Rivals leupold vx iii in brightness and clarity - Vortex Diamondback 4-12x40mm Rifle Scope, 1in Tube, Second Focal Plane

Before ordering the Vortex Diamond Back 4-12x40 I ordered a Nikon Pro Staff 4-12x40. I was not happy with the Nikon due to a very small field of view as well as a much greater length and added weight. While researching the scopes in my price range(Retired now and can't afford Leupold VXII's and VXIII's) the Vortex Diamond Back 4-12x40 appeared to have a much larger field of view than the Nikon while being a couple inches shorter and lighter. It was about the same price and has great reviews. I kept the Nikon and ordered the Vortex for comparison. The Vortex is superior in every way in a side by side comparison. Zeroed the rifle with the Vortex today(Jan20,2015) and while I had it on the sand bags I compared it to the Nikon, a Leupold VXII 3-9x40 and a Leupold VXIII 3.5-10x50. The Nikon is not bad in clarity and brightness but the larger field of view with the Vortex makes it seem much brighter and sharper. The Vortex is much clearer and brighter than the Leupold VXII(an older scope) and the equal of the VXIII. Again, these results were logged while looking through each scope side by side. Some reviewers have said they had a problem with eye relief and while the listed eye relief is slightly less than a Leupold I noticed no significant difference while comparing to my Leupolds that are already in service. This was shooting off the bench where this is most noticed. One review said the Vortex would require extended rings in order to work on long action rifles. I mounted my Vortex on a Ruger M77 MK I in 25.06 caliber which is a 30.06 length long action rifle with no problems. I have room to spare between the front ring and the bell of the scope by about 1/4 -5/16". The fast focus eyepiece works great and is easy and quick to focus. I was able to achieve perfectly sharp crosshair focus as well as sharp focus on the target itself at a hundred yards. Some lower end scopes will not give sharp focus of both the crosshairs and the target forcing you to choose one or the other. The two negatives I have found in this scope seem to only occur at close to 12 power. The "sweet spot" is very small and eye alignment is critical for sharp picture of the target with no loss of field of view. This requires some adjustment of cheek weld to the stock and takes several seconds to achieve. (This occurs in all scopes at the highest power but not to this extent) The scope at 12 power does not handle glare (light hitting front lens from slightly in front of scope) as well as high end scopes with better lens coatings. Shooting late in the afternoon towards the West was annoying but doable) Overall this scope is unbelievable in its optical clarity, sharpness and brightness. Not sure how Vortex can produce a scope this good for less than two hundred dollars. I have never owned a Vortex product before so I can't comment on durability but unless I win the lottery this will be my first choice going forward. With this scope you don't just get what you pay for, you get a lot more!