THE REALITIES OF SCOPE CAMERAS

Any gun owner who has spent even a little time online has seen video clips depicting a shooter's view through a riflescope. These clips typically show the moment a shot is taken, and the viewer sees the effect of a bullet's impact on a steel target or some type of game or pest animal being hunted. When well done, these videos are impressive and have led me to wonder if I could do this myself.

Eventually, I caved in and started experimenting with cameras intended for mounting to riflescopes. It's been a long journey and one that's cost more than a few dollars, so I thought I'd share some lessons I've learned in hopes of helping others considering adding this accessory to their rifles. This is not a product review, but rather a discussion of real-world factors that I've found to affect all scope cameras.

In a perfect world, we'd be able to slap a camera onto a riflescope and collect crystal clear 4K video of a bullet's impact, all with no effect on the rifle or scope's performance. Of course, the world isn't perfect, so some significant issues are involved.

EYE RELIEF

Rifle scopes are designed to provide the best possible view when the eye is held about 3- or 4-inches away from the rear of the scope. This distance provides a safe space for a hard-kicking rifle to recoil into without the rear of the scope striking the shooter's face and causing injury. Scope cameras always fit into this safe space, taking away anywhere from 1 to 2 inches of that safety zone. Therefore, they are best suited for low-recoiling rifles. Of course, reducing a rifle's recoil is possible by adding weight, a suppressor, and/or a muzzle brake. In some applications, these will be necessary safety modifications.

RECOIL

Recoil presents a second problem as well. Inevitably, as the muzzle rises in response to recoil, hard recoiling rifles will cause the shooter to briefly lose sight of the target in the scope. Adding a scope camera does not make this go away, and while the camera will record the reticle position at the time of the shot, it won't record the moment of impact if recoil has moved the target out of view by the time the bullet arrives.

Therefore, someone considering adding a scope camera to a hunting rifle should spend some serious range time shooting from field positions with that rifle and evaluating whether he can see the bullet's impact through the scope when no camera is attached. If not, the camera won't see it either. Again, adding things like a muzzle brake, suppressor, or just more weight can change this dynamic. Experimentation and honest evaluation are key to not becoming a disappointed consumer.

LIGHT TRANSMISSION

Because scope cameras position an assortment of lenses and mirrors between the rear of the scope and the shooter's eye, there is an inevitable loss of light reaching the shooter. Therefore, installing a scope camera will always result in the shooter perceiving a dimmer image through the scope when the camera is mounted. How much dimmer that image is depends largely on the quality involved in the camera's manufacture. High-quality mirrors, glass, and relevant coatings will reduce light loss. If a low-quality camera system is added to a low-quality scope, the result may be unacceptable. Therefore, a scope with top-notch glass and coatings combined with a camera utilizing similar quality components will produce much better results. The same holds true for what the camera sees. As a result, some cameras will perform poorly in low light because the scope and the camera's components just aren't up to the task. Quality matters.

FOCUS

Correct focus is, of course, critical to capturing good video. And a scope camera needs to be able to keep both the reticle and the image in focus, which seems far more difficult for a camera than for the human eye. Anyone watching even a few YouTube videos featuring these cameras will quickly see the results of poor focus. To be fair, not all are the result of poor focus; many, especially the long-range target shots, simply show the inescapable effects of mirage. Strangely, that mirage effect always seems magnified when seen on video as opposed to firsthand viewing through a rifle scope. The mirage effect is significantly reduced at shorter ranges and cool temperatures when the air is clear and thin.

The best combination for collecting in-focus video results is when the camera has a focus adjustment for the reticle and the rifle scope has a side-mounted focus/parallax adjustment for the image. Once the camera is mounted, the reticle focus should only need to be set once, but the image/parallax focus will need to be adjusted for every shot taken at a different distance. This, of course, takes time, meaning high-quality video is easier to obtain in slower-paced shooting activities.

CONCLUSION

I believe these four areas are the four major challenges faced by consumers looking to add a scope camera as a rifle accessory. None of them are insurmountable, but they are things to consider before dropping a significant amount of cash. Buying quality gear and devoting some time, effort, and practice to learn how to use it can produce great results. Scope cameras can be useful and a lot of fun, and I certainly won't be selling mine anytime soon.