Rifle Scopes Zeiss Conquest HD5 3-15x50 Feedback
- Thread starter gknutson
- Start date
I've had a couple Zeiss Conquests, and have had great luck with them. Was going to buy an HD5 3-15x50 on my recent rifle purchase, and ended up going with the Leica ER 3.5-14x42 instead. Was impressed with the HD5, but felt the Leica was a considerable upgrade where the glass was concerned, lighter, had a more forgiving eyebox, and with the target turret and IBS reticle, got a matching reticle and elevation turret. Both have a hydrophobic coating which is a great feature for hunting scopes, but the Leica does NOT have a lockable turret. I wouldn't be afraid to buy the HD5 if it's got the features you want.
Z3 is a great scope, but I'd take the HD5 and the Leica over the Z3. I don't think the Swaro glass compares to the Leica until you get to the Z6, and both the Zeiss and Leica offer hydrophobic coatings and target turrets. I've never owned a Swaro, but my impression is that their Customer Service IS better than that of Zeiss and Leica. It all comes down to the options you prioritize.
Love my Conquest. Wouldnt trade it for anything
Have two HD5's, 3-15x42 and 5-25x50, both with locking turrets and Zeiss Z-plex. The locking turrets are in my mind brilliant; repeatability is spot on. The plex is not too fine and not too thick in the field. Definite improvement over the old Conquests and these are made in Germany. Glass wise exceptional, especially at dusk.
Eye box: at least the eye relief is fixed throughout the variable magnification. However, it is, like so many American and Jap scopes in this middle range market, not as forgiving as my higher end scopes; so cheek weld and scope mounting hight needs to be spot on. Get that right and they are a pleasure.
Build Quality should be good as they must have put in new machinery so there really isn't much excuse. Remember they are getting a lot of features and performance into quite a small tube so some compromises must have been made which shows at the outer fringes of the picture, but as said have your eye in the right place and everything is super sharp. The parallax does what it should though only goes down to 50m. All in all I'm very happy and really rate them for their performance, features and package size. Lots of competition at this price range but most of the other competition also has the same or other flaws. The HD5's won me over and done what I wanted them to do in real field conditions. If you want more from a scope then its going to get bigger, heavier and more expensive, like a Zeiss Victory.
The plex, the locking turrets, and the glass and small size ticked all my boxes. Good scopes.
Of the two I prefer the 3-15x42 as its less parallax fussy at close range and that is fitted to my .17HMR. The other is on my custom .223 which in truth as often as not has a dedicated Drone Pro x10 digital NV scope fitted. I wouldn't have one on a .22LR due to the parallax, but for everything else they are fine sporting optics. Anyhow the HD5's are good scopes and I prefer it over my Bushnel 6500.
http://i820.photobucket.com/albums/zz128/Muskett_2009/IMG_5153.jpg
http://i820.photobucket.com/albums/zz128/Muskett_2009/IMGP4608.jpg
Eye box: at least the eye relief is fixed throughout the variable magnification. However, it is, like so many American and Jap scopes in this middle range market, not as forgiving as my higher end scopes; so cheek weld and scope mounting hight needs to be spot on. Get that right and they are a pleasure.
Build Quality should be good as they must have put in new machinery so there really isn't much excuse. Remember they are getting a lot of features and performance into quite a small tube so some compromises must have been made which shows at the outer fringes of the picture, but as said have your eye in the right place and everything is super sharp. The parallax does what it should though only goes down to 50m. All in all I'm very happy and really rate them for their performance, features and package size. Lots of competition at this price range but most of the other competition also has the same or other flaws. The HD5's won me over and done what I wanted them to do in real field conditions. If you want more from a scope then its going to get bigger, heavier and more expensive, like a Zeiss Victory.
The plex, the locking turrets, and the glass and small size ticked all my boxes. Good scopes.
Of the two I prefer the 3-15x42 as its less parallax fussy at close range and that is fitted to my .17HMR. The other is on my custom .223 which in truth as often as not has a dedicated Drone Pro x10 digital NV scope fitted. I wouldn't have one on a .22LR due to the parallax, but for everything else they are fine sporting optics. Anyhow the HD5's are good scopes and I prefer it over my Bushnel 6500.
http://i820.photobucket.com/albums/zz128/Muskett_2009/IMG_5153.jpg
http://i820.photobucket.com/albums/zz128/Muskett_2009/IMGP4608.jpg
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I live in England... we drive on the right side of the road which is on the left.
Majority of field shooting is within point blank. For the .223 then thats within 200m. So you can leave the locked turrets alone with no chance of them being shifted. To me thats a huge plus.
However, if you want to dial to hit something really small then you can. These HD5's tracking are superb with spot on repeatability. The clicks could be more definite but then this criticism can be said for nearly any scope in this scale and price range (they don't get better until you get to a high priced tactical scope like NF or S&B).
Zoom, well they are 2FP, which I prefer, so you are not going to do any range guestimation... use a laser rangefinder like everyone else. I either shoot on about x8, or full max mag 15/25. x8 because I find that plenty for fast target acquisition and precision. Max 15/25 for when I want to shoot a dime at long long range and have all the time in the world to dial and take that master shot.
I have owned, own, or used a lot of optics over the years (think I have about 20 at present, all ages and price ranges). These HD5's float my boat. They are that American/Jap kind of high mag with side parallax, narrowish eye box, type of scope; just German made with European glass. Not a problem, millions of this style out there, just set them up on the rifle correctly and keep them at x8 unless you have the time to take a long shot at the higher mag. On the bench/range its not an issue. The best of this type is probably a March Japanese scope though they really are range scopes and I'm unsure if they would be match the Zeiss at dusk. Leupolds, Bushnels and Nikkon plus a few others are the same too. Here I'm comparing to my Zeiss Victories which are all together in another class with big eye box and very forgiving, so my comments are pretty tough as I'm comparing to one one of the best.
All in all these HD5's gives me confidence, which is all I ask. Can't be said of a few other makes (I like my old Leupold but non plussed with the new).
Majority of field shooting is within point blank. For the .223 then thats within 200m. So you can leave the locked turrets alone with no chance of them being shifted. To me thats a huge plus.
However, if you want to dial to hit something really small then you can. These HD5's tracking are superb with spot on repeatability. The clicks could be more definite but then this criticism can be said for nearly any scope in this scale and price range (they don't get better until you get to a high priced tactical scope like NF or S&B).
Zoom, well they are 2FP, which I prefer, so you are not going to do any range guestimation... use a laser rangefinder like everyone else. I either shoot on about x8, or full max mag 15/25. x8 because I find that plenty for fast target acquisition and precision. Max 15/25 for when I want to shoot a dime at long long range and have all the time in the world to dial and take that master shot.
I have owned, own, or used a lot of optics over the years (think I have about 20 at present, all ages and price ranges). These HD5's float my boat. They are that American/Jap kind of high mag with side parallax, narrowish eye box, type of scope; just German made with European glass. Not a problem, millions of this style out there, just set them up on the rifle correctly and keep them at x8 unless you have the time to take a long shot at the higher mag. On the bench/range its not an issue. The best of this type is probably a March Japanese scope though they really are range scopes and I'm unsure if they would be match the Zeiss at dusk. Leupolds, Bushnels and Nikkon plus a few others are the same too. Here I'm comparing to my Zeiss Victories which are all together in another class with big eye box and very forgiving, so my comments are pretty tough as I'm comparing to one one of the best.
All in all these HD5's gives me confidence, which is all I ask. Can't be said of a few other makes (I like my old Leupold but non plussed with the new).
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