First,
Im not an optics snob. Reliability is my #1 concern. But I have wondered what my 527, 735 and EP5 would look like against each other at last light. Both the 735 and 527 have been used for the same application. Even though it’s mounted on a Vudoo here
Primary use for my high end optics is crop damage shooting (hunting whitetail deer for 3 months on farm fields with dnr issued permits). This is does only so being able to ID a doe from a spike is important
Let’s get right to the No BS condensed version of what I was looking at
Target:
Abandoned house
550 yards
Gas grill as primary target
At or past legal shooting hours
All with sunshades on
All comparisons were done at the same time, same targets off tripods. All were done at the same powers. Primarily 15 and 25 power
At end of legal shooting light (2011 CST) here’s my thoughts
- NF vs ZCO- Both were very comparable at 15 power. With the ZCO slightly edging the NF in brightness. But very slightly
At 25 power and 27 (27 is max for ZCO) it was apparent. I compared at both powers. Not one set to 25 and other to 27. The grill in the NF appeared to be a grill. Black and stainless. Very obvious. However the ZCO at the same point could see the dials and emblem on the grill very well. While the NF washed it out. I adjusted both through the parallax range and checked for the best spots in both. My results stayed the same.
I also compared the two against farm equipment and siding. The ZCO had the upper hand on the details. At 15 power both were very comparable. The fact the ZCO performed this well at its max power was surprising.
So ZCO definitely had the upper hand in last light ID. But the 7-35 would probably work til last light for my use as well
- Now for the Arken. This is a $500 optic compared to $3600 and $4000 optics. So let’s not pretend they cost the same or we expect the same performance. That said
On 15 power the Arken had a haze. Like a white/washed out haze. Where the ZCO could see the knobs on the grill (this is 5 minutes after legal light) the Arken could barely tell it was a grill. Had I not looked earlier I’d have trouble IDing what I was looking at.
At 25 power forget it. I started at 25 and it was so washed out I looked to see if my scope was fogged up. It was that unusable. The house was a wash let alone the grill. But we’re talking a $500 optic.
- So in the end. The ZCO is a step on the NF but not truly until last light was it to the point where I’d say I’d make a mistake shooting a spike vs a doe. With the light pictured below they were very comparable. The ZCO edged out the NF but it wasn’t “oh my god I’m selling this NF for another ZCO”
This test in fact told me the NF isnt going anywhere. If your picking between both on a table grab the ZCO. But I wouldn’t take a huge loss on the NF to upgrade. Just my opinion
Now other features I’ve noted using both recently,
- The illumination on the ZCO hands down is better than the push button on the NF
- The non rotating ocular on the ZCO hands down beats the NF. Especially running a triggercam
- Turrets. This is where it gets tricky. Honestly the NF turrets are awesome. I like the locking feature on the ZCO but feel and sound definitely don’t have a clear winner. The NF holds its own here
- Reticle MPCT3 vs Mil XT. I still think the Mil XT is the shit. It’s just perfectly designed and I’m used to it. So my preference is still Mil XT
- Parallax. ZCO hands down. More forgiving and the numbers are almost spot on. So you can reliably set it based on range. NF is about 300 yards off and you have to adjust looking through the scope
That’s my take on hunting several times (way more with NF) with both. Then incorporating the Arken just because many wonder, including me, how it stacks up
ZCO527/AI AT 308
NF 7-35/Vudoo 360 .22
Arken EP5/Tikka T1X .22
Im not an optics snob. Reliability is my #1 concern. But I have wondered what my 527, 735 and EP5 would look like against each other at last light. Both the 735 and 527 have been used for the same application. Even though it’s mounted on a Vudoo here
Primary use for my high end optics is crop damage shooting (hunting whitetail deer for 3 months on farm fields with dnr issued permits). This is does only so being able to ID a doe from a spike is important
Let’s get right to the No BS condensed version of what I was looking at
Target:
Abandoned house
550 yards
Gas grill as primary target
At or past legal shooting hours
All with sunshades on
All comparisons were done at the same time, same targets off tripods. All were done at the same powers. Primarily 15 and 25 power
At end of legal shooting light (2011 CST) here’s my thoughts
- NF vs ZCO- Both were very comparable at 15 power. With the ZCO slightly edging the NF in brightness. But very slightly
At 25 power and 27 (27 is max for ZCO) it was apparent. I compared at both powers. Not one set to 25 and other to 27. The grill in the NF appeared to be a grill. Black and stainless. Very obvious. However the ZCO at the same point could see the dials and emblem on the grill very well. While the NF washed it out. I adjusted both through the parallax range and checked for the best spots in both. My results stayed the same.
I also compared the two against farm equipment and siding. The ZCO had the upper hand on the details. At 15 power both were very comparable. The fact the ZCO performed this well at its max power was surprising.
So ZCO definitely had the upper hand in last light ID. But the 7-35 would probably work til last light for my use as well
- Now for the Arken. This is a $500 optic compared to $3600 and $4000 optics. So let’s not pretend they cost the same or we expect the same performance. That said
On 15 power the Arken had a haze. Like a white/washed out haze. Where the ZCO could see the knobs on the grill (this is 5 minutes after legal light) the Arken could barely tell it was a grill. Had I not looked earlier I’d have trouble IDing what I was looking at.
At 25 power forget it. I started at 25 and it was so washed out I looked to see if my scope was fogged up. It was that unusable. The house was a wash let alone the grill. But we’re talking a $500 optic.
- So in the end. The ZCO is a step on the NF but not truly until last light was it to the point where I’d say I’d make a mistake shooting a spike vs a doe. With the light pictured below they were very comparable. The ZCO edged out the NF but it wasn’t “oh my god I’m selling this NF for another ZCO”
This test in fact told me the NF isnt going anywhere. If your picking between both on a table grab the ZCO. But I wouldn’t take a huge loss on the NF to upgrade. Just my opinion
Now other features I’ve noted using both recently,
- The illumination on the ZCO hands down is better than the push button on the NF
- The non rotating ocular on the ZCO hands down beats the NF. Especially running a triggercam
- Turrets. This is where it gets tricky. Honestly the NF turrets are awesome. I like the locking feature on the ZCO but feel and sound definitely don’t have a clear winner. The NF holds its own here
- Reticle MPCT3 vs Mil XT. I still think the Mil XT is the shit. It’s just perfectly designed and I’m used to it. So my preference is still Mil XT
- Parallax. ZCO hands down. More forgiving and the numbers are almost spot on. So you can reliably set it based on range. NF is about 300 yards off and you have to adjust looking through the scope
That’s my take on hunting several times (way more with NF) with both. Then incorporating the Arken just because many wonder, including me, how it stacks up
ZCO527/AI AT 308
NF 7-35/Vudoo 360 .22
Arken EP5/Tikka T1X .22
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. The other big one besides low light is mirage... When you have looked through a SB, TT, zco vs cheaper glass in soupy conditions, you start to get a return on that money
