I wouldn't call the Zeiss far superior. It may have better glass but that is about its only advantage. The Zeiss does not have the warranty that Vortex offers. The Zeiss only has 45 MOA of elevation while the Vortex has 65 MOA. The Zeiss also only has a 1" diameter tube while the Vortex has a 30mm and will be more robust. The Vortex also has more eye relief and larger magnification range. The Zeiss lacks zero stop but the Vortex comes with brass washers to install your own zero stop. Looks to me like the Vortex is the winner here.
I've been called out, so I'll comment. This a classic "optics vs features" argument.
The Conquest scope has substantially better contrast than the Viper. At 20X the Conquest image tends to pop out at you, while the Viper image usually looks a little dull or even hazy by comparison. The loss of contrast is due to inadequate glare management in the design and is especially noticeable above 20X magnification. Glare is not a big issue at the range because the sun is usually at your back. When hunting, however, you can easily find yourself facing a setting or rising sun. In this case bad glare can totally obscure the image at high magnification. These scopes should compared side-by-side when facing the sun to appreciate the difference.
While the Viper has more features, some of the benefits are debatable. The 30 mm tube offers more adjustment range, but a 30 mm tube is not necessarily more robust than a 1" tube. The Vortex warranty is the best in the industry, but then Viper return rates appear to be high, so there is a greater chance that you will need to experience their "excellent customer service". I am always concerned when return rates appear to be higher than a couple of percent because the failure can happen during a hunt, which is costly regardless of the manufacturer's warranty. Vipers tend to vignette or partially obscure the image at the lowest magnification when the elevation adjustment is set to within 5-10 clicks of the limit. Other manufacturers limit the adjustment range to prevent vignetting. Finally, the Viper zero stop is not precise. It stops the turret near the zero, but rarely on the zero. The shooter usually still has to look at the turret knob and rotate it to the exact zero position. If you still have to look at the knob when returning to zero, there are other methods of reliably getting a turret back to zero (when there is no zero stop).
I'll also mention that Vortex offers a wider selection of reticles, and especially MOA/MOA and mil/mil combinations, which is a real benefit in my opinion.
So, which one is better depends on the buyer's priorities with respect to optics vs features. I consider the Vipers to be better range scopes than hunting scopes, and that opinion reflects my priorities. In both cases, you get what you pay for.
