Please understand I live in Europe in particular London. The distributor is GMK Limited

We are very far away from the US and without the interent the distributor can tell us anything and we will have to accept it as accurate untill proven. Up till last year NF scopes in UK are NOT marked made in japan. This took place in the last 12 months.

I hope this makes what I wrote clear.

AGAIN I WILL WRITE FOR THE THIRD TIME

NF ARE fantastic scopes and nothing wrong with them

Again going back to the original thread since we are drifting off topic like politicians


Where is Zeiss conquest made or assembled ?

quote:

Originally posted by woods:
Well I always thought that the reason the were 1/2 the price of the European Zeiss'es is because the labor rates for assembly were so much cheaper in the US.

So, if they are not assembled in the US, how do you explain the cheaper price?

I thought it was import duties that made the made in the US Zeiss cheaper.

quote:

Originally posted by Duckear:

quote:

Originally posted by woods:
Well I always thought that the reason the were 1/2 the price of the European Zeiss'es is because the labor rates for assembly were so much cheaper in the US.

So, if they are not assembled in the US, how do you explain the cheaper price?

I thought it was import duties that made the made in the US Zeiss cheaper.

I don't have any inside knowledge about this, so my .02$ is just a personal opinion.

I believe that the difference in price on certain shooting related items, optics is a good example, is related to the market in which they are sold as opposed to hard cost factors such as labor costs or import duties. In order to sell scopes in the US, Zeiss decided on a different price policy in the highly competitive US market. They priced their Conquest product competitively against the market leader (Leupold) in the middle market segment they were targeting. In the process, they managed to make substantial gains in a part of the market where their presence was limited in the past - sacrificing margin for volume, so to speak.

This strategy did not start with the Conquests, though. When the 3-9x36 Diavari C model was phased out in Europe, manufacturing was moved to the US and the the scope was sold at about 50% of retail in Europe. Later, the Diavari Z series followed, probably not quite as successfully.

Meanwhile in Europe, the US manufactured models became cheaper, but did not even approach US prices. Conquest models can be had in the US for about 50% of Central European retail price. I don't believe a 100% (compared to US prices) difference can be explained with import duties. Price formation is a much more controlled process in Europe, and the occurrence of "rogue" dealers via eBay or low cost suppliers is much less prevalent. At least in Central Europe, the Conquest series is not as tailored to the market (dominated by 30mm scopes with large objectives or low magnification scopes for driven hunting) as it is the case in the US. That coupled with the size of the general market, probably makes this segment less important in Europe compared to the US.

Zeiss is not the only manufacturer to sell their goods at higher costs in Europe compared to the US. Leupolds have always been priced way higher over here, and other manufacturers have followed suit.

Meanwhile, tightened US export rules have made a flourishing export of scopes from the US to Europe increasingly difficult. It is increasingly hard to find a US dealer willing to ship to Europe these days. All in the name of War on Terror, naturally - or perhaps manufacturer pressure also plays a role??

- mike

Yes Yes Yes

ALL corret and for the last time they are great scope and I am not knocking them

Wht label them made in the states while they are NOT ?

If they are then please somebody some me a factory

Zeiss is giving us misleading infomation thats all I am saying.

We are not getting anywhere here

quote:

Originally posted by londonhunter:
Yes Yes Yes

Wht label them made in the states while they are NOT ?

If they are then please somebody some me a factory

Zeiss is giving us misleading infomation thats all I am saying.

We are not getting anywhere here

Hey Ben, maybe some of us don't have any insight into the information you would like to obtain, but find other aspects of this discussion interesting all the same. It is an open forum, after all.

- mike

Please accept my sincere apologised if it sounds rude
I just wanted find out more that's all

The Conquest was specifically targeted at the American 1-inch tube market to compete with the US leader, the Leupold scope, knowing full well that their 30mm-tube scopes are too expensive for one, and the US market by and large prefer lighter and more compact scopes that mount lower.

The Conquest was a winner, it bested the VX3 in that it had a constant 4" eye relief. Generally Leupolds have the best eye relief against most scopes, but there was still this one thing that the eye relief varied from 4.7" to 3.7" from low to high magnification with Leupolds.

Most people will agree that the Zeiss lenses are brighter. That was before the new VX3 came out recently. So one will have to do another comparison. I have bought 2 new scopes in the last 3 years - a Conquest 3-9x40 mm and a Leupold VX2 3-9x40 mm, and yes it beats the Leupold in clarity when you look at bullet holes in the target at 100 yds. This is a simple test for me.

The Conquest is still cheaper than the VX3 by a good $100 I would quess.

Warrior

Ben, communication reestablished!

- mike

I've been trying to find the answer to londonhunters question ( I would like to know myself) but can't. All I know is over the last 3 years I've bought 5 zeiss scopes and in the last 4 to 6 months they have goin up in price around 100.00 dollars. I bought a straight 4x in december for 270.00 thats now 350 to 399. got a 3x9 for 270.00 also, a year ago and now 599.00 and a 6.5 x20 for 650.00 a year ago thats now 1000.00. Love their scopes but the prices are starting to get to high for me, Don't really care for Leupold but their starting to look pretty good to me. Is anyone else seeing this price increase where you live?

I am not sure if this gives us a clue, but here it is:

Schmidt und Bender is marketing a cheaper 6x42 mm scope for the SA market, and I have been told by the SA importer that it is Czech made. A friend of mine bought one and what a fine scope it is. Labour costs in the Czech Republic is far cheaper than other EU countries. There is an ancient Czech tradition of pride in craftsmanship.

Back to the Zeiss Conquest .... my suspicion is that Zeiss is doing the same as S&B, and in all likelihood the Czech company Meopta is making it for both German companies. Zeiss won't just sub-contract to anyone, being one of the leaders in the optics field.

Warrior

No they are made in Hungary.

Here is a link to these scope in the UK

www.uttings.com

look under scopes and schmidt and bender

Thanks for the info. This must be the lastest position, as my info goes back about 6 years and I was told made in Czech Rep. Here is another piece from Opticstalk that also mentions Czech made, so perhaps S&B moved from Czech and set up their own company now in Hungary, as one wedsite does in fact say it is Hungary ... http://www.schmidt-bender.hu/start.html

"Posted: December/31/2009 at 14:10
http://www.opticstalk.com/foru...23&PID=266783#266783

1" Swaros being assembled in the US must be a fairly new thing. Mine say only "Made in Austria" on them, both on the scope and the boxes they came in. All of their 30mm scopes are made in Austria, but I'm almost certain they get their glass from Schott in Germany. S&B scopes are made entirely in Germany and Hungary. Zeiss has had scopes assembled in the US for quite some time now. Currently, their Conquest line is assembled here of German and Czech made components.

Prior to that, they had some 1" Diavari scopes assembled here. Nightforce assembles their scopes in the US from optical components made in Japan, along with mechanical components made here. Leupold and Burris don't even 100% make all of their products and components of their products in the US anymore. Leupold does make and assemble most component parts of all their scopes in the US, but their glass is outsourced from Asia. Burris has their Fullfield and maybe now other scope lines made in the Phillipines. Most all the scope companies have some or all of their optics or component parts outsourced to other countries.

It's really becoming difficult to know where anything is made anymore, and manufacturers keep much of that information a secret. Even when something says "made in __" on it, that doesn't necessarily mean that all or even most of the component parts are made in that country. It may only mean it is assembled there, or that final assembly and QC is done there. As far as quality is concerned, none of that really matters. It's the design specifications and the quality standards of the company whose name is on the product, and how well they back up that product that matters."

And here is another piece on the same page ...

"The Zeiss Conquest is a prime example of this. The Conquest has MC coated glass that actually comes from Meopta. The Victory series that is made in Germany has Zeiss's own lenses that are T* coated. They are still an excellent scope, although optically not as good as their German counterparts."

Warrior

Some other interesting info coming from the 2010 Shot Show ...

"This year Meopta is introducing a line of 1" tube scopes called MeoPro. All the components are made in the Czech Republic and the assembly is done here in US by Meopta USA. Optical quality is supposed to be similar to the 30mm MeoStar scopes but there is a bit more eyerelief (3.75" or thereabouts). Knobs are also, ostensibly, redesigned for better accuracy. These scopes are priced to compete against Zeiss Conquest and, I think, Minox." ... ILya Koshkin, January 2010.

Warrior

The truth is coming out.

Basically we have been fed false infomration for years and manipulated by marketing people.

Again nothing wrong with the products and nobody is forcing us to buy however it the way we are feed these information I object to.

Anyway I think the issues are very clear and we should let this thread die.

Long live Conquest made in the czec repuclic and not in the states.