Cheap Scopes vs Expensive Scopes
- Thread starter JoeWayneRhea
- Start date
Good job Joe!!! Everytime i find a scope. I go and watch your name names video and see your opinion on that brand.
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Great video! Good run down on the various issues with "cheap scopes". Best part is the presentation of the various models at the end...don't want to ask how much they would cost! 
Curious...how did that scope you recently ordered from EdgunWest turn out?
Curious...how did that scope you recently ordered from EdgunWest turn out?
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Haven't received it yet , but It should be here by the weekend in guessing. Have 2 scope reviews to film when I get home today .
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I agree that cheap scopes aren't very good. One criteria I have for a good, useable scope is a practical reticle design that suits my needs. Many scopes, including a lot of high end ones, have awful reticles, so I don't even consider them. I don't care how good their optics are. I have a small number of scopes that I like, even some lesser expensive ones, that work well for me and give me good service, but I think you said that somewhere else.
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Yep the reticle makes ALL the difference to me , the chrChrist tree reticle scopes get left out for sure . Already have visual challenge s don't need nothing else
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Joe, good job on continuing to spread the gospel of good scopes. You are winning me over bit by bit. I have mounted my one "good scope" I bought onto my best shooter after having messed around with sub-$100 scopes on it for the past 6 months. Only downside is that the TacOptics scope doesn't focus down to 10 yards, which is what I'm constrained to shoot until the weather improves. Still, it'll be a sweet set-up once I'm back outdoors and shooting 25 yards and more. Huzzah to you!
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I had a cheap scope which had a side to side mobile eyepiece, but other than that it worked well. I stacked O-Rings on the threaded portion to eliminate side to side slop, and my reticle became solid. Cheap fix to a common cheap scope problem.
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Thanks Joe!
I really enjoyed watching this one! Had me laughing out loud quite a bit! Tossed you a donation and a +
Tom
I really enjoyed watching this one! Had me laughing out loud quite a bit! Tossed you a donation and a +
Tom
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Joe,
Of all your videos that I've watched, this one is the most dramatic demonstration yet. Further, I've seen none of those issues with the scope that you sold me, the Sun Optics 4-14X44 FFP with side focus. Best scope I ever owned. All I need now is a similarly priced scope with the same features and quality, but with a properly illuminated reticle for night time use. I'll continue to watch your reviews.
BeemanR7
Of all your videos that I've watched, this one is the most dramatic demonstration yet. Further, I've seen none of those issues with the scope that you sold me, the Sun Optics 4-14X44 FFP with side focus. Best scope I ever owned. All I need now is a similarly priced scope with the same features and quality, but with a properly illuminated reticle for night time use. I'll continue to watch your reviews.
BeemanR7
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Joe,
Adjusting until out of focus introduces parallax errors. On the Monstrum test, the camera was not likely centered when you were changing the focus (parallax). Hence the apparent shift.
That problem exists in just about every variable-mag/high-quality/high-mag scope. Turn the magnification to the lowest setting. View a 25 yard target. Adjust the focus until it is blurry. Move your head side to side. I would be surprised if you do not see a big change in POA. If you center your eye (or camera) perfectly, you will be able to adjust the focus in and out with no change in POA.
I've got a Monstrum scope. I'm still evaluating it. It's got some issues. But why call it a POS for a known problem that is present in most every similar spec scope?
Adjusting until out of focus introduces parallax errors. On the Monstrum test, the camera was not likely centered when you were changing the focus (parallax). Hence the apparent shift.
That problem exists in just about every variable-mag/high-quality/high-mag scope. Turn the magnification to the lowest setting. View a 25 yard target. Adjust the focus until it is blurry. Move your head side to side. I would be surprised if you do not see a big change in POA. If you center your eye (or camera) perfectly, you will be able to adjust the focus in and out with no change in POA.
I've got a Monstrum scope. I'm still evaluating it. It's got some issues. But why call it a POS for a known problem that is present in most every similar spec scope?
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That is a common problem. All of my scopes have the fast-focus tightened down against one, two, or three O-rings. I do it even if there is no apparent wobble in the eyepiece, as it also keeps the fast-focus in the position I like.
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Good video! I have always upgraded by cheap scopes, but in the end the more I learn from other shooters and use my scopes, I always end up with expensive scopes... damn!
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It should not shift anything like the degree shown here, whatever the alignment. The sight picture was clear edge to edge so alignment can't have been bad. Plus the camera is fixed so the point about head bobbing is moot. Joe is pretty experienced and his other videos of other scopes show nothing like the degree of shift he's demonstrating here, so I think a schoolboy error on his part is unlikely.
That said I doubt all monstrum scopes exhibit the same flaws. His seems like a proper lemon and others may be better.
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I guess it is all relative. Compared to the S&B and the Zeiss Hensoldt on a couple of my smoke sticks that I have been blessed enough to own. I thought the Hawke 6-25X56 was cheap compared to my other scopes. Definitely not cheap in features in quality! I'm not sure how it would hold up on a .338 Lapua though.
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Macros wrote:
"...The sight picture was clear edge to edge so alignment can’t have been bad...."
Clarity is not dependent on alignment, parallax is.
I have noticed a pattern in the entertaining "reviews":
If Joe likes a scope, he checks POA shift when magnification is varied. That is an easy test for most any scope to PASS!
If Joe does NOT like a scope, he checks POA shift when focus is varied. That is an easy test to setup for FAILURE!
"...The sight picture was clear edge to edge so alignment can’t have been bad...."
Clarity is not dependent on alignment, parallax is.
I have noticed a pattern in the entertaining "reviews":
If Joe likes a scope, he checks POA shift when magnification is varied. That is an easy test for most any scope to PASS!
If Joe does NOT like a scope, he checks POA shift when focus is varied. That is an easy test to setup for FAILURE!
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I'm well aware about parallax shift being related to alignment. Image milkiness is however related to alignment in many cheaper scopes as well.
However what I was referring to with that statement is that cameras are prone to show vignetting quite quickly if they're out of alignment with the scope. You just don't have that much leeway.
Regardless, with a fixed camera position parallax will still not move anything like as much or as randomly as you imply with a change in focus. Its the reason you bob your head to check parallax - with a properly functional scope it shifts minimally without a change in the position of your eye.
The youtube guys scopecamming would never hit a thing if their scopes shifted so much every time they changed focus for shots at different ranges. Heck one of Ted's major points in his extreme benchrest talk a few years ago was that the benefit of using a scopecam is that he doesn't have to worry about parallax.
Make reviews yourself and educate us all if you disagree and can do better, rather than bitch about Joe's. You claim he is biased, yet you can hardly claim to be objective since you're defending a scope you've bought and own, and are clearly angry with Joe labeling it a POS.
However what I was referring to with that statement is that cameras are prone to show vignetting quite quickly if they're out of alignment with the scope. You just don't have that much leeway.
Regardless, with a fixed camera position parallax will still not move anything like as much or as randomly as you imply with a change in focus. Its the reason you bob your head to check parallax - with a properly functional scope it shifts minimally without a change in the position of your eye.
The youtube guys scopecamming would never hit a thing if their scopes shifted so much every time they changed focus for shots at different ranges. Heck one of Ted's major points in his extreme benchrest talk a few years ago was that the benefit of using a scopecam is that he doesn't have to worry about parallax.
Make reviews yourself and educate us all if you disagree and can do better, rather than bitch about Joe's. You claim he is biased, yet you can hardly claim to be objective since you're defending a scope you've bought and own, and are clearly angry with Joe labeling it a POS.
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