Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics LEUPOLD OR ZEISS ???

I'm putting together a .280 for all my whitetail hunting and was trying to decide which optics to put on it. I am a Leupold fan with nearly 12 or so vari-x III's and some II's, my favorite being the 2.5 x 8 of which I have 4. I recently looked through the Zeiss Conquest 3 x 9 x 40 and really liked it. Which would you go with ? Both are $399 from Cabelas.

Thx Kev

You can save some money on that Zeiss by ordering from Doug at Cameraland.

Haven't we done this enough......
Kev,
IMO the Conquest is slightly brighter and sharper but weighs more. On a light rifle I would go Leupold. I like the 3-9x40 Conquest and most all Leupolds. I have all sorts of scope brands but for a true blue light rig Leupold gets the nod.

Dave

for 30 min prior to sunrise and 30 post sunset hunting hours, both work great.... the leupold is lighter, nicer to look at with great eye relief. the zeiss has a better reticle that works better in lowlight

Kev,

I have both scopes mentioned and from what my eye sees I would not buy a new Leu. riflescope until their technology catches up to the Zeiss Conquest. The weakness in the Leu. design is that when looking towards light they haze up and resolution suffers in the Leu. scope but not the Conquest.

Also that the reticules in the Conquest scopes are much more sharp and don't fade to pink in bright light like the Leu. type designs.

True the 3-9 Conquest is quite a bit larger than a 2.5-8 Leu. but Zeiss makes a 2.5-8. If weight and bulk are a big deal get the 2.5-8 Conquest otherwise the 3-9 Conquest is the riflescope of the decade.

Buy a Conquest. Once you compare the Conquest to the old design Leu. type scopes you will understand.

Cameraland has the best deals on Conquest scopes.

Click here for Cameraland.

Haven't we done this enough......
Kev,
IMO the Conquest is slightly brighter and sharper but weighs more. On a light rifle I would go Leupold. I like the 3-9x40 Conquest and most all Leupolds. I have all sorts of scope brands but for a true blue light rig Leupold gets the nod.

matches word for word what i was thinking!

Its just that you forgot the 2.5-8 Conquest. Then the difference in weight is close enough not to matter.

With all due respect to my friend Ron, that just isn't the case. Leupold's have reticles which are just as sharp as any Zeiss. They don't get fuzzy or pink during twilight if you focus them right. I've used them for almost 30 yrs. as have many of my friends who hunt and shoot alot. I haven't seen it and neither have they. Ron's the only one I know with that problem.
I don't care for the Zeiss design in as much as they don't feature a locking focus ring and it is a longer, heavier design that is more prone to damage.
They do make focusing a scope a snap. However, I've never seen the need to refocus a scope while in the field. I do know of cases where such designs have lost their focus significantly from rubbing against a pack, for instance. The last thing I want is to throw my rifle up in a hurry and have that image blurry because the eye piece got moved while carrying it.
Leupold's feature lighter weight and, usually, longer eye relief with larger eye boxes. They are just as capable under low light conditions as are Zeiss optics.
Zeiss does make a nice 2.5-8X rifle scope. But it has a 32mm objective not a 36 mm one like the Leupold version. That means that the Leupold will out perform it during low light conditions because it can handle more magnification with the same exit pupil size. E

Eremicus and I are now friends. Its a good thing. We talked a couple of times weeks back but never really got around to scopes!

So we have not settled the Conquest vrs Leu. type reticule issue yet.

I see what I see and I have both scopes.

So A BSA 3-9X40 will out perform a VX-III 2.5-8X36 in low light? That would be the case if your rule is universal?

We talked about scopes for quite a while during our second long distance phone call Ron. The bottom line was that you could not describe how you focused your Leupolds. You just kept saying, "I know how to focus a scope."
Like I've said, I know lots of folks with Leupolds, and several who have used Zeiss scopes. Nobody I know has seen the differences you have described. Particularly guys like Barsness. E

Eremicus is talking about theory. Here is a defintion of theory:

"# A set of statements or principles devised to explain a group of facts or phenomena, especially one that has been repeatedly tested or is widely accepted and can be used to make predictions about natural phenomena."

Note this particular requirement "especially one that has been repeatedly tested"!

I ask Eremicus, have you compared a Conquest to a Leu. with you own eye?

No matter how I focus a Leupold 2.5-8 VX3 the cross hairs turn pink in bright light and the scope hazes up. Someone does not need to buy a Conquest to test this.

Just use a Leu. type design with the 'Perma Center' type reticle system. Look towards the setting sun and the reticule will turn light brown or pink and the scope will haze up and definition will suffer. A Conquest might be required to note the definition difference as someone may not notice the loss of clarity in the Leu. without a scope that does not have the problem.

I've talked to lots of people who have done what you have done and have not seen the same results as you have. I've followed the writings of many more. Guys like Barsness, JJHack, Art Peck, etc.
I've also used over a dozen Leupolds in the field during low sun conditions over almost 30 years, and never seen what you describe. E

Ron

My Vari X III, 2.5- 8 crosshairs do the same as you describe. The scope does not seem to haze up as you say , but the cross hairs do turn a orange/pink in the conditions you describe. It is focused correctly. So if there is any ass on this forum that wants to tell me my scope is not focused or that this does not happen he can save his time

Regards
Lorne

All my Leupold's do this (turn brownish/pink) in sunlight. Although this won't prevent me from making a shot however.

I own both scopes in question and I believe Leupold is better for a light weight rig but if a few ounces doesn't make a difference go with the Zeiss - optically it's better and there is no debating that in my opinion. E's position is worthless, he hasn't looked through a Zeiss Conquest.

Just how did you focus that scope properly ? Do tell us how you did it as well as it can be done. E

Since Eremicus now quotes others who say they have not seen the reticule problem I conclude that its a communication problem.

Time will tell. For now I am buying Conquests.

When looking through my 4.5-14 Vari-X 111 Tac. AO the heavier bars on the reticule turn pink when facing almost any light but the fine center part of the wire does not. I was fortunate to make a difficult shot last winter when I could just make out that fine wire and separate it from twigs etc.

The Conquests have better crosshairs.

Here is a picture of the exact shot! I took this picture, just for something to do, while watching. The shot faces the setting sun and as you can see its cloudy. Still the Leu. crosshairs turned pink.

The deer came out from the left at 150 yds away and I had to wait a long time for a clear shot. While waiting I turned the power up to what turned out to be 11X.

In my opinion, the Conquest has the Leupy beat in all areas for your application. Unless you are very concerned about saving ounces, the 3-9x40 Conquest will outperform the Leupy 2.5-8 in every other aspect. I have owned the 2.5-8 Leupy and while I still feel it is a good scope, it is not as bright, sharp or clear as the Conquest. 90% of the folks here that have used both would most likely agree with what I am saying. I have seen the reticle issue discussed here by some, but it was only bothersome with the heavy duplex reticle I have in my Leupy 1.75-6x32 which is still on my muzzleloader. In the picture just posted by Savage 99 above is where you will see the "glowing" reticle issue described by many. I currently run a 4200 FireFly on my 280 Ackley and I have not ever experienced the reticle issue with them. The 4200 is a better scope as well and it is about a 100 bucks less than the Conquest. Both outperform the 2.5-8 Leupy in all areas but weight.