We post a lot about clarity, mil/mil, return to zero, etc. One item seldom brought up is a scope's eye box. By that I mean the window around the eye relief where you get the full picture through the lens, without any shadowing.
I've never seen this in a scope's spec's. When it gives an eye relief of, say, 3.5-4", I take that to mean 3.5" at one end of the zoom scale, and 4" at the other end. Maybe I'm wrong here.
There are a couple rules of thumb, at least as I understand the subject based on experience and what I've read:
As field of view increases, eye relief must decrease and vice versa
As magnification increases, the eye box narrows
Bear in mind, my experience is limited and is mostly with lower to medium priced scopes. My priciest scope is an IOR 16X42. It's got a very narrow eye box. Is this just because it's a 16 power scope, or is it related to some other aspect of scope design? Maybe higher priced scopes maintain the same eye box through the entire zoom range.
Does magnification range make a difference? Take 2 hypothetical scopes: if one is 4-16X and the other is 2-16X, all other things being equal, will the 2-16 power scope have a narrower eye box?
Would like to see some feedback from folks that know more about this than I do.
I've never seen this in a scope's spec's. When it gives an eye relief of, say, 3.5-4", I take that to mean 3.5" at one end of the zoom scale, and 4" at the other end. Maybe I'm wrong here.
There are a couple rules of thumb, at least as I understand the subject based on experience and what I've read:
As field of view increases, eye relief must decrease and vice versa
As magnification increases, the eye box narrows
Bear in mind, my experience is limited and is mostly with lower to medium priced scopes. My priciest scope is an IOR 16X42. It's got a very narrow eye box. Is this just because it's a 16 power scope, or is it related to some other aspect of scope design? Maybe higher priced scopes maintain the same eye box through the entire zoom range.
Does magnification range make a difference? Take 2 hypothetical scopes: if one is 4-16X and the other is 2-16X, all other things being equal, will the 2-16 power scope have a narrower eye box?
Would like to see some feedback from folks that know more about this than I do.
