I agree about clarity. I have never seen anyone who could actually define "clarity" or "brightness". Both words are abstract, and open to interpretation.

Scope failure is normally due to either internal fogging. Or crosshair failure. The quality of the lense does not determine longevity of the scope.

To me the major difference in the cross hairs is friction adjustment versus click adjustment. I will not buy a scope with friction adjustments, they will fail. I have had click adjustment scopes for 30 years. They work as well today as they did 30 years ago.

As far as internal fogging-you get what you pay for.

Adjustable objectives are nice, but not necessary in a hunting rifle that will be handled in a rough manner. They are basically one more thing that can go wrong. I think their only use is in Varminting, and target shooting. Tom.