May 26th 2022
Coalinga Range in California. We could clearly see bullet holes of 7mm and.30 Cal at 1000 yards at dawn. We arrived at the event’s final day at 5:45 AM, literally as the sun was rising above the horizon. I quickly deployed my Pentax PF100ED spotting scope fitted with a Pentax SMCXW 10mm fixed power eyepiece. This 10mm eyepiece gives a 63X magnification when used with the Pentax 100mm scope. This eyepiece, which retails for $299.00, is exceptionally clear and sharp. No mist, no mirage, no wind. The Editor noticed immediately that there were metal nail heads on the target boards. It was amazing. To my surprise, I was able to see bullet holes in white at 1000 yards, including 6.5mm, 7mm and 30 caliber bullets. It’s true…I could see bullet holes at 1000. Although many people may not believe me, I was able to see a 7mm bullet cutting the white line that separated the Nine Ring from the Eight Ring on the target. (I saw the shot-hole form while I was watching the target as it was being shot). The bullet holes in white were clearly visible when I looked at the targets of 30-cal calibre. I was able to see 3/8 in these conditions. I could also see 3/8? in these perfect conditions.
I was observing the bullet holes with my left eye naked (no magnification or safety glasses). I also had a contact lenses in my right eye for distance vision. Surprise! I was able to see the bullet holes with my left eye without difficulty, but things were blurrier and fuzzier with my right eye. I also had to refocus the scope. The fine resolution was being affected by the contact lens. I invited three to four shooters to view the scope. One young man, with sharp eyes, immediately said: “Yeah! I can see the holes — right at four o’clock and seven. Wow.” Wow. The scope eyepiece can be affected by anything that is between your eyeball and the scope’s lens. If you are able to still achieve sharp focus sharpness with the diopter adjustment or focus ring, you might be better off taking your glasses off. I did the left-vs.-right eye test about a dozen times. I was able to see small details at 1000 yards with my naked eyes that I couldn’t see with my right eye fitted in a contact lens. I had to refocus the scope for each eye because one had a corrective lenses and the other didn’t. Image Sharpness and Resolution Degraded by Mirage
After a short time, the “magic light”, or magic light, was gone. Then we began to see some mirage. The mirage disappeared and I couldn’t see any bullet holes. However, I could still see the black bulls’ black pasters. The sharpness of the visible image decreased a lot when the mirage began. I was able to see bullet holes at dawn but couldn’t read the numbers on the scoring ring by mid-morning. Lesson: Perfect conditions are necessary to determine the ultimate resolution of your optics.
As the light became brighter and the mirage increased, I began to see blue and green fringing around the edges of both the spotting disc and the large numerals. This was very noticeable. This was quite noticeable. Although the sharpness of Pentax was much better than the photo shows, the through-the lens image clearly shows the red and blue fringinging. This fringing can be explained by chromatic aberration, which is the inability of a lens’ to focus all colors at the same point. Chromatic aberration is most noticeable at high magnification. It causes different wavelengths to have different focal lengths (see diagram). Chromatic aberration is a “fringe” of color that forms along boundaries that separate the bright and dark parts of an image. Each color in the optical spectrum can’t be focused at one common point on the optical line. The Pentax has “ED”, or low-dispersion, glass. This would make the effect even more dramatic if you had a cheaper scope.
CLICK HERE to see a larger photo that clearly shows aberration. You may be wondering why high-end spotting scopes, such as the $2980 Swarovski ATS80, are so expensive. The answer is that they will produce even less chromatic aberration at longer ranges and higher magnifications. The Pentax PF100ED is a great spotting scope. It is remarkable that a scope can resolve bullet holes from 1000 yards. If you are looking for the best optical performance with minimal chromatic aberration, the 88mm Kowa Prominar with Flourite Crystal lenses ($2450.00 only) or the 82mm Leica AP ($3899.00 with 25-50X eyespiece) may be the right scope for you. We can often resolve 6mm bullet holes at 600 meters with this Pentax 100mm and a Swarovski80mm. This performance is dependent on very good viewing conditions. At 10:00 am, 6mm bullet holes are difficult to see even with a 100mm Pentax at 75 power. Don’t mortgage your house to purchase a $4000 optic in the hope of seeing your shots at 1000 yards. If the conditions are not perfect, you won’t be able to see bullet holes at 500 meters. A remote target camera that broadcasts a video to your shooting station is the best solution for long-range spotting. The LongShot LR-3 is our favorite target cam. It has incredible range and excellent resolution. The LongShot LR-3 target camera is used in major ELR competitions.
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