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SYNTHETIC GLASS FOR SCOPES

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kesi View Drop Down
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    Posted: February/03/2010 at 14:07
Please, I have question for the experts interested in optics. Today I have read about that the scopes price up to 800 dollars (about 800 dollars scopes have the best-managed technology) and use a synthetic glass! It is said that shelf life for such synthetic glass is only 10 years - is this true? It is said that there is no substitute for the not synthetic glass and it corresponds with the weight of scopes. Not synthetic glass is not only expensive but also heavy.
Does Bushnell 4200/6500 have some synthetic glass? How is it? I´m asking for reply from experienced members of this forum, I´m not interested in speculation.

Thank you very much for your answer.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote cyborg Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/03/2010 at 15:35
I have to assume you mean plastic. To the best of my knowledge the only plastic used in higher quality scope lenses is the epoxy for bonding surfaces together. That is made by 3M.
Several of the scopes from BSA use Plastic lenses. But none of the higher quality scopes do at least not to anything that I have read or seen.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Kickboxer Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/03/2010 at 17:34
Optics Quality Plastic...
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote budperm Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/03/2010 at 18:06
Kesi would you please list your sources?
The cost of good glass is one of if not the biggest driver of the high cost of quality Optics.
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kesi View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote kesi Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/04/2010 at 11:53
Thank you for all your answers.
This information was from a Czech magazine about weapons: http://kesi1n.sweb.cz/Obr%C3%A1zky/IMG_6471.JPG
I connected with the author of the article just to be sure about a few things. When I asked him if anyone else use plastic glasses , he wrote:  
„All of the cheap scopes and some with prices up to $ 800 have synthetic glass. At this high price you pay for tube and mechanics. And optically it is really for 10 years. For example Hako or products of renowned company Optivisor USA (technical glasses), and indeed many other high quality optical products has plastic glass.
You can imitate various materials due to synthesis of various elements, so why not optical glass?

I don´t know the scope, which is now sold and had plastic glasses Embarrased
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote koshkin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/04/2010 at 12:30
Originally posted by budperm budperm wrote:

Kesi would you please list your sources?
The cost of good glass is one of if not the biggest driver of the high cost of quality Optics.

That is not, strictly speaking, accurate.

Glass by itself is not all that expensive.  Even high quality glass, by and large, is not that expensive.  Now, grinding and polishing it can be expensive.  On top of that, if a lot of glass gets screwed up while trying to grind and polish it, then the cost of raw material really adds up, although this is a bigger problem with more fragile crystals like calcium fluorite where up to 75% of original blanks can get damaged while working on it.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Kickboxer Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/04/2010 at 12:56
Then, you have to consider the number of lenses... while still not terribly expensive, it does add to determination of what is an acceptable to the public sales price vs profit...
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote koshkin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/04/2010 at 13:03
Originally posted by Kickboxer Kickboxer wrote:

Then, you have to consider the number of lenses... while still not terribly expensive, it does add to determination of what is an acceptable to the public sales price vs profit...

True, still suspect more of the cost (and of the risk) comes from the work done on the glass, than on the raw material itself.

ILya
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote HOLLOWPOINT Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/04/2010 at 13:56
Don't forget the coatings! Quality multicoating of the lenses is still an expensive process. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Roy Finn Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/04/2010 at 17:34
One of the biggest issues using plastic lenses is that they are not as scratch resistant and cannot be used on exterior lenses for scopes and binos. Plastic lenses have been used without much issue in camera lenses though.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote budperm Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: February/04/2010 at 17:48
Everybody is right!  When I made my statemnet I was refering to the finished glass product after all processing , coating and shrinkage.  I was not talking about the raw materials.

Edited by budperm - February/04/2010 at 17:50
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