Minox ZA5 4-20x50 SF with BDC Reticle

[Vince]

I've dealt with Cameraland for my last three scopes and two of them were Minox.

The Minox scopes are a "sleeper" in my opinion. Sleeper: An item that you pay less for than the quality you receive that others don't know about. The ZA 3 3-9 x 40 is mounted on my 25/06 and the ZA 5 3-15 x 42 is on my .300 Win Mag. The ZA 3 uses Talley Integral Rings and Bases and the ZA 5 uses Leupold Dual Dovetail mounts.

For the money I've been very impressed with the optical quality of the Minox brand. I'm considering the ZEi 1-5 x 24 for a future 9.3 x 62 purchase.

 

[SJB358]

Same here Vince, I am sold on them. I have three so far and plan on getting a few more pretty shortly. I am not sure you can beat them for the optics in their price range.

 

[sask boy]

Placed the ZA-5 on my Son's BDL today and he advised he sure like the brightness He didn't think there would be that big of difference from the Bushnell but he stated there was in his opinion :wink:

Blessings,
Dan

 

[SJB358]

Yeah, it is hard to beat them Dan. I think they are really good scopes for the money. I am wondering when we will hear of a customer service needed post, just to see what it takes, but they are here in the states, so I wouldn't think it would be any worse than Zeiss, Meopta or anything else in that same line of scopes.

 

[338winmag]

We can thank Scotty for opening us up to these scopes!! :mrgreen:

I had never even heard of them before Scotty made mention. I should have my new rifle and minox scope mounted and at the range right after June 18th. 8)

 

[Vince]

We can thank Scotty for opening us up to these scopes!! :mrgreen:

I had never even heard of them before Scotty made mention. I should have my new rifle and minox scope mounted and at the range right after June 18th. 8)

I think you will be very happy.

 

[SJB358]

Steve, I hope you are as happy with yours as I am with mine. I like them a lot.

 

[35R]

Well, I had a chance to go to the range this weekend and try out the new scope.

Shooting was nothing to write home about since I only had a couple of hours available and I just mainly wanted to boresight the scope and get it on paper.

The Good:

Scope is really bright in all power settings
The eye relief if really long (to me is a good thing)
Click adjustments are OK ( I've mentioned earlier Minox could do better)

The Bad:

I could not (for the life of me) focus the scope at my target (100yds) past 13x. Anything below 13x was crystal clear. I may have a bad one here.

The eye relief stays long even at 20x.

The eye box becomes really small at higher magnifications. It is not as bad as my Nikon Monarch but I was expecting something better.

I will be contacting Minox to let them know. Meanwhile, I'll wait to hear a report from somebody else here and their experiences. I am really bummed about this as I really like the scope.

35R

 

[SJB358]

35R, that is a good report. I have had all 10X and below from them, so your the first I have heard about with a 20X. Let us know what you find out. Does it focus further out?

 

[35R]

SJB358,

Unfortunately, the local range only offers 100 yds shooting lanes. Therefore I could not see beyond the tall berms. I may try to take the gun out to an isolated place just to check this out before contacting Minox.

In all honesty I don't think why it wouln't focus at 100 yds at max mag. My only experience with a really honest high power scope comes from shooting a friend's rifle with a Leupold Mark 4 8-25x50 and at 25x it was crystal clear at 100yds.

 

[Guest]

I just pulled mine out and I think you must have gotten a bad scope, 35R. Mine will focus as close as I can clearly see (probably about 40-50yds on 20x) and at varying distances out to a lasered 308yds. How are you focusing? (Because you can focus the eyepiece with the fast-focus style adjustment, and then align the focus of the crosshairs and the target image with the side focus knob. You likely know that already, but I'm just asking. No offense intended.

 

[35R]

Non taken Dubyam,

I've tried every which way I could, Side Focus/Eyepiece/Both. Past 13x the image of my target was somewhat blurry.

 

[DrMike]

35R,

It seems apparent that you have a defective scope. I'm certain Minox will stand behind their product. That should be quickly resolved. Let us know what comes of this after you contact them.

 

[SJB358]

35R, not that I wish a bad scope on any one of us, BUT, I am looking forward to hearing about your Customer Service results with them. I think you are the first I have heard of and this will be just as useful as a properly working scope.

Good luck with them. I am hoping they are a good company for us. I do like their scopes alot.

Dub, I am glad your's works well. I know the 3x15-42mm I looked through was awesome up to about 13X but once I went beyond, not being able to focus it turned me off. I wope they fix it and offer a solution to guys that don't want a 50mm obj. I would have nothing but 3x15's if they had the side focus.

 

[Guest]

I would have nothing but 3x15's if they had the side focus.

Same here, Scotty. I actually considered getting the 3-15x first, but really felt like the side focus was a requirement for the distances I'd be cranking to (300-600yds for targets, 300-500 for game) with this rifle. I'd really love to see a side-focus 42-44mm objective scope in the ZA5 lineup, though I don't think that's coming. That is the one place where Zeiss really has given the Conquest line a strong advantage, although at a steep entry fee. I suspect there's a certain amount of European influence in the design of the Minox scopes, and across the pond they use larger objectives due to quite a bit of night hunting. That's my guess, at least, as to why the 50mm objective is the entry point for a long distance scope. I've mocked it up on my rifle, and if I'm guessing right, it should still be a comfortable fit and proper cheek weld with this Mark V stock design. We'll see shortly, as I'm sick of shopping around and will be ordering rings this week. I hope to get time to shoot in the next couple of weeks...but we'll see.

 

[DrMike]

The side focus parallax adjustment seems wise, perhaps even necessary, for any use over twelve power.

 

[BK]

I'd really love to see a side-focus 42-44mm objective scope in the ZA5 lineup, though I don't think that's coming.

I was asking Doug @ Cameraland that (over at the 'fire) and he didn't explicitly rule it out. Who knows? I bet he'd get (assuming $500 a pop) a minimum of $4k in orders just from regulars on this forum, guessing twice that many from 24HCF.

The side focus parallax adjustment seems wise, perhaps even necessary, for any use over twelve power.

Yes!

 

[Oldtrader3]

I have been doing business (Nikon photography gear) with both BHPhotovideo and Adorama for 40 years now and have never had any issues with their service or with pricing from them. I would give both of them the highest recommendations for optics equipment, service and pricing.

 

[BK]

I've been this close to pulling the trigger on a number of lenses (135 f/2 DC D, 85 f/1.8D, 60 f/2.8G AF-S Micro) and a couple of flashes (SB900, SB700) from B&H, but I have a local shop in Portland that usually has what I want at just about the same price. If B&H delivered to hotels, I might have done it.

http://www.prophotosupply.com/

 

[Oldtrader3]

I am with DrMike on side parallax adjustment for higher scopes. The magnification range of about 12X seems to be the most often range mentioned which requires parallax control knobs. Most of my scopes either have them or are 12x or less at the top end. I do have a Zeiss Diavari 5-15x42 scope with T* lenses which does not have parallax control but I never set it above 12x and it runs just fine for focus below that level.

I would expect that Minox will either fix or just replace your 4-20x50 scope and make it right for you. Other people who I have know who had any issues with Minox had them addressed right away and professionally with no hassle. I hope that your customer service experience with them comes out as well as you would expect 35R and you get the service that you need.