Zeiss HD5 Conquest Scopes: Where Did the Lenses Come From?

[South Pender]

Does anyone know where the lenses on the Zeiss HD5 Conquest scopes come from? On the eyepiece are the words "Assembled in Germany." So I assume that Zeiss gets the lenses (and possibly other parts) from somewhere else and assembles the scope in Germany.

There is a used one for sale here, and I'd like to do a little research on it before committing to it.

 

[Mark M.]

I believe Japan, I have a V4, very clear

 

[palo]

I think its German glass. I have compared my hd5 5-25×50 with my v4 6-24x50 which has Japanese glass and the hd5 is definitely a lot clearer. The v4 has a much better field of view though.

 

[Justin Credible]

I think its German glass. I have compared my hd5 5-25×50 with my v4 6-24x50 which has Japanese glass and the hd5 is definitely a lot clearer. The v4 has a much better field of view though.

More important than were the glass was made is who made the lenses, and most lenses are not made by the same people who made the glass for them. The Japanese, Germans, and Americans are fully capable of making equal quality glass. Also, just because it is Schott glass does not mean the glass was made in Germany, they have production in several countries, and it also doesn't mean Schott actually did the grinding and polishing as they probably did not. But good glass can make a bad lens if the lens manufacturer does not do their job (and I have seen bad, and superb, lenses from Germany and Japan along with other places of origin), or if the lens designer doesn't. You can't tell where the glass or a lens was made by how clear it all looks. "Assembled in ..." generally means parts were not made there, which most likely means Asia but there are certainly other excellent lens manufacturers in Europe. But for the HD5 I do not know where the glass or lenses came from, so you may be right.

Justin

 

[Ironworker]

I also have a HD5 5-25x50mm ,its glass is very good . Also have a Zeiss V6 which is much better that my HD5 .

 

[46and2]

I also have a HD5 5-25x50mm ,its glass is very good . Also have a Zeiss V6 which is much better that my HD5 .

Yes.
The HD5 is good, HD4 is better, my V6 is the best.

 

[palo]

Yes.
The HD5 is good, HD4 is better, my V6 is the best.

I'm hoping to buy a V6 soon. I did compare my hd5 with two V4s and the hd5 was sharper with better resolution. I could see fine detail a lot better with the hd5.

 

[dolek]

More important than were the glass was made is who made the lenses, and most lenses are not made by the same people who made the glass for them. The Japanese, Germans, and Americans are fully capable of making equal quality glass. Also, just because it is Schott glass does not mean the glass was made in Germany, they have production in several countries, and it also doesn't mean Schott actually did the grinding and polishing as they probably did not. But good glass can make a bad lens if the lens manufacturer does not do their job (and I have seen bad, and superb, lenses from Germany and Japan along with other places of origin), or if the lens designer doesn't. You can't tell where the glass or a lens was made by how clear it all looks. "Assembled in ..." generally means parts were not made there, which most likely means Asia but there are certainly other excellent lens manufacturers in Europe. But for the HD5 I do not know where the glass or lenses came from, so you may be right.

Justin

That's a lot of words to say "I don't know".

 

[Justin Credible]

That's a lot of words to say "I don't know".

The whole point of the post was to not worry about were the glass or lenses are made. Just worry about the actual performance.

 

[hillbill]

I have a V-4 6x24, and a HD 5 5x25, the HD scope has been returned already for failure, if you have noticed that line is now discontinued, mainly because of mass failures or so I am told. The v-4 with the new thin line ret so far has held up well to a big boomer, tracking has been good although the clicks are a little weak.

My Zeiss rep tells me the new V-4 line is a whole different animal from previous Conquests, time will tell, I killed many of the old Conquests (made by Meopta), they had very good glass but just would not hold up to heavy recoil.

I talked to a dealer a couple of weeks back that sells a ton of V4s, no problems, the V6s have a not so stellar track record according to his sales and the returns to Zeiss, the V8s have great glass but will not even get you to 1000 yards on a lot of guns.

Maybe some day Zeiss will figure out how to build a scope both with great glass and turrets that work on par with the scopes of the last decade?

 

[atblis]

The HD5s were a rather short lived line. I think they were half baked. Resale values are also very low. I have one I tried selling and gave up.

Ultimately the mechanical aspects of a scope are much much more important than the optical quality. The Minox scopes suffered from that IMO. Decent optically, but garbage mechanics. I was a big fan of the Japanese Weaver scopes as they were opticaly 95% there, and very good mechanically.

 

[VhtN560]

Hmm. Ive had nothing but ziess scopes on all my rifles(over 100 fitearms) for decadesa few of them are over 30 yrs old
Never had a problrm 1 with any of them. Imo the v6
Is top.of the line

 

[Pheasanthunter]

Hmm. Ive had nothing but ziess scopes on all my rifles(over 100 fitearms) for decadesa few of them are over 30 yrs old
Never had a problrm 1 with any of them. Imo the v6
Is top.of the line

Same here zeiss conquest, Hd5, diavari, &v6s on every rifle never had a problem. IMO glass not as clear in v4s but that’s these old eyes

 

[Turbulent Turtle]

The whole point of the post was to not worry about were the glass or lenses are made. Just worry about the actual performance.

You have to understand that lots of people have strong beliefs about such things and not easily swayed.

Glass, lens, coatings, etc., the whole environment is purposefully shrouded in mystery and yet people claim to know and be able to identify provenance and even worry about it, for some reason.

 

[Sted]

Carl Zeiss is one of the stakeholder of Schott AG.

https://www.schott.com/english/company/facts_foundation.html

Many european riflescope company uses Schott's lenses.

I'll wonder if Zeiss did not use company's lenses on all the products.

 

[Justin Credible]

Carl Zeiss is one of the stakeholder of Schott AG.

https://www.schott.com/english/company/facts_foundation.html

Many european riflescope company uses Schott's lenses.

I'll wonder if Zeiss did not use company's lenses on all the products.

I would wager that a lot (most) of European manufacturers use Schott glass, but I’d be surprised if many use lenses made by Schott (Zeiss can certainly make their own). They are primarily a glass maker that sells glass blanks/strips/etc. to the lens makers (but they do some optical manufacturing) who do the grinding/polishing/coating. Just like in action and barrel making, the quality of the material is important to performance but what the designer and machinists do with it is what really sets things apart (and keeps it from being an engineering disaster)!

Justin

 

[Sted]

That's it.

Schotts like many other producer in many other context they do glass with different quality, different level of finish.
It depends on the capability (or business plan to invest) of the buyer to get a blank row piece of glass, threat it (polish, coat it) or commit and buy a complete lens.
Not many small company (with small production) has the ability to deal the row peace of glass; like wonderful engineers and wonderful machinist they buy (outsource) the right lenses for his project.

 

[rogn]

There are conversations that connect Meopta with Zeis. Some regarding glass and some complete units.

 

[wildcatter]

Same here zeiss conquest, Hd5, diavari, &v6s on every rifle never had a problem. IMO glass not as clear in v4s but that’s these old eyes

I'll x's that by 3, and even through my conquest MC in as finer glass even with the 1" tube! had 2 v4's and both went down the road! Never had a problem with poi change unless I changed it, and adjustments have always been spot on.

Adjustments may be as good as the rest of the Conquest line, but the glass suffers miserably on the v4's I have had in comparison!

 

[DGP4]

Try asking the company. They may tell you. If not, forget what anyone else says as it is mere speculation and conjecture.