Got my Zeiss HD5 5x25x50mm today

I looked through several of the new HD5 scopes at the SHOT Show this week. I own a few Conquests and also a Bushnell 4200.

I think that the glass is at least as good as my "regular" Conquests and the ones I compared it to right at the show, and a far sight better than my 4200 or any 4200 I've ever used. I would not judge it until you see it yourself.

Also the new version of the RapidZ reticle is far less "busy" and the target turrets are shorter. Overall I think it's a home run for this magnification range.


Maybe they took the good ones to the SHOT show :D.

Gary
 
It's like buying a new golf driver. I go to demo days and the new clubs fly better than my old one. I get one, no not the demo I tried out, and it ends up no better than the clubs I already own? Scopes maybe the same deal, who knows.
 
Dang it ! Side by side this Zeiss HD5 and my 12 year old Bushnell elite 4200 6x24x40mm and Weaver 3x15x50mm Tactical . Zeiss by a nod and only a nod. Also i'm 55 and wear glasses I'm near sighted. In fact i take my glasses off when shooting through a scope.

Do you have any astigmatism in the eye you use for aiming? Or is the correction only diopter (myopia)?
 
Thanks, could you tell me how many MOA per turret revolution and does the windage turret count up in both directions from zero or is it laid out like the elevation turret?
 
Thanks, could you tell me how many MOA per turret revolution and does the windage turret count up in both directions from zero or is it laid out like the elevation turret?

18 MOA per turn but only 16.5 MOA with zero stop installed.

Windage goes from 0 to 8 MOA in both directions counting up from 0 very nice

my 3-15 is zeroed at 200 and I have 41 MOA of elevation to use although I can only use 16.5 of it with the zero stop.

Overall these are very nice scopes and so far the adjustments are very repeatable. I am going to give it a couple more months before I declare it my best "hunting" scope but I am thinking it will be very useful for long range big game hunting for me.

gary
 
Yes I have astigmatism along with being near sighted ! Is that part of the problem ?

Probably, yes. The diopter adjustment on the eyepiece can correct for myopia but not astigmatism. Because of astigmatism, resolution will be limited by your eye, rather than the scope.

I recommend you talk to an optometrist about getting new glasses set up for glassing and shooting. You should see a dramatic improvement in visual acuity with all your optics.

I inspected the Zeiss HD5 line at the SHOT Show. The optics are comparable to or better than the "old" Conquest line. Optical aberrations are small, glare is lower than average and contrast is moderately good. In particular, the 3-15x42 has high contrast at 15X. The 5-25x50 has lower, but still good, contrast at 25X, which is impressive. This scope should be very usable at 25X without a sunshade. That's good because sunshades are not available yet for the HD5 line.
 
WOW, I was on board till the 16.5 MOA when using the zero stop!! That effectively castrates what was looking like a great long range optic, can't even dial to a 1000 yards, dang!!!
 
18 MOA per turn but only 16.5 MOA with zero stop installed.

Windage goes from 0 to 8 MOA in both directions counting up from 0 very nice

my 3-15 is zeroed at 200 and I have 41 MOA of elevation to use although I can only use 16.5 of it with the zero stop.

16.5 MOA should be good for at least 800 yds with most flat-shooting long range calibers (200 yd zero, 5,000 ft elevation).
 
Originally Posted by 8andbait

18 MOA per turn but only 16.5 MOA with zero stop installed.

Windage goes from 0 to 8 MOA in both directions counting up from 0 very nice

my 3-15 is zeroed at 200 and I have 41 MOA of elevation to use although I can only use 16.5 of it with the zero stop.

16.5 MOA should be good for at least 800 yds with most flat-shooting long range calibers (200 yd zero, 5,000 ft elevation).

I wonder why Zeiss a company well established in the optics field known for quality products have their engineers design a zero stop that limits the elevation adjustment to 16.5 MOA. Mind boggling to me!!

You are right bruce_ventura. I can get to 800 yards with a 250 yard zero @ 4000' but that is not what I want. Zeiss really messed up. This nice compact scope with its short turrets would have been a cat's meow. Was all ready to order one till 8and bait clued me in. Back to the HS or PST.
 
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