Zeiss, end of the road?

[devon deer]

Zeiss have just announced they will cease production of ALL sport optics in Germany by 2026
They haven't stated if they will be produced elsewhere or if they will honour any warranties
A chap in the UK contacted them recently about a faulty scope and they said they don't have the spares or plan on manufacturing any.

Maybe time to sell any scopes etc on as they will be worthless soon.

 

[Laelkhunter]

When they came out with the "Terra" a few years ago, I thought I read that they were made in China but I don't think they were. I had a 3-9 Diavari C on my elk rifle when I first bought it in the 80's and it was great German glass. Somehow it got some debris inside the field of view (black specs around the crosshair) and I returned it for repairs. I got it back and they had even bigger chunks of black debris in the field of view. It went down the road and my elk rifle now has a Swarovski Z5 3.5-18 with the BRH reticle.

 

[rjthehunter]

Bummer if they're stopping sporting optics all together.

I know it said they're closing their Wetzler plant, which is where a lot of sporting optics are made?

Laying off 70 people when they employ 46.5k is a fairly small number. Maybe they're just scaling back production to better meet demand.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

I'm pretty sure the original conquest line was manufactured in Czech republic. I know some of the current riflescopes in the conquest v4 and LRP lines are made in japan.

Bummer to hear regardless.

 

[44hunter45]

I reached out to them recently about deleting a BDC turret. They pointed me to a 3rd party repair shop, who also said they would not do it.

 

[hank4elk]

Better not drop my binos or rifle... both of mine are made in Germany.

 

[howl]

Gave up on Zeiss when they told me they'd honor their warranty...if they felt like it. They're not the only company that does that, but usually such companies don't have peers.

Not sure what is happening, though. The last two $$$ pieces I bought were Meopta. They got bought and are adopting the GPO model. Hard pass on polished chinesium.

 

[longbow51]

Well crap. The old Sako .243 I got my wife has a Diavari on it. Oh well, won't be the first dumb move I've made.

 

[Vic Colfari]

I guess a solid option would be to stick with LEICA.

 

[Robert N]

Well crap. The old Sako .243 I got my wife has a Diavari on it. Oh well, won't be the first dumb move I've made.

Nah, hardly a dumb move. Zeiss stuff is good quality. Odds are you won’t any issues with it for the life of the rifle.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

I guess a solid option would be to stick with LEICA.

Maybe? Seems they’re subject to the same market pressures as zeiss and everyone else only I don’t recall any specific Leica riflescope models being commonly adopted in the states. I'm not sure I've ever looked through one? Range finders and binos, yeah, but not so much on riflescopes.

Seems a lot of these overseas companies are going away from it a bit. Meopta lost US product support, everything needs to go through Czech now. Minox got bought by blaser and are basically gone in the US now. Nikon ditched their sport optics completely. Swaro seems to be losing some market share on riflescopes.

 

[devon deer]

Well crap. The old Sako .243 I got my wife has a Diavari on it. Oh well, won't be the first dumb move I've made.

At least you have the same superb rifle as me, Model 75?
Im sure the Diavari will last for years

 

[longbow51]

At least you have the same superb rifle as me, Model 75?
Im sure the Diavari will last for years

Yes, with nice wood to boot.

 

[schmalts]

When they came out with the "Terra" a few years ago, I thought I read that they were made in China but I don't think they were. I had a 3-9 Diavari C on my elk rifle when I first bought it in the 80's and it was great German glass. Somehow it got some debris inside the field of view (black specs around the crosshair) and I returned it for repairs. I got it back and they had even bigger chunks of black debris in the field of view. It went down the road and my elk rifle now has a Swarovski Z5 3.5-18 with the BRH reticle.

Terra line was low end Chinese.

 

[Laelkhunter]

Terra line was low end Chinese.

Thank you. I thought I heard that somewhere, but wasn't sure enough about it to swear to it.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

Yeah, terra line was junk. I got one of those 3-9s when they came out and it went down the road in a hurry!

 

[Laelkhunter]

Yeah, terra line was junk. I got one of those 3-9s when they came out and it went down the road in a hurry!

Probably the beginning of the end for Zeiss. Optics is a highly competitive market, and serious shooters don't tolerate poor quality that will fail them at the worst time. I still have a 3-9 Conquest on a 30/06 that I received as a Christmas gift about 10 years ago. Due to sentimental reasons, I will continue to use it. It has been reliable.

 

[EastTNHunter]

Zeiss to End Sports Optics Manufacturing in Wetzlar by 2026

Carl Zeiss Sports Optics GmbH has confirmed that it will cease all manufacturing operations at its Wetzlar (Germany) facility by the end of 2026.The news came in an official statement released by the company last Tuesday, and was also communicated directly to employees the same day.The move is...

www.thefirearmblog.com

Sounds like they are closing down the Wetzlar production of scopes

 

[EastTNHunter]

The Future of ZEISS Hunting & Nature:

vivo Senior Executives Visit ZEISS Headquarters to Continuously Deepen Global Imaging Strategic Partnership in the fourth year of cooperation

www.zeiss.com

 

[Justabirdwatcher]

Zeiss have just announced they will cease production of ALL sport optics in Germany by 2026
They haven't stated if they will be produced elsewhere or if they will honour any warranties
A chap in the UK contacted them recently about a faulty scope and they said they don't have the spares or plan on manufacturing any.

Maybe time to sell any scopes etc on as they will be worthless soon.

Not sure how optics suddenly become "worthless," especially those as good as my Zeiss Conquest HD's. But hey, please convince people of this so I can buy up a few extra pairs.