Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Zeiss Conquest 3-9x40

I ended up ordering a Conquest from Doug this afternoon. The only problem is I also had to buy a rifle to put in on.. Got a Sako A7 SS in .308

A sweet rig all the way around. Congrats.

for $369 a conquest is most defiantly worth the money, if you want a really nice scope on your gun. if they came with a turret that had a zero stop, I would sell my CDS leupold to buy one.

Absolutely.

For what it's worth, I've compared the eye boxes on both the Conquest 3-9X40, and their 3.5-10X44 against some of the Leupolds.
Even at 3X, the Conquest had about half the EB of the comparable Leupolds. What I'd call a 1/2 inch, give or take. This is passable in my book, but not really large. Large would be an inch plus. That I find on the Leupold 4X scope ( and maybe even more than that), their 6X42's, my old VariXIII and the newer VX3 in the 3.5-10X40 model. When the magnicication goes up in the VariXIII and the VX3 to 6X, I finds it still has about as much. But at 10X, in both scopes, it has a good deal less. Conguest seem to have as much at all magnifications.
The 3.5-10X44 Conquest is much worse. About half as much as the 3-9X40.
I'd also point out that the Conquest has the typical, very fast focusing, euro system that is so quick, it seems to focus both the reticle and the image at the same time. This, I suspect is a good thing to have for the stand hunter that hunts in poor light. Most US style scopes take alot more effort to get both just right. E

I know you are married to Leupold, but I find this to be pure BS. I have several Conquest on magnum rifles & they have plenty of eye relief. Another statement like the diamond quoting on Leupold lens will not degrade like a Zeiss or other scopes when cleaned a lot. Show the testing to support these statements. I use both Leupold & Zeiss & have no problem with either scope. Using scope covers I probably clean lens 2-3 times a year. So if true, which I doubt, it would only take a couple of hundred years.

tbear,

I'm no optical expert but I don't think that Eremicus was referring to eye relief, though I may be wrong. He was referring to the eye box. Now, owing to my not being an expert, I'm not even going to try to define it. What I think he's referring to is something that I noticed some years ago, when I looked through several Conquest 3 x 9 at a Gun Show. At least for me, once I acquired a sight picture, if I move my head/eye just a little, the scope blacked out on me and I completely lost the sight picture. None of my other scopes (of which only 2 are Leupolds) did this. This could have been my unfamiliarity with the Zeiss Conquest line in 3 x 9 or some other reason. Anyway, I did not buy the Conquest because of this. I fully realize that this was some years ago and perhaps Zeiss has changed this. I haven't looked through one since then. The Zeiss Conquest line is obviously a very good one, since alot of folks on this (and other Forums) have favorably commented on them. As a matter of fact, just a couple of days ago on another topic in the Optics Forum, I stated the same thing and asked if the newer 3 x 9 Conquests had the same tendency. I didn't get any replies, so I still don't know. So, I'll ask you if you have noticed this in the Zeiss Conquest 3 x 9. I'm not trolling or trying to start an arguement. I'm sincerely interested in the answer. Though I have of late been using fixed power scopes almost exclusively, I may give the Conquest a try. Thanks.

I have never had any problem with the Conquest, Leupold, Swarovski, or even Bushnell. I haven't shot many eye boxes. I quess its the engineer in me that when some make definite statements that I look for testing to back it up. I really don't care what anyone uses as a scope, but its very misleading to make statements like "Leupold uses diamond coating so that with a lot of cleaning Conquest & others will experience degrading in the lens". Not word for word, but the jest of the statement. Pure BS without testing to substantiate. I have scopes that have been used for many years without any obvious degrading in the lens due to cleaning. Perhaps, with optical instruments you might experience .001% in about 50 years or so. After hunting for over 60 years I believe I could have used a 30-06 with a 4X Weaver & shot about the same number of trophies on 3 continents as a variety of calibers & many different scopes that I have used.

The eye box on my recent-manufacture 3-9 Conquests is quite large and forgiving. Not as big as a 2.5-8 Leup set to 2.5, which is huge, but entirely acceptable.

It's all about tradeoffs. The eye relief and eye box on that same Leup 2.5-8 is quite poor at full power, where on the Conquest it is much better. The ER on the 3-9 Conq is virtually constant.

It bears mentioning that there's a real dividing line in the Conq lineup. The 4" ER models are quite forgiving; the 3.5" models not so much.

tbear and Jeff_O,

Thanks for the comments. You answered my question. I will have to take another look at the Conquest 3 x 9. One more question and then I promise to stop bothering you: I have read that in general with the Conquest line of scopes, the large ocular eye piece prevents mounting the scope close to the barrel. Do you find this to be true with the Conquest 3x 9?

I have my 3-9x40 Conquest mounted in Talley LW lows on my 700KS and have no issue with the ocular.

nsaqam,

Thanks for the reply. Now I'm really interested in this scope.

I can't get a Conquest in low Talley's on my 700's, without it looking like JO mounted the dang thing. The eyepiece won't clear the 'base' of the LW's and the scope is too far back for my liking.

Steelhead,

I appreciate the reply, though it does complicate things a little. You know what, I believe I'm over-thinking this. I'll just have to get one and mount it only as high as it needs to be. My head hurts from thinking too much.

Nothing wrong with the scopes, at least the 3-9x and 4x. The 3-9 was a bit large for my liking. Wish I had bought several of the 4x Conquests, I'm liking it.

When I worked at Sportsmans Warehouse, I used to sell the PISS out of these 3-9x40's... To the tune of I got bonuses, free Zeiss products, and we couldnt keep them in stock..

They are BY FAR AND AWAY the BEST way to get your foot in the door for the Alpha optics. Amazing scope for an amazing price.

Give the Minox ZA series a whirl. Conquest-like glass with a Leupold-sized ocular.

What size flip up scope covers does this scope use. It's always hard to find the right size through the mail.