Ok so I'm stuck... Need Zeiss vs VX3 experienced opinions please

doublelung

doublelung

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So I have a x-bolt in .270 that I love, she shoots good and is about my favourite rifle. I'm going to be getting her some new glass because she deserves it. I have a couple VX 3's on other guns and like them. So that's what the .270 was going to get as well, however the more I read on the Zeiss Conquest 3x9 the more I think I may want to try it.. Problem is there is nowhere near me that I can have a hands on look at one. SO I'm wondering if any of you guys out there that have or have used the Conquest can give me your opinions on it and if you had your choice between that and the VX 3 which one would you top your rifle with. thanks DL
 
I have both,and they both work well. Does the xbolt have a reduced bolt throw like the Abolt? The zeiss has a bigger ocular than my vx3 does, an issue with mounting on some guns. Both are superb scopes and should make you pleased no matter what you get. I like the #20 reticle in the conquest I have as well. The zeiss uses plastic turret caps on the one I own, cheesy but they havent given me any issues.
 
I own both as well, I personally can't see any difference as far as clarity goes between the two, but one thaing I can say about the Zeiss is that it seems to show contrast between different colors a bit better, it's like the different shades seem to jump out at you a little more. I also think the Zeiss is priced well, many consider the 3-9x40 to be one of the best values out there at 500$ because it really is nice glass, especially when you compare it to a vx3 3.5-10x40 at 650$. I also like the thick #20 reticle in the zeiss as well, could come in handy in a low light situation. good luck
 
I've had a couple of each of the scopes you are referring to. I find them to be quite similar in terms of image quality/brightness though i would have to give the slight edge to Zeiss. The Zeiss is certainly the better deal when places like Prophet River are selling the Conquest for $479 and the VX3 for $619. Having said that I only have Leupold VX3's on my hunting rifles as I find Zeiss Conquest scopes to be much harder to acquire a full sight picture in terms of gun/cheek mount and eye relief. Theoretically the Zeiss should be faster with a constant eye relief throughout the magnification range but in my experience the Leupold is the better of the two in terms of sight acquisition. If a fast handling rifle wasn't important to me I would only have Zeiss scopes on my hunting rifles and more $ in the bank.
 
I have about two dozen or more Leupolds and only one Zeiss, so it's not really a fair comparison...but I think the Zeiss has a slight optical edge. The big deal with the Leupolds is their outstanding service. The few that I have sent in have always been returned very quickly, and in good-as-new condition. My one contact with Zeiss service was with a 15-year-old binocular. They serviced and refurbished it beautifully...I fully expect another 15 years out of it...but it took 5 months and went back to Germany. Unless things have changed in the several years since then, this is something to consider.

And since someone else has mentioned it, I will say that the plastic turret caps haven't been an issue, but they are not very confidence-inspiring either.
 
I was in the market for a new scope in this price range a few months ago and considered both the Conquest 3-9x40 and the VX3 3.5-10x40 among others. I did as much reading as a could (because I'm a cheap university student) trying to get the best deal on decent glass. I checked prices at several places on both sides of the border and found that in the US the prices on these two scopes are pretty much the same (plus or minus a few dollars). Based on the prices and reviews these two scopes are extremely comparable to each other.

Surprisingly the when the Zeiss comes across the border for retail the price only goes up a few dollars (to account for extra transport I would assume) but the VX3 magically shoots up an extra $150. In my opinion these scopes no longer become equals and the Zeiss pulls WAY OUT AHEAD in terms of value. I would imagine (but can't say for sure) that Korth is making a VERY healthy profit on warranty work in Canada (way more than whoever does warranty in the states).

In the end I went with the Zeiss after looking through several other scopes including the VX3. While I am biased towards the Conquest I will say that it is bigger and heavier than the VX3. This may be a factor for you but wasn't a deal breaker for me. As mentioned it has plastic turret caps but again this wasn't a big deal to me and unless you abuse them you shouldn't have any problems with them.

The Conquest did bump me into a new glass bracket though. After a few rounds through the Conquest I can no longer look through the Diamondback on my other rifle because the clarity just isn't there. I just upgraded it to a Minox ZA5 3-15x42. I haven't had it to the range yet but it is looking promising. It is another comparable option if you are interested. It also has a no-fault warranty which is always a plus.

Since you can't looking though a Conquest then you will likely be buying blind. Decide what is important to you (weight is the biggest difference) and go from there.

I have not compared cross border prices in 6 months so I can't say they are still the same but I suspect they are.
 
It would appear as though the Zeiss is taking the lead in this comparison. To answer a couple questions the x bolt does have a 60 degree bolt lift so the bigger Zeiss should not be a problem. It's currently wearing a vortex diamondback 3x9, which I have a few of but think this gun deserves better as it is the one I use most. I don't mind it being a little heavier if it performs well. I certainly like the idea of a constant eye relief., decisions decisions. Thanks for the input so far.
 
Within the last 6 months I've bought a Mark 4 and 2 VX-3's. I thought about the conquest but they are only available with 1" tubes and I hear the warranty service sucks. So far I've been really happy with the Leupold products. I'm just now upgrading all of my optics to decent stuff so I'll be using Leupold as the benchmark for everything else. That said, I'm gonna buy a Vortex for my .17hmr (probably a diamond back) so I'll see how it compares.
 
I have owned both, and I still own six Conquests. I much prefer the near constant eye relief of the Conquest, and I give a slight edge optically to the Conquest as well.
 
In the past few months I dumped all my Leupolds and purchased a Conquest 6.5-20x50 and 3.5-10x44 both have Rapid Z reticles and can't be more happy. Like others have mentioned I prefer the constant eye relief, moving my cheek weld affects accuracy. I find the Zeiss to be more crisp from edge to edge vs. a VX-III. As far as warranty is concerned, you won't find many people needing work done on the Zeiss as they are quality built optics. Hit up some dealers, especially Prophet River, they can beat the price of most by hundreds on some models.
 
For me the Zeiss is clearer/brighter, but that being said the VX-3 is a better hunting scope for the following reasons:

- Much more durable finish/materials (My Zeiss scopes mark up so easily and the plastic caps on the windage/elevation adjustments are brutal)

- Lightweight, Leupold scopes are considerably more compact/lightweight than the Zeiss

- Warranty is superior and when your scope craps out at the range one month before deer season, you'll appreciate this

I like the Zeiss scopes don't get me wrong, optically they are great bang for the buck. The Leupold just offers more all around performance and for a hunting scope that is key.

Patrick
 
Kelly Timoffee said:
The Conquest is a cheap assembled in the USA product.Hence the pricing for a "European" scope.
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The Conquests have their place, they are half decent optically and to my eyes superior to the VX-3. For a hunting scope more needs to be taken into consideration than optics alone. Durability, size/weight and warranty also need to be considered and added up the Leupold is a better hunting option for me anyway. I like my Zeiss scopes at the range,

Patrick
 
Hmmm, things to ponder.. Whatever I choose it will not be a range gun.. In the field hunting is where it will be used. I have no experience with either companies warranty program other than my hunting partner sent back a 8 year old pair of binoculars to Zeiss because they were acting up. They sent him a brand new set, although it did take him 6-8 months to get them.

From everything that I have read it appears as though Zeiss gets a slight edge with the clarity and colour, and I can't help but think I would much prefer the constant eye relief..

Eye relief is advertised on the Zeiss as a constant 4 ".. For those that have one is that a pretty fair assessment??
 
doublelung said:
Hmmm, things to ponder.. Whatever I choose it will not be a range gun.. In the field hunting is where it will be used. I have no experience with either companies warranty program other than my hunting partner sent back a 8 year old pair of binoculars to Zeiss because they were acting up. They sent him a brand new set, although it did take him 6-8 months to get them.

From everything that I have read it appears as though Zeiss gets a slight edge with the clarity and colour, and I can't help but think I would much prefer the constant eye relief..

Eye relief is advertised on the Zeiss as a constant 4 ".. For those that have one is that a pretty fair assessment??
Click to expand...

The eye relief thing is a bit of a red herring for me. I mean, the Leupolds have longer eye relief at the bottom end of their magnification, which for hunting, is likely where you are going to have it. If and when you dial things up to max, you are going to likely be in a different shooting position, perhaps with a rest and/or bipod and you will be taking your time with the shot. Either way, you are going to need to find the sweet spot. I just don't notice the variable eye relief on the Leupold and think that it is greatly overblown. I find that the Leupold is easier to get in that sweet spot and you have some forgiveness if you happen to move your head slightly, with the Zeiss it is easier to lose that spot.

4 yrs ago, I dropped my rifle out of my tree stand and damaged the Leupold on the gun pretty badly. The glass smashed on the objective end and the elevation turret was pretty badly dented. This was during the moose hunt in Oct. I sent the scope to Korth immediately, they rebuilt it, replaced the glass, resealed and replaced the turret, shipped it back to me, charged me $11 shipping and I had the scope back in time for deer season in Nov. I don't know of any other company that would have had the scope back to me no questions asked in that period of time. The damage was purely my fault and all I paid was shipping. Lots of guys talk about warranty work and just about everything has lifetime warranty, but the warranty service is what counts. Zeiss makes a nice clear/bright scope for the money, I like mine but I use my Leupolds hunting
 
Some things to consider regarding the Zeiss Conquest: Fixed eye relief like NF, S&B etc. Etched reticle again like NF, S&B etc. German glass but assembled in the US.

I own Leupold and Conquest. They are both good scopes. However I found the Leupold scopes were more expensive. I didn't like the wire reticle in them, or the changing eye relief. The changing eye relief is how Leupold accomplished the large sight picture with little to no black around the edge of the glass. The Conquest will have more black around your sight picture.

The Leupold appeared to offer more contrast. However this seems to be done by adding a slight amber colour to the lens. It seems lighter with more contrast. Think Serengeti sunglasses. The Conquest however appeared to display true colour. I preferred this.

Either one will be good. I preferred the features of the Conquest and the price.

It should also be noted that the higher magnification versions the Leupold had a "lash" problem for a while (unknown if they have now changed this) when using the side parallax dial. The Conquest doesn't.
 
The Zeiss has better optical performance including clarity and (constant) eye relief, the Leupold has better warranty, ergonomics, finish.

My favorite .22 wears a Zeiss, but if I were choosing for a dedicated hunting rig I'd opt for the Leupold, pretty much echoing the reasons provided by Patrick above.
 
Eye relief is advertised on the Zeiss as a constant 4 ".. For those that have one is that a pretty fair assessment??
Click to expand...

That is a pretty fair assessment. No matter if I am shooting offhand, prone or from a rest, I prefer a constant eye relief. I mount the rifle consistently, and I have no issues finding the proper sight picture with the Conquests.
 
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