I priced the 44 Zeiss and the 50 Loopy Varix III here at Wholesale Sports. Both scopes run around a $1000. They never had the Zeiss Conquest in to look at but had it in the puter. I checked this aft. on the SIR mail order website(which is a canadian company) and they' re the same price.

JD I am sure you' ll be very pleased with your choice. Good Luck

As for prices here' s what I got (in cad. funds):
Zeiss 3-9x40 $779.00
Zeiss 3.5-10x44 $999.00
Leupold VX-III 3.5-10x40 $760-780.00 (depends on finish)
Leupold VX-III 3.5-10x50 $860-890.00 (depends on finish)
I' m gonna stick with the 40mm obj. so I can keep my existing rings on. When I compared them to a new 4x leu. I was really blown away. Mine is pretty old and I' m sure the difference will be unbelievable, but that old leu. 4x saw alot of deer crumble in it' s days...sad to retire it but glad I' ll be able to see the deer' s reaction now
JDinAB

What about the best between the Leupold LPS 3.5 x 14 x 50 and the Zeiss Conquest 3.5 x 10 x 44? The Leupold is a bit more money. How do they compair to each other?

Here in the states an LPS in 2.5x10x45 is bringing about $750 and the 3.5x10x44 Zeiss seems to bounce around week to week with prices of $420-455 depending on whos selling online.Down here D&RSports seems to be about the best prices in general.WOW! I didn' t realize that they were so expensive up across the border from here(less than 100 miles from home).Makes the premium scopes seem like a real bargin!Mark-up is about the same from Leupold to Zeiss so I guess its just a matter of preference.I' ll never complain again about scope prices in the states.

woods

Woodseye, you must factor in our unfavorable exchange from CDN to USD dollar. The main reason is lack of competition, we don' t have the options you guys do south of the border and after 9/11 it got even worse. This especially true in western Canada(where both JD and I live), the shops basically have the same price, rarely have sales and rely on the only game in town type mindframe. Our walmarts aren' t stocked in sporting goods like yours are, just boils down to no need to be aggressive. I must say though when you factor in exchange many things are priced pretty comparable...but still the lack of choice creates for a price freeze mentality, especially quality specialized goods (like: scopes).


Hey and here you thought we never had to pay for our great hunting opportunities up canada[8D].

woodseye you seem to like the Zeiss over the Leupold. Do you like it better than the LPS? Why?

fisherprice1-The lps series has a 30mm tube and is both bulkier and heavier as a result.It also costs significantly more than the conquest.The ziess uses lenses that are some of the most respected in the industry while the lps scopes still use japanese lenses.If I was going to spend the cost of the lps I would step up to either a higher grade ziess with a 1" tube or even a swarovski a-line.Both are lighter more compact and have better lenses and coatings.I use swarovski a-line 3x10x42 scopes myself which are cheaper than the lps(in canada anyway)and to my eyes are both brighter and clearer as well as being lighter than the lps.

Stubblejumper, Leupold also make the European 3-9 x 50mm with a 30mm maintube and it cost less then the Zeiss Conquest. I know I just bought one this year. As for bulkier, yes it is a little bigger then most scopes but that wasn' t a factor for me.b

Fisherprice,I think reading my past comparison post explains why I prefer the Conquest over the Vari X lll.The conquest was better in every point I compared them in but weight where it lost by 2.8 ounces.In eye-relief/finish/lens quality/defination/brightness/ease of focus/being user friendly(able to see adjustments from shooting position)/turret adjustments that don' t need tools to operate in field/a much more distinct and easy to see reticule/and constant eye relief the zeiss won every comparison.On resale value and warranty I found them equal.I own several leupold vari x lll' s and several zeiss conquests,I have the chance to compare various scope differences between them at any time in any light conditions.Now to answer your question about the LPS,It is $750 instead of $450 so price becomes an issue here,It has more of the zeiss features(euro focus eye piece/constant eye relief/mid size obj 44-45mm)but as Stubblejumper said,it still has the Japanese lens that just aren' t quite up to the lead free German ones yet.If there was one major reason I chose the conquest over the leupold it was the lenses and the resulting clarity/defination/and brightness.I' m in the $400-500 dollar area of scope spending and I don' t think theres another scope in the conquests league at this point.If I find one I' ll no doubt buy it cause I' m not married to any scope brand only to what my eyes show me to be the best.These leupold conquest threads draw a lot of interest and response so I believe there is a lot of curiousity about how they stack up to each other.I view it like this,the subject of reliability and ability to withstand recoil comes up in respect to the conquest and that can' t be answered yet cause they have only been out for a couple years.I' m too old to wait 15-20 years to see if they will equal leupold in this area so I figure I' ll buy a couple and put them on my favorite guns and see for myself,if they fail to hold up or meet my expectations I will return them to zeiss for replacement or reworking and then sell them and move on to another brand.In a head to head comparison I don' t think the LPS wiil out preform the Conquest it will simply be more like it with less of the Vari X lll' s short comings for $300 more.That simple.I think it said it all when JD reported the conquest was just as bright as the leupold when it had a 10mm smaller obj lens size(40 vs 50),thats lenses and lens coatings making up the difference. Hope this answered your questions.


woods

Woodseye, yes it answered my question. Thanks for the info. In your opition what would be the next scope better than the Conquest under the $1000 range? Thanks, Greg