Mixed feelings. for the price and for... - Viridian OpticsPlanet Exclusive Xactus 5-30x56mm Rifle Scope 34mmTube FFP

Honestly I have mixed feelings about it. Perhaps with all the enthusiastic reviews I simply had too high of expectations. Fist, just for a reminder to those considering it for an AR or light / medium hunting rifle, this scope is *very* large, long and moderately heavy. After receiving the 2 ordered, for a test I compared the scope in low light with my old but good Zeiss Conquest 6.5x20x50mm, w/ both scopes set to 20x and parallax set appropriately. I expected with the "...German glass...", 56mm objective and "...better than 95% light transmitted...", this scope would beat the 25-year old Zeiss Conquest. Viewing several set ups at 6 to 8 hundred yards, brightness was about a draw. However the much older Zeiss notably beat this scope in both contrast and clarity. So much so I will likely be sending them back. I am going to check the other one as well to see if this first one may be a lemon. If different, I will post a follow up review by tomorrow. With all that said, for the price and for most uses, I still suspect most folks will find it a pretty good scope at a great price. Thus my recommendation of "Yes." Does it truly match a comparably spec'd $1500 Vortex$ I cannot say for sure. Yes, a handful of companies produce probably 75% of the scopes on the market. However it's my understanding however that for each outer tube format and magnification power, most of these mega-scope makers offer companies their own branding as well as a handful of options (turret and cap style; MOA or Mils; zero stop (and style/type where applicable to licensing) or none; etc. And among the options some if not most/all mid_upper consumer scope makers offer as I understand it is often the glass and lense coating composition. So it likely is not safe assuming the light transmission rate, contrast, color transmission accuracy, etc of two scopes w/ identical high level specs and different branding have the same glass and lense coating. So the picture quality may differ between the two - you would need to test them side by side and performing a number of tests. I will finish by summing it up this way: Is this a good scope? Yes. Is it a great scope? Not in my opinion. Is it a good value at this price? Certainly. Is it a great value at this May 2023 sale price? That depends on how high you value clarity and contrast. It may or may not be depending on your needs. I dowish however they listed the amount of windage and elevation in the specs.