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Knight Scenes and Imaginings

Alen Knight

Knight Scenes and Imaginings

July 1, 2022July 2, 2022

Rifle Scope Objective Sizes

Buddy asked recently – why are the objective lens (front lens) of LPVO scopes usually smaller than normal scopes?

It’s the same concept as f/ stop in camera lenses. The smaller objective in LPVO’s results in a wide depth of field – at the cost of reduced light (hence why they tend to magnify just 1-4 or 1-6 usually) … this also means they don’t have much parallax and no need to focus as they are essentially like focusing a camera lens to infinity. (Like your phone camera. Very narrow aperture. Usually around f/13 – which is why everything is in focus ) – and in case confused, F/(num) is a fractional formula, so the bigger the denominator, the smaller the size.

As these are usually for close to mid range … you can’t be bothering to focus your scope in CQB or engaging targets in a room.

As opposed to traditional scopes … longer ranges. Like 4-20x … they need a LOT more light … so they operate at something like f/5.… which means bigger lens. More light … but that’s why you have to adjust for parallax and essentially focus the optic as not everything can be in focus…. Due to narrower depth of field. As these longer shots require setup … and you have time … this is a necessary trade off.

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk

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