Tested 4 scopes at the ranch
 

Needed a new scope for inherited gun, wished to spend 200$ ish. Looked at leupold vx1, vortex diamonback and nikon profstaff, all 3-9x40. Tested in very late evening. I have no bias one way or another, prob wanted to like the nikon the best bc it was least expensive of three but also heaviest and longest. Leaupold has best name and biggest following but scope felt very light, didnt have a nice focus adjustment like nikon and vortex but who doesnt love the brand.

I need to do more overall testing but in terms of low light performance, it was really hard to tell the difference between these three but the nikon was marginally less bright, not what i expected since they use bogus light transmission stats of 98%. The vortex and vx1 seemed about the same but i favored the vortex due to the better eyepiece adjustment, a better power adjustment knob, overall better feel and a superior unconditional warranty. I would be happy w either but favored the vortex by a small to medium margin.

Now, the biggest disappointment...my 14 yr old swarovski that i paid over 1000$ for showed no better brightness than any of these scopes. That doesnt mean it isnt clearer or superior in some way but damn, low light performance was virtually identical to these 200$ scopes.

Tomorrow, with better lighting, i will make sure focus is adjusted on all three and will look at clarity and other aspects

Not sure how these finding compare to what others have seen but this is an honest tho un scientific comparison.

There have been lots of improvements in optics in the last 14 years. I bet if you bought a new Swarvoski today it would be better than the one you bought 14 years ago. Technology marches on.

Resolution is how well or how small detail you can see on clarity. Personally I used to use nothing else but Leupold at least VX-3 or above or Zeiss, but being on extremely limited fixed income now I've switched to Nikon Monarch. Check out a Monarch 5 if you can. I'll bet you'll be surprised! I'd also think Vortex should be good in upgraded model if you can save up for it.

I haven't used any of those, but recently tried this ATN X-Sight HD 3-12X:

And I should say I was impressed how bright and clear it is!