Originally Posted by
Jenks
Sorry to notice this thread so late but I will pass this info along anyway. In the April/May 2015 issue of Peterson's Hunting magazine Keith Wood did an article titled "Best Budget Glass". For the article he evaluated a Zeiss Terra, a Leupold VX-1, a Weaver Kaspa, a Bushnell Elete 3500 and a Burris Droptine. They were tested and evaluated in the areas of ergonomics, eye relief, mechanical quality, optical quality and durability and assigned a score--5 was a max in each area so a score of 25 would be perfect in all areas. The Zeiss scored 22.5, the Leuposd & Weaver both scored 22, the Bushnell scored 19 and the Burris scored 21. I though the tests were well thought out and should separate the sheep from the goats. In the durability test, the dial covers were removed and the scopes immersed in hot water then placed in a freezer, later mounted on a rifle and tested. All five scopes passed this test and received 5's. The Zeiss had the best optical quality, the Leupold was next followed by the Weaver, Bushnell and Burris in order. The Leupold would have come out on top overall except that the adjustments did not track precisely while "shooting the box" adjusting 4 inches each way so the VX-1 was rated a "3" in that area while the Weaver and Burris were perfect and the Zeiss scored "4.5". This was an interesting article and made me a little more impressed with the quality of these five scopes.
I was ALMOST ready to laugh my big ole butt off when I saw "Budget" and Zeiss" in the same sentence. Since I had yet to ever lay my eyes on one for under $900 new. Well in the 9x + power range anyway. I think I saw one a while back in the 7x range that was like $750
Till I looked up the Terra models. Never seen or heard of them. In all honesty, if price wasn't a factor, Leupold would have to pack a lunch, dinner, and probably breakfast for the next day in a fight with Zeiss. They are, without a doubt, the best scope on the market today. But, as was already stated, you get what you pay for. But in my lowly opinion, they are still over priced. Leupold and Nikon, to me anyway, are about the best deals that can be had in the optics world with the newer company Vortex coming up on them with a passion.
Something most folks either don't know or don't think about, is the glass for most all of the major high quality scope manufacturers come from the same place. Either Germany or Japan. While the COATINGS and SHAPE (design) may be proprietary, the glass QUALITY is the same.