Hey guys. I recently purchased 2 flagship scopes for two of my rifles that are very precious to me, a Dakota Arms heavy predator in 6MM BR, and a Cooper model 21 in 6mm PPC. I have had great experience with Swarovski, I own several of their Z6 scopes and love them. I ordered and installed their new flagship, the Z8i+ 5-40x56 on my Dakota rifle. I wanted something different for the Cooper, so I went to Scheels and looked at some high end scopes and saw a Ziess V6, and I liked the reticle. After speaking with the optics guy there, I went and blind ordered Ziess's new flagship, the V8 NA (North American) 4.8-35x60 and installed it on my Cooper 21.
I knew it was going to be at least as good as the V6, as both the V8 and the V6 are made in Germany with Schott glass. Having had the opportunity to go out and shoot with both scopes, I have some observations, in case anyone was wondering how these absolute titans stack up vs each other.
First, the dimensions. Both scopes have 34MM tubes. For Swarovski, this was a first, as no other Swaro I am aware of has used a 34mm tube. For Ziess, the new re-release of the V8 for North America has a 34mm tube, down from the 36mm tube the European version had. Both scopes are large, but not obscenely so. The Ziess 's 60mm objective fit perfectly using Warne high rings on their mountain tech bases, with about 2mm clearance to the barrel. The Swarovski had no issues with the Tally rings/bases on the Dakota.
Optical quality
Light transmission/illumination: The Swarovski seemed brighter, which was strange, as it has a smaller objective, however Swarovski claims 93% light transmission, Ziess claims 92%, and this seems accurate. Both scopes are exceptionally bright, especially during the twilight/dusk. The illumination on both scopes are red dot/daylight bright. The Swarovski dot is slightly larger, the Ziess dot is extremely fine. Both have plenty of adjustment.
Field of view/eyebox:
Both scopes have extremely forgiving eyeboxes. The Swarovski has a noticeably larger field of view, as well as a further eye relief than the Ziess. It seems to me that the Ziess has a slightly better eyebox, but this may be due to the fact that the field of view is smaller than the Swarovski, as in, it takes more head movement to obscure the viewable area with the scope body. The FOV is absolutely gargantuan on the Swarovski. Again, both have excellent eyeboxes.
Resolution/clarity:
Again, both scopes are absolutely top tier sharp, but since I am comparing them, I will nitpick. It appears to me that the Ziess has less chromatic aberration than the Swarovski, and the colors appear slightly richer. The Swarovski has better edge to edge clarity, and the overall image appears to be slightly sharper as well.
Turrets/controls:
The Ziess is a MOA scope, as a part of the redesign for the North America release. The Swarovski uses MIL. 1 click is ~.4" at 100 yards for the Swarovski, 1 click is .25 for the Ziess, so the Ziess has a finer control.
The Ziess comes standard with ballistic turrets, The swaro has the option to install and use their proprietary turret addition, a $350 part you can order from them. The illumination controls on the Swaro seem more intuitive to me.
Price:
Swarovski $4,299, Ziess $3,999.
If you read all of this, thanks for giving me the time to share my thoughts and observations. If you have any specific questions, please feel free to ask. I'll try and attach some photos as well. The appearance of the scopes look MUCH better to the eye than my camera could manage, getting my phone to take a picture was a real pain. Any kind of washed out look or blur isn't the scope glass, it's the exposure of the camera.
The 4A-I reticle is the Swarovski (the plain one with no markings) and the #90 reticle is the Ziess (the one with the MOA marks)
The pictures of the paper target is at 100 yards, and both scopes are at 35x.
The picture of the gong is at 450 yards, and both scopes are at 35x.
The picture with both scopes illuminated is at 15x.
Have a wonderful day all.
I knew it was going to be at least as good as the V6, as both the V8 and the V6 are made in Germany with Schott glass. Having had the opportunity to go out and shoot with both scopes, I have some observations, in case anyone was wondering how these absolute titans stack up vs each other.
First, the dimensions. Both scopes have 34MM tubes. For Swarovski, this was a first, as no other Swaro I am aware of has used a 34mm tube. For Ziess, the new re-release of the V8 for North America has a 34mm tube, down from the 36mm tube the European version had. Both scopes are large, but not obscenely so. The Ziess 's 60mm objective fit perfectly using Warne high rings on their mountain tech bases, with about 2mm clearance to the barrel. The Swarovski had no issues with the Tally rings/bases on the Dakota.
Optical quality
Light transmission/illumination: The Swarovski seemed brighter, which was strange, as it has a smaller objective, however Swarovski claims 93% light transmission, Ziess claims 92%, and this seems accurate. Both scopes are exceptionally bright, especially during the twilight/dusk. The illumination on both scopes are red dot/daylight bright. The Swarovski dot is slightly larger, the Ziess dot is extremely fine. Both have plenty of adjustment.
Field of view/eyebox:
Both scopes have extremely forgiving eyeboxes. The Swarovski has a noticeably larger field of view, as well as a further eye relief than the Ziess. It seems to me that the Ziess has a slightly better eyebox, but this may be due to the fact that the field of view is smaller than the Swarovski, as in, it takes more head movement to obscure the viewable area with the scope body. The FOV is absolutely gargantuan on the Swarovski. Again, both have excellent eyeboxes.
Resolution/clarity:
Again, both scopes are absolutely top tier sharp, but since I am comparing them, I will nitpick. It appears to me that the Ziess has less chromatic aberration than the Swarovski, and the colors appear slightly richer. The Swarovski has better edge to edge clarity, and the overall image appears to be slightly sharper as well.
Turrets/controls:
The Ziess is a MOA scope, as a part of the redesign for the North America release. The Swarovski uses MIL. 1 click is ~.4" at 100 yards for the Swarovski, 1 click is .25 for the Ziess, so the Ziess has a finer control.
The Ziess comes standard with ballistic turrets, The swaro has the option to install and use their proprietary turret addition, a $350 part you can order from them. The illumination controls on the Swaro seem more intuitive to me.
Price:
Swarovski $4,299, Ziess $3,999.
If you read all of this, thanks for giving me the time to share my thoughts and observations. If you have any specific questions, please feel free to ask. I'll try and attach some photos as well. The appearance of the scopes look MUCH better to the eye than my camera could manage, getting my phone to take a picture was a real pain. Any kind of washed out look or blur isn't the scope glass, it's the exposure of the camera.
The 4A-I reticle is the Swarovski (the plain one with no markings) and the #90 reticle is the Ziess (the one with the MOA marks)
The pictures of the paper target is at 100 yards, and both scopes are at 35x.
The picture of the gong is at 450 yards, and both scopes are at 35x.
The picture with both scopes illuminated is at 15x.
Have a wonderful day all.
