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Zeiss Conquest vs. Zeiss VM/V

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tbone1 View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tbone1 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Zeiss Conquest vs. Zeiss VM/V
    Posted: August/11/2004 at 10:41

I decided to post this in a new topic so that it would be easier to find.  I finally purchased a Zeiss Conquest 3.5-10x44 and got a chance to formally compare it to my Zeiss VM/V 3-12x56 and Schmidt & Bender 3-12x42.  I thought you guys may be interested to know how they compared.  You guys may remember my comparison between the VM/V and S&B a few weeks ago.  I compared them in brightness, resolution, clarity, and field of view.  I did basically the same thing this time except I also added the USAF resolution chart that Chris posted not too long ago, but I am not sure that I used it correctly.

First of all, I was impressed with the construction of the Conquest.  Seemed like a rugged design and I loved the eyepiece.  It was bigger than the VM/V eyepiece and had better grip so it was slightly easier to focus.  Optically the Conquest was very impressive.  I compared it one afternoon by itself looking at different objects, one afternoon comparing it to the VM/V and one evening comparing it to the VM/V and S&B in low light.

I placed the Conquest and the VM/V on a bench and spent most of the time looking across a field at a house and other targets about 300 yards away.  I also put the resolution chart on a tree 60 yards away.  I tested them at various powers and made sure that both were focused clearly with the eyepiece.  The one afternoon that I compared them was around 2:00 and there wasn't that much difference between them.  The VM/V produced a slightly clearer picture than the conquest.  On this day the VM/V appeared to have slightly better resolution but it was extremely hard to see the difference.  The house (300 yards away) had the number 510 on it.  I placed both scopes on 6 power.  Through the Conquest the number read 50.  Through the VM/V, I could barely make out part of the 1 in 510.  Like I said, it wasn't a noticable difference at all.  On that afternoon, I really could only conclude that the VM/V was slightly clearer.  There wasn't enough difference in resolution to say that the VM/V was better because I knew that the 1 in 510 was there.  My girlfriend couldn't see it through either scope although her eyes aren't all that good.

The night before last I compared them starting about an hour and a half before sunset and compared them until dark.  I started the comparison looking at the resolution chart 60 yards away with the scopes on various powers and determining how many lines I could read through each scope.  Here again there really wasn't a noticable difference in resolution.  Sometimes I thought I could see a few more lines through the VM/V and sometimes I couldn't.  However, the VM/V was clearer when looking at the house 300 yards away.  The image seemed to be crisp and clean with no haze at all.

The real difference though started to show about an hour before dark.  I could tell that the VM/V was producing a slightly clearer and cleaner image.  The later it got, the more noticable it was.  In fact, about 10-15 minutes before dark, I asked my girlfriend, my roomate and his girlfriend to come out one at a time and look through them and tell me which one was clearer and brighter.  They all picked the VM/V without knowing which one was more expensive.  I left the Conquest on 8x and turned the VM/V up to 12x and the VM/V still seemed slightly brighter.

Some people might argue that the VM/V was clearer and brighter due to its larger objective.  That probable did make some difference, but the VM/V was not any clearer than the S&B with the smallest objective of them all.  Just like last time, I couldn't tell any noticable difference in brightness between the S&B and the VM/V until the last 3 or 4 minutes.

Don't get me wrong, there wasn't a world of difference between the Conquest and VM/V but it was definately noticable.  For the money, I believe the Conquest will be very hard to beat.  I beleive that it will out perform my leupold Vari-XIII and I will compare them when I get a chance.   I would love to compare it against the Swarovski "1".  I know that the Swarovski should be better but for me, seeing is believing.  Regardless of the brand or price of a scope, if I can't see the difference for myself, then why spend the extra money.  Take Care.

 

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Sako .308 Win View Drop Down
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Joined: August/14/2004
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Sako .308 Win Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August/14/2004 at 21:49
tbone1 I've compared my Zeiss VM/V 1.5-6X42 T* to my father-inlaws Swarovski PH 2.5-10X56 with illuminated reticle in a real hunting situation while hunting whitetail deer on a bean field near dark. I personally could not tell any diffrence between the two scopes as far as brightness,and  color retention. I will always choose Zeiss as a matter of personal prefrence though.
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