It’s tough for high-end riflescopes to penetrate a busy market, but the new Zeiss Conquest hits the mark, as Chris Parkin discovers

It’s good to see premium makers not only continue to push costs in their higher-end optics but also to remember shooters who want reliable and quality core functionality but are not chasing the latest high magnification erector tube or complex turrets with zero stops. The V4 range from Zeiss is just such an optic and, as well as the above, holds a few key features that help it appeal to more than just centrefire users – so let us address those first.

Parallax compensation on the Conquest runs from infinity all the way down to 10 metres, which means the scope will focus – as well as present fault-free aiming – at closer ‘core distances’ for rimfire and airguns, the latter guns regularly approaching prices beyond common sporting centrefire rifles. It’s hard to ignore high-end optics’ appeal to the buyers who also pursue the finest aiming solutions and performance in poor light, concentrating on image resolution with broad field of view, not just high magnification numbers that ‘sell’.

The second consideration, and one that is perhaps even more subtle, is eye relief. It’s all very well trying to attract buyers with promises of 100mm+ eye relief but this fails to impress me when they want the scope to appeal to the owners of smaller rifles. It’s not uncommon to find that long-eye-relief scopes simply won’t offer vignette-free visuals when set up on a mass-market rimfire with short length of pull and limited action bridge spacing, or even Picatinny rail space to get it far enough away.