Who Makes The Best Scope

Who makes the best scope

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The CONQUEST lenses are maybe (?) Japanese but I'd like someone to prove that to me. This is their "cheapo" line. As for that weblink, yes, they have a Japanese website. I don;t see on there where it says any glass is Japanese made??? They also have weblinks for other places on that site. I suspect that Zeiss has SALES offices in MANY countries besides Germany ;)

Here is an excerpt from ChuckHawkes:

Carl Zeiss

Perhaps no current scope maker is carving up the deluxe scope market like Zeiss and their "made in USA" Conquest line of scopes. People seem confused about them.

1) Neither Leupold nor anyone else makes scopes for Zeiss. Other scope manufacturers do buy uncoated glass from Zeiss for their own product. Zeiss coatings are proprietary, however. No coated scope lenses are sold.
2) Zeiss Conquest tubes are made in Long Island, NY, at Zeiss' own facility.
3) Zeiss power ranges are as stated.
4) The optics in Zeiss scopes are made by Zeiss, imported from Germany.
5) Zeiss conducts sporadic destructive recoil testing; however, it is a small percentage of their production. None of these scopes are sold; they are destroyed after testing.
6) Light transmission through Zeiss Conquest tubes is approx. 93%. Zeiss was quick to point out that what degrades image quality is the grade of glass. Lead and arsenic content is destructive to scope images; that is why Zeiss is quite proud of their lead-arsenic free glass. Production of optical glass requires analysis and variation of the refraction factor, etc., so that the best possible combination and compounding ratio can be selected. To eliminate the use of lead (lead oxide), it was discovered that titanium oxide compares well with lead. Titanium oxide does no harm to the human body; it also renders a high refraction factor and is chemically stable. A big plus for scope use is more lightweight lenses, as titanium oxide is very light.

The 93% light transmission seems a bit light compared to other claims. Zeiss explained that they don't measure "light transmission" like other manufacturers, they go "air to air" not "lens-to-lens." The lead-free arsenic-free glass allows for non-distorted light, which is allegedly more perceptible and usable by the human eye, along with their own coatings, which they feel are generations ahead of the many scope gluers.

Naturally, I also asked why they felt they were "ahead?" The answer was, as they actually make their own glass (Schott), they should know a little bit more about it than people who just buy it.
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BTW, Looked it up, Glass in the Conquest lines comes from Czech republic. Not Japan. Easier for Zeiss to control there and I'd all but guarantee you that it's cheaper being an eastern bloc country.
 
Glenfilthie said:
Alot of folks are having scope problems right now at the worst possible time, with hunting season just around the corner. Generally speaking, who is the best scope maker in your opinion?

What offers the best value for the dollars spent?

I propose the Leupold Vari-X III line; I have used them for years and have never had any problems. Mind you, for the kind of money they cost better had be good.
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Top work, mate. :?
Say your fave is the Leupold then not include it in the list. :roll:
But then I don't expect anymore from you........
 
Ziess and swarovski both use european made glass.Of course Ziess has a japanese subdivision,since they sell a lot of products in japan.Many top line japanese products use ziess lenses.Examples are video camera lenses and lenses for medical equipment.
 
I don't see Leupold on the menu. I think it has the best warranty bar none.
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I have used the warranty services of leupold,swarovski and ziess and the service from ziess and swarovski were every bit as good as the service from leupold.Incidently in all cases the optics were damaged in accidents and none failed because of defects.Two of the three were horse related and the other was a fall in the mountains when a friends rotten leather sling broke.
 
i like my marstar speacal it works great on my M-305 and it only costed me 160$ it was worth it big time
talk to ya all later
Riley
P.S. my 600th post:D
 
BIGREDD wrote:

"these top notch European scopes are very inexpensive to purchase in thier countries of origin :idea:"

Actually, not in my experience. A friend of mine from Germany priced some glass for me.... not that cheap. I don't think the duties are as much the problem as the higher labour costs over there.

I could however get good deals on Zeiss... as his dad was hunting buddies with one of the VP's over there... too bad I was broke at the time the offer was made! The sticker price on the Zeiss optics were certainly no screaming hell in Germany at that time.

280_ACKLEY
 
When I got my Steyr-Mannlicher a few years back, I just had to put a Swarovski on it. I looked at S&B but in all honesty, I could not tell the difference. So I stayed with an Austrian maker. I think all of the top of the line makers are pretty much on the same level quality wise, and most of us common folk would have a hard time noticing a difference if we did a blind test. If we did not know what scope was which, I would wager we would not be able to tell simply by looking through the optics. Would be a fun experiment to try though.

As far as price vs. quality, I think the Leupold have that won in the Vari-X III line.
 
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