Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Zeiss Terra Riflescopes are now In Stock

First of all, I really like Conquest scopes. That being said, does anyone besides me wonder how, besides origin of assembly, that Zeiss can cheapen a product so much to get it into these price points? I'm always a little skeptical when newer, cheaper models are announced with a Euro badge. I'm betting there's more cheapening involved than just "made in Japan".

Also, there are varying grades of ED glass. Just because a bino has Schott ED glass doesn't mean it's the same quality as Schott ED glass found in a Zeiss FL.

Our fundamental goal is to offer the absolute best optical products
in their respective category. Our new Conquest HD5 replaced the old Conquest. When we upgraded Conquest to Conquest HD5, we saw that other companies offering a $400 product (riflescopes and binoculars) left a void in Consumer quality expectations and we felt that with our optical knowledge, we could fill that void with a new product line. We hope the entry premium consumer will agree.

building binos in China isnt going to help your reputation

I try to keep as much of my money OUT of China as possible.

Wish everyone felt the same!!!

Not much of a worry for me. 8x42 FL's sharing duty with 7x42 ClassiCs and Minox 6.5x for tramping in the woods has me set for life. Whilst the 8x42's hold the edge optically I like the ergos of the ClassiCs mo' betterer.

Why, [bleep] !!how could anyone see through any thing with a 13 year old design ??

Really. I'm thinking the shorter eye relief is no help either at 3.5" and out of a 2-7?

How can I possibly even see through my twenty plus year old Zeiss? It must be obsolete.. Jack

Thanks for the reply, but I wasn't referring to the HD5. I was referring to the Terra line that replaces the Conquest stuff. My question remains as to what Zeiss cheapened besides the origin of manufacture, to bring to the market a much less expensive Conquest basically. Pardon my skepticism.

Me too! That's the reason I don't buy anything from Walmart. It's just not good for America long term.

I understand your concern, but we really didn't cheapen the Conquest line. The Terra prodcut line (5 sku's)replaced 5 sku's from the Conquest line, the Conquest 3-9x40's that have been sold for $399-$569 for the last 2 years. Terra sells for $399-$499, a slight price reduction. All other Conquest sku's were not "cheapened", they were upgraded and sent to Germany for assembly. The Old Conquest line (30 of the 35 sku's) sold for $699-$1200. The new Conquest HD5 line sells for $899-$1200.

To reach the Terra price point, labor(although not that much) is the primary reduction of cost. Raw glass components, aluminum components are purchased by all optics companies at global pricing so the variances here are small, as long as the quality of the components is the same. The Terra resolution tests show optically that it is euqal to the old 3-9x40. The labor to cut, grind raw materials, and assemble to our specifications is where the cost savings come into place. USA and Germany labor costs are higher but drive a higher quality of product. To keep the business in tact, we kept the integrity of Conquest and Victory in Germany and simply added Terra. In the past we offered only 2 classes of product, Victory and Conquest. We now offer 3 classes of product, Victory (starting at $1999), Conquest(starting at $899) and Terra(starting at $399). All are premium in their own class and for their specific customer group, Super-Premium, Premium, Entry-Premium.

Hope this helps clarify the new product lineup.

Easy, they just exploited cheap labor. Plenty of cheap Asian glass alternatives out there, surprised Zeiss wanted to join the club.

So I guess the answer to my question is that, aside from labor, every single mechanical component including the tube is exactly the same as the old Conquest. Once again, pardon my skepticism.

Actually, Conquests were $399 forever. Suddenly they jumped up to $499 a year ago. Only to be liquidated at a reduced price months later and now a replacement is offered. I speculate that Zeiss raised the price in the last year so that the Terra seemed like a good bargain when introduced at the original Conquest price.

I guess time will tell on these. If the terra scopes are as good as the conquest's, I'll continue to buy them. The conquest is the best buy in its range and competes with much more expensive scopes. Hope the terra is too.

I don't know how you came to that conclusion, labour costs are higher in Japan than they are in the US..

Are you sure about that? source please.

Its hard ... but I make do