I spent a lot of time reading here and elsewhere before purchasing my SWFA SS 16x42 just over one year ago. After more anguishing research I recently purchased a SWFA SS 12x42. Now I feel that I owe the community that posted all of that information a side by side comparison.
I was obviously happy enough with the 16x to give SWFA SS another try. The glass in the 16x is pretty good and the rest of the scope is phenomenal at any price. The main reason I went with the 12x this time around was mainly the glass in the 16. It seems a little overly sensitive to off axis light and has a very tight eye box. It tends to "milk jug" when the light isn't right. The sun shade definately helps reduce this problem but does not completely fix it. The 12x does not have this issue. The eye box is a little more forgiving and the glass is awesome. Everyone who has commented on this attributed the difference to the magnification difference. I think there is more to it. My wife actually noticed this - the objective lens on the 12x has a blue/purple tint, while the 16x is green.
For those fretting over trading magnification for clarity, I will offer this. The 16x to the 12x magnification is not that much difference in real world performance. Between these two you have to sit them side by side on the bench to describe a difference in magnification beyond just the field of view. However the difference in clarity is more noticable. In fact, in most informal tests I am able to resolve an image more quickly with the 12. I can read licence plates and mail boxes at long distance more quickly with the 12 than with the 16. When bagged up with paralax and focus perfectly adjusted both are very clean, the difference in clarity is minimal, and the extra power is nice on the 16. But when aquiring targets at differrent distances, and when shooting from different positions, the difference in clarity and eye box far outweighs the difference in magnification.
Who's the winner? For me its the 12x.
If I were only shooting at the range, from a rest, at paper, at one distance, with the sun behind me, all day long - I'd be ok with the 16, but there are a lot of target scopes out there that would better fit that job.
I was obviously happy enough with the 16x to give SWFA SS another try. The glass in the 16x is pretty good and the rest of the scope is phenomenal at any price. The main reason I went with the 12x this time around was mainly the glass in the 16. It seems a little overly sensitive to off axis light and has a very tight eye box. It tends to "milk jug" when the light isn't right. The sun shade definately helps reduce this problem but does not completely fix it. The 12x does not have this issue. The eye box is a little more forgiving and the glass is awesome. Everyone who has commented on this attributed the difference to the magnification difference. I think there is more to it. My wife actually noticed this - the objective lens on the 12x has a blue/purple tint, while the 16x is green.
For those fretting over trading magnification for clarity, I will offer this. The 16x to the 12x magnification is not that much difference in real world performance. Between these two you have to sit them side by side on the bench to describe a difference in magnification beyond just the field of view. However the difference in clarity is more noticable. In fact, in most informal tests I am able to resolve an image more quickly with the 12. I can read licence plates and mail boxes at long distance more quickly with the 12 than with the 16. When bagged up with paralax and focus perfectly adjusted both are very clean, the difference in clarity is minimal, and the extra power is nice on the 16. But when aquiring targets at differrent distances, and when shooting from different positions, the difference in clarity and eye box far outweighs the difference in magnification.
Who's the winner? For me its the 12x.
If I were only shooting at the range, from a rest, at paper, at one distance, with the sun behind me, all day long - I'd be ok with the 16, but there are a lot of target scopes out there that would better fit that job.
