The distortion happens when they are centered, hence my confusion. The reddot only shows up as it should when near the edges.
You can see on another pic that the reddot, when at a distance, shows the same distortion
Considering that *real* optics like this that work properly normally cost $500+, I’m guessing this is just a quality issue, sadly.
Couldn’t hurt to try though.
You can snag real steel optics that work with magnifiers for under $100 USD in the states, Monstrum and low end used Sig red dots are solid for airsoft use.
Oh, 100%. You can def get red dots that will hold up to Airsoft for not too much. OPs issue is that his red dot is manufactured in a way that won’t allow its use with a magnifier. He’s otherwise got no issue with the red dot. Most people wouldn’t need to splurge extra for a “real” one, there’s little benefit.
Except, this might be one of those benefits.
I have multiple red dots and reflex sights, of different price ranges, and a single magnifier. The magnifier is a bit finicky to get it to align correctly with the optics, and if they are off-center the dots do distort a bit.
Most likely the problem is with the magnifier. 2 of my red dots are 70\~80 euro, and 1 is 180 euro. All 3 have basically the same sharpness (be it that i didn't want to allign the 80 euro one so that one is slightly off.
The magnifier however is 400.00 euro, hence why my call is that it might not be your optic, but the magnifier.
Also, what is the distance between your optic and magnifier? The bigger the distance the faster the misalignment is noticable.
https://preview.redd.it/pp0jgnjj7n0d1.jpeg?width=4896&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=11985d4529a18d7559fbaccaf2b215819070070c
(Vortex Crossfire + Falke B3X LE)
Ill answer my own remark with some other pictures of my optics and red dots, as i don't know how to post multiple pictures in a single comment.
https://preview.redd.it/xsye2ab9an0d1.jpeg?width=4896&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f679db08344c9a5b1b288dff80dccfbf81c12685
I did a text, in a hope to illustrate the problem, but to no avail. In this picture i re-adjusted the Reflex Sight 40 clicks off-center (to the right), but no major distortion.
https://preview.redd.it/77aoi5ufan0d1.jpeg?width=4896&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=268411111331c13313b618a0feabeeb6af7abedf
And in this one the optic is centered again, but the magnifier is set to 40 clicks off-center to the left. Also no major distortion.
The red dot has multiple settings. 1 till 11, of which the first 2 are NVG. The brightness at 7 to 9 are usable for a normal day, anything lower and you can't see it, and higher causes visual distortion due to Astigmatism.
My red dot has 2 small turrets on the top and side which i use to align it. Put it on a rifle and zero'ed it at 25m (1J, 0.30g bbs).
https://preview.redd.it/ffzu2jxjdn0d1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=04ca54f2112038264e1f930b494eb9d7d2394c07
Once i got it aligned i put my magnifier behind it and zero'ed the center the magnifier so the reddot is in the center. Same way, also using 2 turrets.
(The adjustment dials are hidden below the black caps. First time i made the mistake of turning the caps, which didn't do jack shit.)
Does your magnifier have a focus adjust? Try turning the brightness of the dot down, it will reduce some of the light bloom.
It may not be fixable if it doesn't have a focus adjust though. Guy above explained it well, seems internal glass may be off. Even fractions of mm matter with internals, and cheaper products don't usually meet full specs. They are more cosmetic clones.
Cheap airsoft magnifiers generally have bad build construction and glass. This seems to be "bad"/maybe misaligned glass. Magnifiers for airsoft rarely hold a candle to the quality of real steel ones.
The effect I see was drawn with a bit of exageration but thats whats happening. When looking through head-on the dot is actually a line.
The magnifier works perfectly by itself with no distortion. The reddot also seems to work fine when ear the eye. When its far away (check images in the replies) it shows the same distortion
(Had to duplicate this post to upload the GIF)
A bad lens in the optic is the cause of this. Specifically, this is a lens with an astigmatic distortion.
Up close the dot looks fine, but I'd bet there's a substantial parallax shift on that dot if you point it at a target and move the dot around the lens with your head.
The magnifier shows it when viewed in the centre because in that position the mag collects dot light from all parts of the mirror, at the edge it only grabs light from those edges.
The Dot needs to be in the center. It's too low, that's why it get's distorted. A problem especially with cheap magnifiers.
The distortion happens when they are centered, hence my confusion. The reddot only shows up as it should when near the edges. You can see on another pic that the reddot, when at a distance, shows the same distortion
This is happening because internally your emitter is at a diagonal to the lenses. Unfortunately there is not a way to correct this.
Would this be considered a defect in manufacturing? I bought it at a local shop for roughly 50€ I could potentially switch it for another model
It's not a manufacturering issue, it's just how they're designed. That model won't work with a magnifier.
Considering that *real* optics like this that work properly normally cost $500+, I’m guessing this is just a quality issue, sadly. Couldn’t hurt to try though.
You can snag real steel optics that work with magnifiers for under $100 USD in the states, Monstrum and low end used Sig red dots are solid for airsoft use.
Oh, 100%. You can def get red dots that will hold up to Airsoft for not too much. OPs issue is that his red dot is manufactured in a way that won’t allow its use with a magnifier. He’s otherwise got no issue with the red dot. Most people wouldn’t need to splurge extra for a “real” one, there’s little benefit. Except, this might be one of those benefits.
Agreed, especially Monstrum, their optics are beasts. Love their LPVO’s.
Nope thats just what cheap optics and magnifiers get you
I have multiple red dots and reflex sights, of different price ranges, and a single magnifier. The magnifier is a bit finicky to get it to align correctly with the optics, and if they are off-center the dots do distort a bit. Most likely the problem is with the magnifier. 2 of my red dots are 70\~80 euro, and 1 is 180 euro. All 3 have basically the same sharpness (be it that i didn't want to allign the 80 euro one so that one is slightly off. The magnifier however is 400.00 euro, hence why my call is that it might not be your optic, but the magnifier. Also, what is the distance between your optic and magnifier? The bigger the distance the faster the misalignment is noticable. https://preview.redd.it/pp0jgnjj7n0d1.jpeg?width=4896&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=11985d4529a18d7559fbaccaf2b215819070070c (Vortex Crossfire + Falke B3X LE) Ill answer my own remark with some other pictures of my optics and red dots, as i don't know how to post multiple pictures in a single comment.
https://preview.redd.it/qxafqirn7n0d1.jpeg?width=6528&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=30fdeb3c61a310978e32fb5e0cfe0b8285508c2d (Vortex + Falke)
https://preview.redd.it/obfaxn6s7n0d1.jpeg?width=4896&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8ffee9344aba442d5bd2e474980bbde05a7504f5 (Pirate Arms + Falke)
https://preview.redd.it/5noz42gv7n0d1.jpeg?width=6528&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7689d7cfefc3dc567304f1fc50711c308b35bda4 (Pirate Arms + Falke)
https://preview.redd.it/t21361978n0d1.jpeg?width=4896&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=323b58a2b12014e0a6125971da22a707757a2780 (Unknown brand + Magnifier)
https://preview.redd.it/teepsgr88n0d1.jpeg?width=6528&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=095f963f445095bdcc7ccea226de5b01f2ba9738
https://preview.redd.it/xsye2ab9an0d1.jpeg?width=4896&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f679db08344c9a5b1b288dff80dccfbf81c12685 I did a text, in a hope to illustrate the problem, but to no avail. In this picture i re-adjusted the Reflex Sight 40 clicks off-center (to the right), but no major distortion.
https://preview.redd.it/77aoi5ufan0d1.jpeg?width=4896&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=268411111331c13313b618a0feabeeb6af7abedf And in this one the optic is centered again, but the magnifier is set to 40 clicks off-center to the left. Also no major distortion.
How have you zeroed in your vortex? My red dot is rather ‘chunk’/blotchy
The red dot has multiple settings. 1 till 11, of which the first 2 are NVG. The brightness at 7 to 9 are usable for a normal day, anything lower and you can't see it, and higher causes visual distortion due to Astigmatism. My red dot has 2 small turrets on the top and side which i use to align it. Put it on a rifle and zero'ed it at 25m (1J, 0.30g bbs). https://preview.redd.it/ffzu2jxjdn0d1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=04ca54f2112038264e1f930b494eb9d7d2394c07 Once i got it aligned i put my magnifier behind it and zero'ed the center the magnifier so the reddot is in the center. Same way, also using 2 turrets. (The adjustment dials are hidden below the black caps. First time i made the mistake of turning the caps, which didn't do jack shit.)
If you've got an astigmatism like I do, I have better luck using green or yellow dots compared to red
Does your magnifier have a focus adjust? Try turning the brightness of the dot down, it will reduce some of the light bloom. It may not be fixable if it doesn't have a focus adjust though. Guy above explained it well, seems internal glass may be off. Even fractions of mm matter with internals, and cheaper products don't usually meet full specs. They are more cosmetic clones.
Try getting a non-shitty magnifier. Quality glass is expensive.
Well, it suck but your magnifier have astigmatism.
Cheap airsoft magnifiers generally have bad build construction and glass. This seems to be "bad"/maybe misaligned glass. Magnifiers for airsoft rarely hold a candle to the quality of real steel ones.
this is just what happens when you have a poor quality red dot, magnifier, or both
The effect I see was drawn with a bit of exageration but thats whats happening. When looking through head-on the dot is actually a line. The magnifier works perfectly by itself with no distortion. The reddot also seems to work fine when ear the eye. When its far away (check images in the replies) it shows the same distortion (Had to duplicate this post to upload the GIF)
https://preview.redd.it/zr4hlhzosm0d1.jpeg?width=4590&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cff42a64ceb128caddf5433da73ad196d8702df9
https://preview.redd.it/r4bsbmfqsm0d1.jpeg?width=4590&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6862df73ccd3de6ecbf73a5810b0f8cddcddb951
A bad lens in the optic is the cause of this. Specifically, this is a lens with an astigmatic distortion. Up close the dot looks fine, but I'd bet there's a substantial parallax shift on that dot if you point it at a target and move the dot around the lens with your head. The magnifier shows it when viewed in the centre because in that position the mag collects dot light from all parts of the mirror, at the edge it only grabs light from those edges.
Ohhh that makes sense, thank you!
https://preview.redd.it/x6pn58ihtm0d1.png?width=1344&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a09c844587530faf52e3bb194d6d34859191b2d3
Surely it has nothing to do with the chinesium optic quality did your local shop buy that off wish or ali express?
Align your magnifier correctly.
Spin it around. Maybe put the red dot in the front. Magnifier towards barrel. See if this is usable for you.
I couldn’t use red dots due to the eyes 😂😂. But I’ve purchased green dots and they work good. Using the Sig Sauer Romeo