.
- Reticle: I really like the layout of the APRS6 Reticle. It's my first Christmas tree reticle. I don't really care for Christmas tree reticles in general because I don't like the windage leads getting in the way of the image quality. What I do see as an advantage is that the windage leads is great for holdovers when the illumination is at the highest setting and the magnification set at 4.5 power. The only thing I would change is the floating center dot. It's a little smaller than I like especially when set below 15 power. The floating center dot is .04 MIL in size. I usually shoot at 12x to 15x with 20x at the maximum. If it was .05 or .06 MIL, it would be great. I really like the Kahles SKMR reticle. I think it's the perfect size for me. The MIL-C reticle on the Nightforce NX8 is a little too busy for me, especially the floating center dot with all the extensions getting in the way. If I had to rate it in order, it's Kahles SKMR #1, Athlon APRS6 #2, Nightforce MIL-C #3.
- Magnification Ring: Not much to report here. Out of the box, it's pretty smooth with no slop. I wish it came with a Power Throw Lever though. I'll be keeping an eye out for aftermarket throw levers. What I've come to realize is how much I like the magnification ring on my Kahles K525i. The magnification power numbers on the K525i are raised at an angle so it's easier to see by slightly lifting your head above the eyepiece instead of getting directly on top of it. Again, if I had to rate them in order, it's Kahles K525i #1 because of the angled numbering, Nightforce NX8 at #2 because of the included power throw lever, and then Athlon Cronus BTR Gen2. Don't get me wrong. They are all smooth to operate. The Cronus will be ranked 2nd if I find an aftermarket throw lever.
- Diopter/Fast Focus: The Cronus BTR Gen2 is smooth with no slop out of the box. Between the Cronus BTR Gen2 and the Kahles K525i, it's a tie. Nightforce NX8 comes in at 3rd place because the diopter is adjusted by turning the whole eyepiece and using a locking ring. It's great if you will be the only one using it but if you have other shooters with different eye sight, it's not so great because it takes longer to set up.
- Illumination: I really like the illumination on the Cronus BTR Gen2. I honestly would say that it's daytime bright. Not as bright as an Aimpoint T1 or Trijicon MRO of course but still useable in the day time. I would say that at the maximum brightness level of the Cronus, it's a least 2 to 3 clicks under an Aimpoint Micro T1 at the highest brightness setting. I would have to confirm this though. I think I mentioned it above but when set at the lowest magnification 4.5x, the illumination is super bright. The tree reticle makes it easy to know your holdovers when set at 4.5x. In order of rating for brightness, the Cronus BTR Gen2 comes in at #1, Nightforce NX8 at #2, and Kahles K525i at #3.
- Optical Quality: Last but not least is optical clarity/image quality. I still need more time with it to compare between the three. One thing I do notice is that when set at 25 yards, it is not as clear as my Kahles and Nightforce. I don't really see any Chromatic Aberration (CA) even at the highest magnification, 29x. I have a dead tree at 60 yards and that is what I use to check for CA in the late afternoon or before the sun sets. I still haven't really spent time in low light conditions with it so I can't really say. I also need to look through it at longer distances and that includes the Kahles and Nightforce. Optical clarity is the most subjective. I need to compare all three side by side mounted on a gun to get a true comparison. In regards to eyebox, it's not bad, even at 29x. Depth of Field (DOF) is good compared to my Nightforce NX8. With the NX8, even a 5 yard change in distance, I have to hunker down on the side focus to get it where I want it. I would say that the DOF is on the same level as my Kahles but again, I still need more time with it. In regards to Image Quality, I'll have to revisit this topic later because I need more time with it.
Anyways, here it is mounted on my L2. I was supposed to mount it on my R5M but I'm having too much fun with the L2. This only temporary for the meantime. The NX8 and the L2 are perfect together.
If you have an L2, I think the 56mm objective/34mm tube with a 1.4" scope mount is a little too low. I have some Butler Creek scope caps I'm looking at getting for the Cronus but it might be a tight fit with the objective scope cap. I think a 1.5" height scope mount should work fine with the L2.
My first impressions so far are the following;
- Turrets: Clicks are very positive and audible compared to my Kahles and Nightforce. The serrations on the knob are very aggressive. Your fingers will not slip when making adjustments. Windage turret is also good. All the click values line up and there is no lash/play when making adjustments. Zero stop is easy to setup. With the Cronus, I don't think you would need locking turrets. They are very stiff. It's actually easier to grab the whole elevation knob to make adjustments than it is with just my two fingers. If I had to rate it as far as feel, it goes to the Cronus at #1, Kahles #2, and Nightforce NX8 at #3. What I do like about the Kahles is that the illumination knob has a hidden hex key underneath it so you can zero out the turrets and set the zero stop.
- Side Focus Knob: Minimum focus is 25 yards. I forget what the maximum range is and I'll have to check again. Yardage markings appear to be spot on. I still have to play with it more. In regards to how they feel when making adjustments, it's pretty smooth out of the box. In regards to smoothness, I rate them in this order. Nightforce NX8 #1, Cronus BTR Gen2 #2, Kahles K525i #3.
- Reticle: I really like the layout of the APRS6 Reticle. It's my first Christmas tree reticle. I don't really care for Christmas tree reticles in general because I don't like the windage leads getting in the way of the image quality. What I do see as an advantage is that the windage leads is great for holdovers when the illumination is at the highest setting and the magnification set at 4.5 power. The only thing I would change is the floating center dot. It's a little smaller than I like especially when set below 15 power. The floating center dot is .04 MIL in size. I usually shoot at 12x to 15x with 20x at the maximum. If it was .05 or .06 MIL, it would be great. I really like the Kahles SKMR reticle. I think it's the perfect size for me. The MIL-C reticle on the Nightforce NX8 is a little too busy for me, especially the floating center dot with all the extensions getting in the way. If I had to rate it in order, it's Kahles SKMR #1, Athlon APRS6 #2, Nightforce MIL-C #3.
- Magnification Ring: Not much to report here. Out of the box, it's pretty smooth with no slop. I wish it came with a Power Throw Lever though. I'll be keeping an eye out for aftermarket throw levers. What I've come to realize is how much I like the magnification ring on my Kahles K525i. The magnification power numbers on the K525i are raised at an angle so it's easier to see by slightly lifting your head above the eyepiece instead of getting directly on top of it. Again, if I had to rate them in order, it's Kahles K525i #1 because of the angled numbering, Nightforce NX8 at #2 because of the included power throw lever, and then Athlon Cronus BTR Gen2. Don't get me wrong. They are all smooth to operate. The Cronus will be ranked 2nd if I find an aftermarket throw lever.
- Diopter/Fast Focus: The Cronus BTR Gen2 is smooth with no slop out of the box. Between the Cronus BTR Gen2 and the Kahles K525i, it's a tie. Nightforce NX8 comes in at 3rd place because the diopter is adjusted by turning the whole eyepiece and using a locking ring. It's great if you will be the only one using it but if you have other shooters with different eye sight, it's not so great because it takes longer to set up.
- Illumination: I really like the illumination on the Cronus BTR Gen2. I honestly would say that it's daytime bright. Not as bright as an Aimpoint T1 or Trijicon MRO of course but still useable in the day time. I would say that at the maximum brightness level of the Cronus, it's a least 2 to 3 clicks under an Aimpoint Micro T1 at the highest brightness setting. I would have to confirm this though. I think I mentioned it above but when set at the lowest magnification 4.5x, the illumination is super bright. The tree reticle makes it easy to know your holdovers when set at 4.5x. In order of rating for brightness, the Cronus BTR Gen2 comes in at #1, Nightforce NX8 at #2, and Kahles K525i at #3.
- Optical Quality: Last but not least is optical clarity/image quality. I still need more time with it to compare between the three. One thing I do notice is that when set at 25 yards, it is not as clear as my Kahles and Nightforce. I don't really see any Chromatic Aberration (CA) even at the highest magnification, 29x. I have a dead tree at 60 yards and that is what I use to check for CA in the late afternoon or before the sun sets. I still haven't really spent time in low light conditions with it so I can't really say. I also need to look through it at longer distances and that includes the Kahles and Nightforce. Optical clarity is the most subjective. I need to compare all three side by side mounted on a gun to get a true comparison. In regards to eyebox, it's not bad, even at 29x. Depth of Field (DOF) is good compared to my Nightforce NX8. With the NX8, even a 5 yard change in distance, I have to hunker down on the side focus to get it where I want it. I would say that the DOF is on the same level as my Kahles but again, I still need more time with it. In regards to Image Quality, I'll have to revisit this topic later because I need more time with it.
Anyways, here it is mounted on my L2. I was supposed to mount it on my R5M but I'm having too much fun with the L2. This only temporary for the meantime. The NX8 and the L2 are perfect together.
If you have an L2, I think the 56mm objective/34mm tube with a 1.4" scope mount is a little too low. I have some Butler Creek scope caps I'm looking at getting for the Cronus but it might be a tight fit with the objective scope cap. I think a 1.5" height scope mount should work fine with the L2.
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Those other scopes are good samples to compare to IMO. I wouldn't be surprised that if you turned the G2 down to 25x that it'd have nearly indistinguishable IQ as the Kahles has at 25Y?? Often each model of scope has a slight variance and your G2 might not focus at max power as close as mine, mine is perfectly focused at 25Y on 29x. Also you can try adjusting the diopter a little to help with that, mine is adjusted out quite far because of my old eyes.
But not a bad scope for the money is it?!
BTW I too wish they had put a bigger center dot in it, I like .05 mil the best.
Well congrats on your new scope!
But not a bad scope for the money is it?!
BTW I too wish they had put a bigger center dot in it, I like .05 mil the best.
Well congrats on your new scope!
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Great review @Peskadot671
I love my older models, so I will end up with one at some point. Thanks for more comparisons of similar priced scopes. Considering how much I like my Kahles SFP, I have wanted to try a FFP, but haven’t convinced myself to try it yet. I would have to sell even more to afford one.
I love my older models, so I will end up with one at some point. Thanks for more comparisons of similar priced scopes. Considering how much I like my Kahles SFP, I have wanted to try a FFP, but haven’t convinced myself to try it yet. I would have to sell even more to afford one.
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I think I still need more time with it but these are just my first impressions and I need to compare all three side by side. In regards to the magnification, I always try to set the magnification 5 times below the max magnification and see how it looks from there. In all honesty, it's a great scope for the money. Thanks for recommending it.
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Thanks Smok3y. Good optics ain't cheap but at least we have offerings like the Cronus G2 that offer a lot for the money.
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