Zeiss, Nikon, Leupold? Low light scope.

Which is better for low light?

  • Zeiss Terra Rifle Scope 3-9x 42mm Plex Reticle Matte ($399)

    Votes: 25 36.8%

  • Nikon MONARCH 3 Rifle Scope 2.5-10x 42mm ($399)

    Votes: 13 19.1%

  • Leupold VX-3 Rifle Scope 3.5-10x 40mm Duplex Reticle Matte ($479)

    Votes: 30 44.1%
  • Total voters
    68
FrankenMauser, my deer stand is the real world. I have two 4200's. They are as bright as any of my 4 Night Force scopes. Brighter than any of my pile of Leupolds. Not quite on par with Meopta.
 
True, but I hardly ever hunt inside a Cabela's, or even a Cabala .
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I don't know, my local Cabelas has a grizzly I wouldn't mind having for rug. :p

Mechanically does the reticule drift as you change magnification? How about clicks. Can the scope "do the box"? Does it take a shot or 2 to come to the new setting when you adjust the reticule or is in immediate& repeatable?
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I've found that if you go two clicks past and come back most scopes are pretty darn repeatable( Within reason, I don't think we're talking about 1000 yard plus Benchrest scopes here). In fact Leupold recommends this.

For years I wouldn't pay over $300 for a scope, nowadays I'm up to the $5-600 range. Now do I get more for my $600 then I did for my $300, sure, but not twice as much.

Heck even my $139 with $40 rebate Redfield scopes are more than adequate for any hunting conditions I've come across. And their warranty, same as Leupold's, is beyond reproach.

I think my monarch 3 was worth every penny and I'm a Leupold guy. I can almost hit the factory with the rock from here. :rolleyes:
Boomer
 
I have 2 Leupold 3-9s, an original VX & a VX2 , they are good workhorse scopes but not the brightest optically. The VX has continuous grease adjustment & is 100% repeatable , the VX2 has click adjustment & is as erratic as most cheap scopes, it seems that the more money & spin that is put into advertising, the less money is spent on the product.
 
FrankenMauser, my deer stand is the real world. I have two 4200's. They are as bright as any of my 4 Night Force scopes. Brighter than any of my pile of Leupolds.
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I, and other posters, were not arguing about that possibility. We were trying to point out that light transmission alone is nearly worthless. Without color, clarity, and contrast, seeing a brighter image is of no value.

If all you can see coming at you on a highway, at night, is a set of headlights from an oncoming car, would you prefer that they were brighter? ...Or that you had some way of seeing other distinguishing features and detail?

I'd take the added detail...
 
''I, and other posters, were not arguing about that possibility. We were trying to point out that light transmission alone is nearly worthless. Without color, clarity, and contrast, seeing a brighter image is of no value.''

You are right about that , which is confusing , in light of your previously expressed opinions on various brands. Contrast, colour & sharpness are where the Zeiss has it over the others so far mentioned, including the VX3.
If there are warranty hassles, then that is the fault of the U.S. COMPANY who makes them, not the makers of the superior optics that are used.
Get a child to look through both & he/she will tell you that '' the Emporer has no clothes. Sure Steiner, Shmitt & Bender, Zeiss & Swarovski make better scopes than the Conquest, but at a far higher price.
 
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I have three Leupolds, a VXII and two VX-2s. They're better than any other scope I've used, and I've used many scopes, both mine and customers'. My Nikon Monarch 2.5-10x is sitting on a shelf these days; destined to be on someone else's rifle.

The clarity of the Leupolds is slightly better than the Monarch, but they have a wider field of view and no dark area at the edges like the Monarch does. That's my biggest beef with the Monarch.

I like the fine duplex reticles.
 
For under $400 you can get a Leupold VX2 3-9X50 with a heavy duplex or a Bushnell Elite 3-9X50 with a Firefly reticle.
Either will get you a 50mm objective, which has a huge advantage over a 40 in low light, a 1" tube, which makes no difference either way, and a reticle that you can still see when it's getting dark outside.
 
Not sure why they did away with the 4200 myself. One of the things I liked most about the 2.5X10X50 is that it has a heavy #4 post in it with a very light dot if I were to need illumination. Seldom do I need that if there is just a little ambient light or moonlight. Illuminated scopes seem to wash out my vision no matter how low they are set, especially the fully lighted ones.
 
Cabelas says their Euro riflescopes have the highest light transmission in the industry. 99.8% to be exact. Definitely brighter than my monarch 3 @ 95%. Too bad I've already returned Cabela's brand scopes for manufacturer defects. There scopes have been the only disappointing products I've bought from Cabelas. I must say though, their customer service was excellent and their warranty was no questions asked. Link --->http://www.cabelas.com/browse.cmd?categoryId=153172980
If they could get there unnamed Chinese manufacturer to up its quality control standards they would have a great product.

Boomer
 
Boomer58cal said:
Cabelas says their Euro riflescopes have the highest light transmission in the industry. 99.8% to be exact. Definitely brighter than my monarch 3 @ 95%. Too bad I've already returned Cabela's brand scopes for manufacturer defects. There scopes have been the only disappointing products I've bought from Cabelas. I must say though, their customer service was excellent and their warranty was no questions asked. Link ---> http://www.cabelas.com/browse.cmd?categoryId=153172980

If they could get there unnamed Chinese manufacturer to up its quality control standards they would have a great product.

Boomer
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Until an independent laboratory does a light transmission test on scopes I'd say the claimed performance of any scopes light transmission is BS at best. If no one else is testing their scopes independently then they can claim anything they want on paper. Burris used to and may still make claims of 95+% light transmission. It is all just marketing by the manufacturer to sell scopes.

The OP was asking about hunting in low light conditions, and I think all three of his original choices will serve him well in the 1/2 hour before sunrise and 1/2 hour after sunset that most states have for legal hunting hours. Now if he is wanting to hunt at night for vermin and such all the European style large objective and tube scopes are very expensive, and for the same price a guy to invest in some decent night vision scope for that kind of hunting.
 
Boomer, those particular Cabellas scopes are Meopta's. Did you return one of these generation scopes made by Meopta or some of the earlier scopes Cabellas speced out?
 
There's a viscious rumor going around that all of the mentioned scopes all use Jap glass, so the only factors to decide upon are mechanical. As to which is better mechanically, I can only answer as to the Leupold and Nikon, and I can't tell any difference between, Nikon glass, Leupold glass, and Vortex glass.

I tend to evaluate scopes by features and warranty. By those criterion, I have chosen Vortex PST for it's features, Zero stop, FFP, and mil-rad reticles and knobs.
 
Boomer, those particular Cabellas scopes are Meopta's. Did you return one of these generation scopes made by Meopta or some of the earlier scopes Cabellas speced out?
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At the time I spoke to Cabelas all they would tell me was that they're scopes were made by manufacturer in China. They would not give me the specific manufacturer's name.

Those scopes I returned to Cabelas were due to mechanical failures. The crosshairs would not adjust.

Boomer
 
Well, I "pulled the trigger" on a Zeiss Conquest 3.5-10x44, we'll see how it goes! :D

Took my daughter hunting today, she was very aggravated that she could not see the 7 deer at 135 yards today. :(
 
Should have got the Nikon

Seriously though... Why couldn't she see the deer?

Boomer
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Yeah :p

Hunting in on of my Brother In Laws stands and he has it facing west. The sun goes behind the trees, then down and it gets hazy/dark against the tree-line. You can see fine in the field or if you look up at the sky, but put it against the tree-line and it's over. All of those deer were at the tree-line, I could barely see them through the scope, she couldn't at all. We'll see what this Zeiss is made of. :)
 
You'll be pleasantly surprised. I hunt over a tree shrouded bottom and can't see into it on my own 15 min after sunset. I end up glassing it with the conquest for the last 15 min of the day. My old VXII couldn't do this for me even though it was a great scope otherwise.
 
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