a mate at work who is a keen photographer was telling me that camera lenses age they degrade, and this degradation is caused by almost microscopic mould that grows on the inside of the lens no matter how dry and waterproof you scope is. Is this true or an old wives tale? If it is true can a factory service fix it? I have a circa 2001 Leupold Vx2 that has a real tinge to it now, maybe im looking through other scopes that are better and improved lens technology
Rifle Scopes As scope ages does visual clarity degrade?
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Re: As scope ages does visual clarity degrade?
I'd like to know this as well. Never gave it much thought before...
I'd like to know this as well. Never gave it much thought before...
Re: As scope ages does visual clarity degrade?
Heck, maybe thats what happening to my eyesight...
Heck, maybe thats what happening to my eyesight...
Re: As scope ages does visual clarity degrade?
Never heard that before, I guess it could happen but doubt it with a high quality scope.
Never heard that before, I guess it could happen but doubt it with a high quality scope.
Re: As scope ages does visual clarity degrade?
Or maybeeee you look through it so often that you don't notice it going bad because it happens so gradually? Really, I don't know though.
Or maybeeee you look through it so often that you don't notice it going bad because it happens so gradually? Really, I don't know though.
Re: As scope ages does visual clarity degrade?
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Merlin40</div><div class="ubbcode-body">....caused by almost microscopic mould that grows on the inside of the lens no matter how dry and waterproof you scope is. .... </div></div>
A mold that grows in an anaerobic environment with nothing but inert gas? Skeptical.
On the other hand, glass is fluid, which is easily seen in century+ old window panes, etc., so maybe....
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Merlin40</div><div class="ubbcode-body">....caused by almost microscopic mould that grows on the inside of the lens no matter how dry and waterproof you scope is. .... </div></div>
A mold that grows in an anaerobic environment with nothing but inert gas? Skeptical.
On the other hand, glass is fluid, which is easily seen in century+ old window panes, etc., so maybe....
Re: As scope ages does visual clarity degrade?
I think the coatings begin to degrade after some decades.
I think the coatings begin to degrade after some decades.
Re: As scope ages does visual clarity degrade?
Really, doesn't pretty much everything degrade with age?
Really, doesn't pretty much everything degrade with age?
Re: As scope ages does visual clarity degrade?
i hear you mate your fun stick might degrade over time, my bang stick doesnt... my 12 year old remington still smacks out 1/4 MOA every time i shoot it, (if i'm not hanging over)the rifle, apart from some wear...(i shoot .223 PSS...maybe 400 rounds a year, with moderate loads) is as good as the day it came out of the box..i dont know if the Leup scope i purchased with it is shit or....is it degradation of the scope? or are newer scopes are just heaps better than those sold 10 years ago? Does glass degrade? if so why? this message was not authorised by pfiser
i hear you mate your fun stick might degrade over time, my bang stick doesnt... my 12 year old remington still smacks out 1/4 MOA every time i shoot it, (if i'm not hanging over)the rifle, apart from some wear...(i shoot .223 PSS...maybe 400 rounds a year, with moderate loads) is as good as the day it came out of the box..i dont know if the Leup scope i purchased with it is shit or....is it degradation of the scope? or are newer scopes are just heaps better than those sold 10 years ago? Does glass degrade? if so why? this message was not authorised by pfiser
Re: As scope ages does visual clarity degrade?
Yes and no
older scopes have glues and coatings that degrade or support certain molds.
I have a friend that repairs old scopes and have seen the effects of molds that have grown in the glues of older scopes, what then happens is the mold leave behind a acid waste that can etch the glass.
Newer scopes the outer coating of scopes degrade due to the efficts of the enviroment, the effect of this is very slow but can be noticed in older scopes of higher magnfication. Most lower power scopes it's hard to see. I have a 30 year old 20 power scope that has lost some of it light transmision due to the extior coating degrading, does it really matter? not really I'll have to leave it to my grandchildren to repair it in another 30 or so years.
Yes and no
older scopes have glues and coatings that degrade or support certain molds.
I have a friend that repairs old scopes and have seen the effects of molds that have grown in the glues of older scopes, what then happens is the mold leave behind a acid waste that can etch the glass.
Newer scopes the outer coating of scopes degrade due to the efficts of the enviroment, the effect of this is very slow but can be noticed in older scopes of higher magnfication. Most lower power scopes it's hard to see. I have a 30 year old 20 power scope that has lost some of it light transmision due to the extior coating degrading, does it really matter? not really I'll have to leave it to my grandchildren to repair it in another 30 or so years.
Re: As scope ages does visual clarity degrade?
I used to be into the whole photography thing. One of the things we checked for when buying old lenses was mold. From what I understand, it usually occurred from seals wearing out over time and allowing moisture and other nasties into the lens. This wasn't true of all of the lenses, though, so to place a blanket statement saying lenses degrade with age is misleading. Newer optics are sealed much, much better.
I used to be into the whole photography thing. One of the things we checked for when buying old lenses was mold. From what I understand, it usually occurred from seals wearing out over time and allowing moisture and other nasties into the lens. This wasn't true of all of the lenses, though, so to place a blanket statement saying lenses degrade with age is misleading. Newer optics are sealed much, much better.
Re: As scope ages does visual clarity degrade?
I would say that more damage is done during the cleaning process then with age. To protect the objective lens on my scopes I installed a uv haze filter, these are the same filters they use in photography. It is a simple install and there is no downside yet that I have come across. I used then trouble free for years in the past.
I would say that more damage is done during the cleaning process then with age. To protect the objective lens on my scopes I installed a uv haze filter, these are the same filters they use in photography. It is a simple install and there is no downside yet that I have come across. I used then trouble free for years in the past.
Re: As scope ages does visual clarity degrade?
Yeah, just crush some blue pills and use them to polish the lenses
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Falsecrack</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Really, doesn't pretty much everything degrade with age? </div></div>
Yeah, just crush some blue pills and use them to polish the lenses
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Falsecrack</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Really, doesn't pretty much everything degrade with age? </div></div>
Re: As scope ages does visual clarity degrade?
Glass is an amorphous solid but not a liquid. The "old glass is thicker on the bottom" myth has been around forever. If that were true in homes that are a hundred years old, antique telescopes from hundreds of years ago or modern scientific optical telescopes decades old would cease to function optically. When Hubble was launched into space, it didn't initially work because the mirror shape was off by only one millionth of an inch across an 8 foot diameter. A ground based optical telescope would be useless before the glass has finished being ground if glass dribbled like the supposed old windows. Ancient glass art would exist as little puddles.
Glass is an amorphous solid but not a liquid. The "old glass is thicker on the bottom" myth has been around forever. If that were true in homes that are a hundred years old, antique telescopes from hundreds of years ago or modern scientific optical telescopes decades old would cease to function optically. When Hubble was launched into space, it didn't initially work because the mirror shape was off by only one millionth of an inch across an 8 foot diameter. A ground based optical telescope would be useless before the glass has finished being ground if glass dribbled like the supposed old windows. Ancient glass art would exist as little puddles.
Re: As scope ages does visual clarity degrade?
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Cesiumsponge</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Glass is an amorphous solid but not a liquid. The "old glass is thicker on the bottom" myth has been around forever. If that were true in homes that are a hundred years old, antique telescopes from hundreds of years ago or modern scientific optical telescopes decades old would cease to function optically. When Hubble was launched into space, it didn't initially work because the mirror shape was off by only one millionth of an inch across an 8 foot diameter. A ground based optical telescope would be useless before the glass has finished being ground if glass dribbled like the supposed old windows. Ancient glass art would exist as little puddles. </div></div>
Glass in the windows on old houses is thicker at the bottom, that part is not a wives tale. Glass was not made quite so perfect back in the 1800's, one end would be a little thicker. The standard for installing it was to put the thicker part on the bottom so it was a little less prone to break.
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Cesiumsponge</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Glass is an amorphous solid but not a liquid. The "old glass is thicker on the bottom" myth has been around forever. If that were true in homes that are a hundred years old, antique telescopes from hundreds of years ago or modern scientific optical telescopes decades old would cease to function optically. When Hubble was launched into space, it didn't initially work because the mirror shape was off by only one millionth of an inch across an 8 foot diameter. A ground based optical telescope would be useless before the glass has finished being ground if glass dribbled like the supposed old windows. Ancient glass art would exist as little puddles. </div></div>
Glass in the windows on old houses is thicker at the bottom, that part is not a wives tale. Glass was not made quite so perfect back in the 1800's, one end would be a little thicker. The standard for installing it was to put the thicker part on the bottom so it was a little less prone to break.
Re: As scope ages does visual clarity degrade?
Yes it can not the glass itself but the coating and it just depends on the coating and were and when it was applied. It's just like your new house windows that have a Low-e coating after time that coating goes bad I've watched it go bad in 5 years and in others 10 to 15 years on others. I should know I run a glass shop and as far as glass running to the bottom of a window it takes a very long time to do that by the time it does that in a scope we will be long gone. Plus your scope will get moved from side to side up and down as you go back and forth from the range. So in short your answer is if you see something up with the scope clarity it's more that likely the coating not the glass.
Yes it can not the glass itself but the coating and it just depends on the coating and were and when it was applied. It's just like your new house windows that have a Low-e coating after time that coating goes bad I've watched it go bad in 5 years and in others 10 to 15 years on others. I should know I run a glass shop and as far as glass running to the bottom of a window it takes a very long time to do that by the time it does that in a scope we will be long gone. Plus your scope will get moved from side to side up and down as you go back and forth from the range. So in short your answer is if you see something up with the scope clarity it's more that likely the coating not the glass.
Re: As scope ages does visual clarity degrade?
In the past lenses was often glued togehter with canadabalsam.
Reason for glueing them together is to get lesser contactsurfaces betwen light and glass.
The light loss each time light hits glass is 4% on a glass with no coating. The best coatings today have taken it down to 0.25% light loss.
4% might seem little, but there is many glassurfaces and the light loss in an optical system is therefor significant.
However mousiture can feed the mould that then can break down the glue (canadabalsam) and it's like other people have written etching the glass and it's clearly visiable as you can see it like " a thin flower inside the lens".
Often can those lenses be saved by taking them apart and reglue them.
Håkan
In the past lenses was often glued togehter with canadabalsam.
Reason for glueing them together is to get lesser contactsurfaces betwen light and glass.
The light loss each time light hits glass is 4% on a glass with no coating. The best coatings today have taken it down to 0.25% light loss.
4% might seem little, but there is many glassurfaces and the light loss in an optical system is therefor significant.
However mousiture can feed the mould that then can break down the glue (canadabalsam) and it's like other people have written etching the glass and it's clearly visiable as you can see it like " a thin flower inside the lens".
Often can those lenses be saved by taking them apart and reglue them.
Håkan
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