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Athlon Ares ETR gen 2 vs Athlon Cronus BTR gen 2

The Ares ETR gen2 is fantastic for the money. You can get them for $900 depending on the vendor (usually have to request a quote). I've found mine to be a fantastic precision optic with excellent turrets and great glass. Some people swear they see a difference, but I can't imagine there is much of one. I don't feel like I'm missing anything (and I've looked through some alpha glass). But, if you can get them for the same price, it's gonna come down to reticle and features.

The Ares does not have locking elevation, by the way... it has locking windage and a zero stop. Their website says locking turrets for the overview, but if you look at the product spec sheet, it specifies it's a locking windage turret.
 
That begs the question, did you find a Cronus for a great deal, or an Ares ETR that's not. 🤣🤣🤣
We're talking the ETR G2 here so maybe it's up there with the, now older (totally antiquated-just kidding), Cronus G2.

If that G2 ETR is anything like my Ares BTR G3 2.5-15x50 is then it is likely very impressive in this space of rifle scopes.

I'd like to compare myself to see the differences which I suspect have become very close.
 
We're talking the ETR G2 here so maybe it's up there with the, now older (totally antiquated-just kidding), Cronus G2.

If that G2 ETR is anything like my Ares BTR G3 2.5-15x50 is then it is likely very impressive in this space of rifle scopes.

I'd like to compare myself to see the differences which I suspect have become very close.
I just got the G3 BTR 2.5-15 out for the first time last weekend, and also have a G2 ETR 4.5-30. The ETR is a little brighter feeling, with a more generous eyebox. The BTR feels pretty fussy at 15x. I don't have a problem getting behind the ETR at 30x. But it's possible I just didn't mount the BTR in a great spot and need to push it forward a little. ETR also has less chromatic aberration, though the BTR is actually surprisingly good in that realm. BTR also has some wild barrel distortion with close focus at low magnification, gives that marble effect. I haven't observed that on the ETR but I also haven't played with it much at 4.5x at close focus and it's likely there's some of that as well.

I need to spend some more time on the G3 BTR but I may end up selling it due to the eyebox. It's on a 22LR rifle so recoil isn't causing much issue with staying in the eyebox, it's more just about reacquiring it. And, the image isn't mindblowing, but I guess it's pretty decent. I am absolutely keeping the G2 ETR though... fantastic scope, especially for $900. My next step up would be a refurb Razor G3 for over twice the price, and even then, I genuinely don't feel like I'm missing much.
 
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I just got the G3 BTR 2.5-15 out for the first time last weekend, and also have a G2 ETR 4.5-30. The ETR is a little brighter feeling, with a more generous eyebox. The BTR feels pretty fussy at 15x. I don't have a problem getting behind the ETR at 30x. But it's possible I just didn't mount the BTR in a great spot and need to push it forward a little. ETR also has less chromatic aberration, though the BTR is actually surprisingly good in that realm. BTR also has some wild barrel distortion with close focus at low magnification, gives that marble effect. I haven't observed that on the ETR but I also haven't played with it much at 4.5x at close focus and it's likely there's some of that as well.

I need to spend some more time on the G3 BTR but I may end up selling it due to the eyebox. It's on a 22LR rifle so recoil isn't causing much issue with staying in the eyebox, it's more just about reacquiring it. And, the image isn't mindblowing, but I guess it's pretty decent. I am absolutely keeping the G2 ETR though... fantastic scope, especially for $900. My next step up would be a refurb Razor G3 for over twice the price, and even then, I genuinely don't feel like I'm missing much.
Thanks for your thoughts. Sounds like the G2 ETR is up there pretty good in most aspects for the price!

Man I like my BTR G3 a lot and I didn't find anything odd about it as far as what you described but I don't have any scopes with super generous eyeboxes either and at 2.5x it seemed massive to me but up a bit more than that I found it basically normal.

The attraction mostly for me is the awesome turrets and thicker reticle in the G3 BTR 2.5-15. It's a pretty inexpensive scope so, IQ, though not fantastic, was decent enough for sure. Might buy another for a gun I'm thinking of getting later this year.
It's funny how I think but if I can't have a ZCO 4-20, which is one I've wanted for a long time, then I'll just settle for this BTR G3 instead.
 
I think eye box is often called out when it's just the size of the eye peice and lens. The older ares were on samller side kind of like most of the bushnells dmr2/3. The Razor LHT 3-15 is pretty small even smaller than the dmr and lrhs scope. Notably lighter though. Like looking at a bigger or smaller TV basically.
 
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