Objective lense size vs minutes gained

[gcronin]

Hey everyone, I had a few questions for our glass aficionados here. The Main one is this, I was wondering if anyone could quantify in minutes how much time is gained going up in objective lense size? Obviously going up in exit pupil size by staying the same on magnification will lend to more minutes at low light but how many? For example 10x30 vs 10x42 vs 10x56? Is it 2 minutes? 10? Or perhaps more? I have the same curiosity for spotting scopes as well. I’m not sure if many on here have had examples like this side by side but would be curious for any experiences you all have in this realm.

Hey there - there is not an answer to your question unfortunately. The more important factor here is legal shooting light. Any optic should allow you to see in legal shooting hours. A larger objective to your point will give you a larger exit pupil, but that does nothing for extending legal shooting light. The size of the light hitting your eye will be bigger, but that would be all.

If you are looking for better clarity, resolution, low-light performance I would look at a better optical system. Glass and coatings is what will give you that better low-light performance, not objective size alone.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out!