How big is the difference between 44mm and 50mm objective lens? At what point at evening/night will the difference become noticeable? I will be using the scope mostly for coyote hunting and whitetail. I found the 4-16×44 vortex on sale but I’m wondering if a 3.5-10×50 would be better.
This is a wide open question with many variables, age of the user being one of them. If both scopes are set for the same magnification, the 50mm will obviously let in more light. Set for example at 8 power, the 50MM will give the user a 6.25MM exit pupil size and the 44MM scope will produce a 5.5MM exit pupil.
An older person may not perceive any difference because their pupils only open to lets say 5MM.
Where as a younger user who’s pupils open to 7MM in low light will notice the difference.
Every one’s eyes are different, so each individual user, will have there own unique perception as to when, or if there is any difference, and when that difference shows up, as the amount of available light changes.
(from another source)
Exit Pupil Size
This is another important factor in determining how well binoculars work in low light conditions. Exit pupil size is the diameter of the actual beams of light leaving the eyepieces.
It’s calculated by diving the diameter of the objective lens by the magnification. So 10×60 binoculars would have an exit pupil size of 60/10 = 6mm.
In sunlight your eye’s pupil will contract to a size of 2-4mm. But at night they’ll open to 7mm. This varies with your age to an extent. If the light beam is wider than your pupil if can’t all get through, so binoculars with 4mm exit pupil size seem as bright as those with 6mm in daylight. But in poor light your pupils may open to 6mm, so the binoculars with a 4mm exit pupil seem dimmer than those with 6mm.
As we get older the size our pupils open to decreases. An observer in their 50’s may only have pupils which open to 5mm for example. To these people large exit pupils offer little advantage.
The larger bell will most likely require a taller ring to clear the barrel. This can mess with how you sight the gun big time if you’re more in line with hugging the stock shooting a, say, 40 mm objective bell.
You may be better off spending more $$$ on a quality scope since their higher quality optics do a better job of light transmission in low light situations.
Another issue with scopes having larger objective bells is that they often have much shorter eye reliefs.
I can see a lot of negatives to those big 44-50mm bells but not too many positives. If it were me I’d check the eye relief on each of those mentioned and then check to see if the taller mounting need to clear the barrel is going to upset the way the gun is sighted and then choose from there.
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