Paralax and Focus

[brentc]

This is actually common for NF, moreso with the NXS than the ATACR. It used to drive me nuts because all my other high end optics were parallax free with a crystal image. I say go ahead and adjust your eyepiece, but don't expect it to fix the parallax problem.

 

[DavidleeCole]

I always adjust the ocular (Eye Piece) first to get the reticle in perfect focus for my (Old) eyes normally at 1 to 200 yards on max power.

Then when aiming at the target at any distance adjust the Parallax at that distance. I don't go by any numbers on the adjustment nob because they are seldom correct. Get in the habit of turning it to zero and as you go up, with out moving the rifle bob your head up and down slightly and you will see the reticle move up and down on the target until all parallax is gone.

Parallax and focus are two different settings and the scopes with range focus are an attempt to do two things at one setting. If you have one of these scopes. I recommend adjusting the eye focus first, then set the range focus until it is clear and then check it for Parallax as described. You may not be able to get all three adjustments correct at full power.

J E CUSTOM

Love this the most informative I have ever heard and in simple terms

 

[Don A Parsons]

I use the parallax idea I posted earlier,,, but I did the opposite to get my cross hairs to move off target when doing the head Bob... That way I know both sides of where this happens on the high and low side of adjustments... Blue dot is center of that find...

Then I use 2 white dots for the proper setting idea in the link,,, once I get the cross hairs to stay as close to staying on the 3 or 400 meter target I fine tune from there... Both the blue and 2 white dots should be close,,, now I'm heading for the green dot to make sure the cross hairs stay on target for real... This takes some extra time of fine tuning the eye peace along with the parallax nob...

1/16 turn at a time...

I go one direction first till I get 6" of movement from 1" bulls eye,,, re-center then go the other way till I get 6" on that side...

Don't forget to make sure the parallax is set for the target your looking at...

This is run number 3,,, triple green dot for absolute zero at this 3 or 400 metre mark...

Test 4 takes place at 600 meters,,, = 2 green dots,,, test 5 is 800 metres which is 1 green dot...

If every thing is on track,,, the white,,, blue,,, and 2 and 3 green dots should be super close,,, the single green dot mark should be the best possible option over all for my ranges...

Our eyes are always changing every 6 to 10 months,,, so we're back to square 1 once again... Keep the single green dot and re-test from there on the next run when it comes...

Good luck and happy hunting all,,, big game season is a go up here above the 49th very soon,,, archery stick'em firsts followed by the solid leads...

Ye Ha to good times

 

[Wedgy]

There are several threads on here and other forums about the NF focus/parallax problem with no clear answer. I had 4 NF's and the only one that was in focus & parallax free is the 3.5-15x56 while the other NXS and two ATACRs have the issue. I do not have the issue with March, Zeiss, VX-6, VX-5, XTRII, etc.
I now have two NF scopes. Nobody seems to be able to explain it but the only thing to do is adjust the eyepiece but then the reticle is out of focus.....

 

[Greyfox]

There are several threads on here and other forums about the NF focus/parallax problem with no clear answer. I had 4 NF's and the only one that was clear & parallax free is the 3.5-15x56 while the other NXS and two ATACRs have the issue. I do not have the issue with March, Zeiss, VX-6, VX-5, XTRII, etc.
I now have two NF scopes. Nobody seems to be able to explain it but the only thing to do is adjust the eyepiece but then the reticle is out of focus.....

I have had the same issue with my NF NXS and ATACR's and even two of my NF Bench-rest 8x32's with the focus/parallax control at the front/objective end of the scope, very problematic for bench rest work. Having to fiddle with a focus-parallax that is not synchronized is a showstopper for my LRH and PRS scopes where there is little time to do a head-check. It does not seem to be an issue with the new ATACR-F1 scopes which use a "faster ratio" focus adjustment compared to NF's other models. Just an observation, but it seems that my my "fast ratio" scopes(NF-F1, March, Huskemaw, S&B) are not only synchronized between focus and parallax, but are also well synchronized with the numbered values on the focus knob when adjusted from the extreme home positions. Many consider the fast ratio control too sensitive. IMO, that sensitivity to achieve sharp focus seems to be a design factor that places focus and parallax in synch. Once mastered, it's a hell of a lot faster then bobbing my head around in the scope to tune parallax with a skittish buck at 600 yards. Next to a scopes tracking accuracy, this aspect runs a close second in criteria for my LRH/PRS scope selection.

 

[Doug Herold]

I always adjust the ocular (Eye Piece) first to get the reticle in perfect focus for my (Old) eyes normally at 1 to 200 yards on max power.

Then when aiming at the target at any distance adjust the Parallax at that distance. I don't go by any numbers on the adjustment nob because they are seldom correct. Get in the habit of turning it to zero and as you go up, with out moving the rifle bob your head up and down slightly and you will see the reticle move up and down on the target until all parallax is gone.

Parallax and focus are two different settings and the scopes with range focus are an attempt to do two things at one setting. If you have one of these scopes. I recommend adjusting the eye focus first, then set the range focus until it is clear and then check it for Parallax as described. You may not be able to get all three adjustments correct at full power.

J E CUSTOM

Another little trick I have found to attain quick parallax adjustment in the field is to use my wife's Nail Polish and "dot" my yardages accordingly. Personally, I use a "doubling", I.e., 100, 200, 400, 800. At 400 (midpoint) I put a white dot instead of red. Under hunting conditions, this saves me a couple seconds and I know my parallax is correct.

 

[misterc01]

Once I have the reticle in focus, I put the cross hairs on the target, then slightly shift my head left and right to see if the POA is different, then adjust parallax until it does not move. Seems to work for me.

 

[brentc]

I have had the same issue with my NF NXS and ATACR's and even two of my NF Bench-rest 8x32's with the focus/parallax control at the front/objective end of the scope, very problematic for bench rest work. Having to fiddle with a focus-parallax that is not synchronized is a showstopper for my LRH and PRS scopes where there is little time to do a head-check. It does not seem to be an issue with the new ATACR-F1 scopes which use a "faster ratio" focus adjustment compared to NF's other models. Just an observation, but it seems that my my "fast ratio" scopes(NF-F1, March, Huskemaw, S&B) are not only synchronized between focus and parallax, but are also well synchronized with the numbered values on the focus knob when adjusted from the extreme home positions. Many consider the fast ratio control too sensitive. IMO, that sensitivity to achieve sharp focus seems to be a design factor that places focus and parallax in synch. Once mastered, it's a hell of a lot faster then bobbing my head around in the scope to tune parallax with a skittish buck at 600 yards. Next to a scopes tracking accuracy, this aspect runs a close second in criteria for my LRH/PRS scope selection.

Highly agree. This is a Nightforce thing. You have to accept it for what it is and live parallax free with an out of focus image. For the few that have a NF that don't have an issue, consider yourself somewhat lucky. I have a newer NXS that was produced in 2018 that is well synced, but it's the only one of six NXS that I've had over the last five years that resolves parallax with a nearly focused image.

 

[CMRHG]

I went out this weekend to use everyone's ideas (greatly appreciated). Here's what I did. I adjusted the eyepiece all the way clockwise until it stopped. Cross hairs were out of focus. I then turned the eyepiece counterclockwise until I the cross hairs were in focus. I then went out and set up the gun looking at a target at 1000 yds. I adjusted the side focus/parallax knob until the parallax was set as good as the scope would allow-still a little movement-could have used a little more turn) This was at infinity (bottomed out-no more adjustment). Target was out of focus. I had to back the the knob up about a 1/4 turn to get in focus, but of course parallax was way out. I then adjusted the knob back to infinity which set the parallax again. I then started turning the eyepiece focus counterclockwise until the cross hairs started getting out of focus. This was about 4 complete turns of the eyepiece. I then turned it back (clockwise) a full turn. I then adjusted the side focus and found that I was way closer to being in focus and parallax set. Focus and parallax were pretty close now. I then focused on a target at 100yds and found the focus and parallax fairly close as well. Parallax set and acceptably in focus. Note though-the parallax at 1000yds was never perfectly achieved in my opinion. Thanks everyone!!!!!

 

[CMRHG]

Another tidbit. Final result was this. Crosshairs not perfectly focused, parallax not perfect at 1000yds and focus at 1000yds not perfect. I think Nightforce needs to go to work to catch up to what others are doing, just my opinion...

 

[Wedgy]

I went out this weekend to use everyone's ideas (greatly appreciated). Here's what I did. I adjusted the eyepiece all the way clockwise until it stopped. Cross hairs were out of focus. I then turned the eyepiece counterclockwise until I the cross hairs were in focus.

When doing this step to focus the crosshairs the zoom should be at max and parallax at infinity, aim at a blank background such as sky or all white, and do not stare at the crosshairs, just pop your head in and out for a couple seconds and you want so the crosshairs are in focus as you first glimpse at them. If you look at them for more than a couple seconds your eyes will adjust them into focus, you don't want that. Once the eyepiece is in focus at 1st glimpse you are done adjusting it. Then proceed to the rest

 

[TwoMore]

i just put a 7-35 f1 AtacR and a rifle recently and it focuses very well and has a good parallax adjust , I adjust exactly like wedgy posted. the only thing is that the yardage on the parallax knob I just don't pay attention to. I just adjust until it is parallax free

 

[Greyfox]

i just put a 7-35 f1 AtacR and a rifle recently and it focuses very well and has a good parallax adjust , I adjust exactly like wedgy posted. the only thing is that the yardage on the parallax knob I just don't pay attention to. I just adjust until it is parallax free

I own a couple of NF-F1's for apRS competition, and they seem to have addressed the issue with the focus/parallax being in synch on the F1. It's also a faster ratio which is nice. Even the values on the knob is surprisingly close and works fine for PRS, given the frequent use of the mid-range magnification.

 

[Triple BB]

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