LPVOs are the mainstream optic of choice in these modern times. It offers a wide range of versatility by the turn of a lever that zooms in to help you see and identify a target at extended distances, or zoom out to quickly and effectively engage a target at close distances.
When choosing a optic, I find that image clarity is important. Bashing on a few LPVOs that I will not name, I cannot see a target very well besides a silhouette of...something and some colors to go with it. The light transmission can be horrible and makes target identification in dusk very difficult or impossible. I have heard the Steiner P4Xi is a fantastic or the best low cost LPVO on the market because it had great clarity, as expected from Japanese glass, illumination is daylight bright like a red sun itself, and extremely durable. At least that was the case pre-COVID prices.
Enter Zeiss with their Conquest V4 1-4x scope with the ZQAR reticle.
Straight out of the box it has amazing glass clarity, and better yet compared to my Wolf PSU 1x/4x it is focus adjustable and the reticle is daylight bright but not aimpoint bright. It features a exposed elevation turret that locks and unlocks by lifting the whole turret upwards to dial in on elevation. Windage turret has a nice tactile knob which you can positively grab and adjust, and is capped. The Illumination uses a CR2032 battery which goes from 1-10 settings with dead stops in between so you can in a sense "save" your last illumination setting. I typically use brightness #8.
The ZQAR reticle is sort of a chopped up horseshoe style reticle with a 1.5moa center dot and stadia lines below it that goes out to 800 yards. 400 and 600 being marked. There are also two horizontal tapering brackets on the sides of the center which draws the eye towards the center, and also has vertical tick marks as reference. Possible as wind references.
The adjustments on the scope are 1-4x magnification, -3/+3 diopter, and 1/2moa adjustments.
Some major issues I have encountered on my short time with this scope so far have been the short stubby magnification ring adjustment. The extended Zeiss V4 throw lever costs about $80 which is a no go. I will need to seek some alternatives and research their compatibility with this scope. There are indeed 3D printed options offered by MKMachining. I ordered one but apparently I didn't read the fine print and read the diameter dimensions and bought the one with the larger ring. Nothing a few layers of gaffer tape can't fix. Either way $80 for a brand throw lever is quite steep while other scopes can be equipped with cheaper throw levers for half or a third of that price. The adjustment is at least smooth but stiff without a throw lever
The most major problem I had is the the screw that keeps the elevation turret in place so that it does not fly off. After making some zeroing adjustments I found the screw snapped while I was retightening the screw. I was able to extract the broken piece that was in the threads with a small magnetic screwdriver. So we know it's a metal screw.
I do not see any reason how it would snap because by design the screw is concentric to the turret cap, so it shouldn't be possible to bend it. I'm inclined to believe it's because the screw is too thin and the metallurgy of the screw is to blame and it seems like it happens to other users too. I was lucky enough to find a metric screw of the right diameter and thread pitch as a placeholder, along with a rubber washer I made from a bicycle tube and a brass washer. Zeiss was contacted and they sent a replacement screw. Seeing that I don't plan on using the elevation turret outside of zeroing the scope, I could leave my ad hoc placeholder as it is and put the replacement screw in the box and there probably wouldn't be any issues with the function of the scope. The ZQAR reticle will suffice as it is for bullet compensation however I may say different if it was a mil/moa non-BDC reticle. (Oops, I don't have a picture. I'll get one up as soon as I find the broken screw)
While not a major setback, some people may find the glass to be blurry towards the edges. I have read it's because the Zeiss V4 series uses Japanese glass which may give the blurry edge effect although I have nothing to truly confirm that claim. Either way it's not a big deal for me and the majority of the lens is clear and pristine to my eyes.
1x magnification. It might not look like it but even at 4x the outer body is thin and doesn't get in the way.
4x magnification, reticle is out of focus because I had a hard time focusing both the objects and reticle at the same time
Same thing but with the reticle in focus. It has a fairly wide field of view to my eyes and has quite generous eye relief Overall I am quite impressed with this optic for under $500 and a compact and somewhat lightweight, I can recommend it as long as you handle the elevation turret gingerly and not fiddle with it beyond zeroing. A throw lever is also a must for this optic.
SPECS: Field of view 1-4x 114 - 29ft (21.5 - 5.4 degrees)
Length 10.1in
Weight 16.6oz (no mount)
Eye Relief 3.5in give or take
Additional specs like twilight factor, adjustment range,...etc can be found on the Zeiss website
Comentarios