Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics MINOX ZA5 2-10X Review

Thanks guys. I have to agree with Art on this one. While I'm not doubting what 35fan is seeing, I didn't have any of those problems. I think it compares very favorably to the Zeiss Conquest and Leupold VX-3.

Ed
I honestly suggest you send that sucker back... The situation you describe is nothing like the scope I have. I apologize for not reading your initial description thoroughly and I meant absolutely no insult.
art

I put in an order for the za5 2-10 open box special from doug today,,hope it was the right thing to do.i read more about the scope after i made the order than i did before i made the order.i do have a new vx3 cds to compare to when i get it .the 2-10 is just the power range i wanted and the scope is a nice size,and most that ive read everyone is happy with it.i did write minox and asked for a breakdown of where its made,,,,they wrote back german schott glass usa and german parts and put together in usa.i'd heard on forums some chinese parts,,,,they didn't admit to it if there are though.

With these scopes arriving to us in the next week or so this should make for an even more interesting thread.

Ed,
I have no doubts as to what you are describing and I would take it up with Minox.
So far from what I have read about and seen their CS is good. No harm in them checking it out.

My 3x9 critical box and relief is better than anything I currently own.

I just ordered a ZA 5- curiosity is killing me!

And what rifle are you going to put that on Jim?

I hope to be at the range in the morning hopefully well see you there.

Also, I think I'll sell that pack I showed you and your dad. Interested?

Maybe- I'll give you a call tomorrow about the pack.

Dad is coming over about 10 am so we will be up around then. Dad, Shannon and me.

I think I will try the ZA5 on my pre 64 300 H&H. I gave the VX III 3.5-10 that was on it to my ph in Namibia.

Art, apology accepted.

I played with the scope more this morning with different lighting conditions (although still overcast) and there is definately an issue, but I'm convinced its the scope, not the lighting conditions. My son's BSA air rifle scope was better than the Minox in terms of eye box.

I contacted Cameraland and Minox and will be sending the scope back to Minox today for evaluation and will post back on the verdict. With all the rave reviews, I hopefully just have a lemon.

Ed

Ed, optically I really like the Minox 2-10 that I just received. I am impressed with the 2X end as well as the 10X end. I cannot find that the eyebox is that much smaller than a zeiss conquest when set on the same power.
Cheers

35fan,

The Minox arrived and I just signed for it a bit ago.

Unboxed it, took it outside, and.....

The flare up is horrible between 8x and 10x.
The eye box is also horrible.
The eye relief is better than my Leupold.

Totally unacceptable, it's getting boxed up and sent back.

It's nothing like my 3x9 and I wish I knew why?

Darn shame because it fit my Sako and extra low Talley's just perfect.

Well, that's bad news...

SU35,

There was another post where "yurotrash" had a similar issue with his 3-9 MINOX.

There were other posters that ordered the 2-10X, let's see if they chime in and have a similar issue.

So much for being the initial product testers!

Ed

His problem with eye postioning at 10x is mentioned at the top of this page, toward the bottom of his posting.-

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/4342543/2

Well, I am a bit perplexed... I keep having others look and we are not seeing the flare or the critical eye relief... There surely is a difference in eye relief at 10x, but horrible???

Eye relief is good at 10x but you do have to keep your eye focused perfectly centered.


I'm perplexed as you are by this. My 3x9 sold me on getting a 2-10

just got my 2-10 today,got it out of the box and took it outside to check things out.just holding by hand looking through it i didn't really notice flare on 10x but it wasn't real easy to see through either since it wasn't being held very steady.i mounted it in dnz medium mount and checked it out on the gun.i compared it to a new vx3 3.5-10 cds,the minox to me is easier to look through and function than the leupold,,,especially the power ring.the minox is harder to see through quickly at 10x than the vx3 but you see what your looking at clearer with the minox once you get a picture.4x,5x,6x really looks good through the minox, it is a bright day today so not sure what they will compare like in evening.maybe the minox will flare when the sun goes down but maybe not.i have a 13 yr old swarovski.3-9 and that flared one evening while hunting and i couldn't see through it on hardly any power no matter how hard i tried,the sun set must have been just right i guess.only thing i saw wrong with my scope for sure was the scope cap,,,,i unscrewed it and it came apart in 2 pieces i glued it back together,,,so its not a one piece cap,,,water could work between the 2 pieces i guess.i'm happy with the minox,,,,but i'm happy with my vx3 too.

I just mounted a ZA5 2-10 on a rifle. I have a couple of things that I have noticed that are troublesome. I find that no matter what eye relief or magnification I use I cannot see the edge of the glass clearly. The glass at the edge of the field of view is always out of focus. I compared this to a Bushnell 3200 and a Pentax scope and do not see a similar problem. It doesn't really affect aiming, since the center is clear, but it limits what can be seen in the field of view. Does this sound like I have a lemon?

The other issue falls under the heading of "too much of a good thing". I find that I cannot mount the scope far enough forward on my Savage rifle to get a comfortable eye relief when in a prone position. I have the rear ring as far back as it will go on the scope body and as far forward on the receiver as it will go. (Actually overhangs the receiver port slightly using Burris Weaver bases.) Inside of 4 inches the field of view tunnels quickly, but I can actually get a full field of view in the eyepiece at 7 or 8 inches (the image is small since the eyepiece is far away, but it fills the eyepiece).

it was nice and bright here when i looked through my scope,it might lose some sharpness on the outer edge,,,,but mine is quite clear.i played with the focus on it some at various power settings perfect focus on 2x wasn't perfect at 10x but it was close.i mounted it on a long action 700 with dead nutz mount,the front ring is about a quarter inch behind the scope bell.it mounted up in the rings about the same as a leupold does for me.

35fan,

Mine is on its way back for a refund. The clarity of my 3-9 minox as I stated before is not as clear as my conquest. I see amber color on the outer edge and it is annoying as heck! I am so use to clean and clear optics. Yesterday I went and looked through my friends leupy VXIII and it was much better then the minox. The leupy was as good as my zeiss conquest.
Disclaimer Note: this was a visual test done for myself but I am willing to share on 24hourcampfire in hopes of not getting bashed by the so optic gurus. I am an amateur hunter and I have no insturments to test the brightness or clarity. I have no time to use a visual chart to do a thorough test. This test was conduct using my eye sight. I am no way affiliate with Zeiss or Leupold.

I was able to check the scope this morning in outdoor light and noticed another issue: there is significant image distortion near the edges of the field of view. When panning across the landscape I could see distortion of images as they entered and exited the field of view. It's clear in the center, but it very distracting when panning. At this point, due to the dark halo and distortion at the edges of the image, I would rate the overall image quality below that of my $150 Pentax Gameseeker. ;-(

This was my first "high dollar" scope purchase. Trying to live up to that old saying of spending as much on your scope as you do the rifle. I am disappointed with the Minox and I am thinking of sending it back and getting a Zeiss Conquest. I would have gone with the Zeiss from the beginning based on reputation, but I like the 5X 2-10 power range of the Minox better than the 3X 3-9 range of the conquest. The bullet drop reticle also didn't carry a huge price penalty.

My Pentax scope is a 1.5-6x and I like it for deer hunting in Eastern Kansas. I once lost a deer on a jump shot because I couldn't find it in my scope at 10 yards (should have just clubbed it!). The 5-15x Bushnell I was using that day went to live on my CZ452 22LR after that, and I bought the Pentax. I thought my new Savage Accu-Wonder deserved a great scope so I bit the bullet and bought the Minox.

I could send this one back for a replacement and see if the next one lives up to the good reviews that I have read, but I hate to play scope-roulette. Maybe a 3-9x is good enough ...