Welcome to OpticsThoughts!
The website you are looking at is sort of a “OpticsThoughts 2.0”, although as far as look at feel goes, it should not be a major difference from the original site. We did change the backend for the site and, hopefully, it will be a bit easier to maintain.
Most of the material here is on the subject of sporting optics: riflescopes, binoculars and spotters. I will occasionally add some general musing on the firearms, knives and whatever else occupies my mind at that particular time. Since my day job is in electro-optics and digital imaging, I will also add some camera gear recommendation here and there.
I started this site primarily to have a venue for my thoughts on sporting optics, but it has expanded some. Aside from writing about things that interest me, I also serve as an editor for others whose work occasionally appears here.
If you want to know more about how this site came to be and who are the people behind it, look into “About OpticsThoughts” on your right.
If all you are looking for is a quick product recommendation here is a shortcut to some of my favourites, by price: Riflescopes, Binoculars, Spotters.
Also, as I go along, I record my impressions on video and upload them to YouTube here. Alternatively, you can simply search for Dark Lord of Optics which will take you to my Facebook, Instagram and Youtube channels.
If you would like to comment on any of the articles you need to create an account here. Contact me if you need help with that.
Lastly, I keep advertising very light and only insert a few Google or Amazon Ads here and there. I do not have any control of what is actually in the ad, as it reflects whoever is browsing. If you click on the ads every once in a while, maintaining this site will be easier for me. If you will be buying something from Amazon anyway, click on the Amazon banner on this website. It makes no practical difference to you, but every little bit adds up for me.
Where appropriate, I’ll add product links to retailers here and there. Where the links go will vary a fair bit. I have an affiliate contract with a few places (Amazon, Brownells, Adorama, etc).
If you would like to help me keep this site up, use the links, click on the ads or donate via Paypal at paypal.me/DarkLordOfOptics
With all that out of the way, I hope you find something useful here and if there is something you think I should add to the site, do not hesitate to let me know.
Thanks for visiting!
ILya Koshkin
Copyright Notice:
Unless otherwise noted, copyright on all information on this website is owned by ILya Koshkin.
Please do not copy it anywhere without my permission.
I get a lot of ideas on what to address in future videos and articles from the questions I get here and on different forums where I participate. I am on a bit of a hiatus right now as I relocate my family to a different state (and my dayjob to a different, different state), […]
I will be filling this in as I go along. Here is the first video where I talk about optics and features.
Lately, I seem to make a habit out of taking on scopes that do not have any sort of direct competition to compare them to. That was the case with the somewhat unusually configured Steiner P4Xi 4-16×56. With the Diamondback, I never thought I would run into that same issue. After all, there is no […]
Father’s day is almost upon us. A bunch of products are on sale and I am getting hit with questions on whether something is a good deal. Then there is a whole slew of question along the lines of: “I want to give my dad a nice optic (riflescope, bunocular, etc) for under $100, what […]
This is not going to be a very long review.especially since I’ve got a video up where I talk about this scope. It is embedded a bit further down and there is also a link there for the same video on gunstreamer.com if you prefer that platform to YouTube. LPVOs (Low Power Variable Optics) are […]
I have talked a little bit about this on a couple of forums, but I figured that I should not neglect my own website and tell the story of what I am doing with G&A and why. If you have followed my various ramblings for a while, you may remember that a bit over a […]
I field a good number of questions here and there and I like the idea of making some of them as a blog post especially when they touch on something I get asked with reasonable regularity. Here is a question I received today: If I can bother you a moment, I do have a quick […]
The text below was not written by me. It was, a blog post by a gentleman I have know for quite a few years now and I always pay attention to what he says. Admittedly, I do not always agree with him, but I always find his opinion well reasoned and driven by his personal […]
I have mentioned elsewhere that I am not a huge fan of large frame ARs. They are a little harder to shoot and there is a fair amount of mass cycling back and forth, so you kinda have to “manhandle” more so that I am sued to with small frame ARs. Still, I have built […]
Written in February 2019 As I was ready to publish this, I noticed that Doug from CameralandNY just put this scope on sale for $849. If you call him and mention Dark Lord Of Optics, you will get an additional $50 gift certificate for anything else from Cameraland (rings, caps, etc). That brings the price […]