Rifle Scopes European vs American scopes

[roggom]

Let me start by saying that the Europeans makes some excellent glass. My question is quality of the glass vs price point.

All of the reading, feedback, research shows that folks prefer scopes like S&B, Ziess for image quality, durability and engineering. On the other hand you have American companies with similar scopes (USO, Premier) for 10-30% less in cost.

Would you say that the price point variance is due to quality, or exchange rate of the Euro?

I have been on the hide for a bit and have been watching the trends, folks were stuck on the MK4, then NXS, then S&B now Ziess/Hendsoldt.

In your opinion how much of that $3500 for an S&B do you think is scope and how much do you think is because of currency exchange?

I have been putting my pennies together and have been looking at S&B hunting scopes, but after much research the Premier hunter looks like everything I want in a scope, reticle, streamlined turrets, a bit lighter in weight.

Premier states that their scopes are German engineered and American made. To me, this would be a perfect example of a scope that is not subject to exchange increases.

What says you.

 

[_DE_]

Re: European vs American scopes

I Say u beez in the wrong thread.

 

[Opticsspecialist]

Re: European vs American scopes

your paying for quality. european glass is better and commands a higher price, not to mention the composition of the glass in general might be different. for instance, the FL/HD glass from zeiss and swaroski have integrated fluorite crystals, changing the composition entirely, where as some manufactures label lens glass as HD or ED and just add an additional coating, or just label it and do nothing different.

 

[Goin'Hot]

Re: European vs American scopes

The same S&B scopes were 20% less expensive at this time last year. I would say that if sales volume does not drop (I can't imagine it staying the same) then PH will increase their price as well. Some believe that the way to differentiate themselves from the competition is to put a false sense of value in their product. One way to do this is to increase the price. When PH came out, their stuff was 33% less expensive. This caused the consumer to believe they were inferior to S&B so, PH increased their price to S&B's price. I don't know if the sales volume changed but, the perception of higher quality is there since MAP is $3100 for a PH. Same has to be said for S&B. If it costs more, it's gotta be better.

 

[skog]

Re: European vs American scopes

Also don't European optics have a hefty import tariff on them?

 

[Sami]

Re: European vs American scopes

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: roggom</div><div class="ubbcode-body">
Would you say that the price point variance is due to quality, or exchange rate of the Euro?
</div></div>
Probably both. American companies outsource their glass and most of the high end glass comes from Germany so the exchange rate affects their bottom line as well.

 

[Chris@InterstateGuns]

Re: European vs American scopes

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: skog</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Also don't European optics have a hefty import tariff on them? </div></div>

Varies country to country but I've seen numbers from 17-30% tariff

 

[Early Cuyler]

Re: European vs American scopes

I just priced my ideal USO 5-25x on their website and it was more than the S&B I just got from Jay at Sport Optics. This is my first S&B and I was definitely hesitant due to the price compared to the NFs I own. But a considerably larger bonus at work made this purchase possible.

The clarity has blown me away and I will be getting more when the bank account recovers.

 

[CS95]

Re: European vs American scopes

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Opticsspecialist</div><div class="ubbcode-body">your paying for quality. european glass is better and commands a higher price, not to mention the composition of the glass in general might be different. for instance, the FL/HD glass from zeiss and swaroski have integrated fluorite crystals, changing the composition entirely, where as some manufactures label lens glass as HD or ED and just add an additional coating, or just label it and do nothing different. </div></div>

This is true for the Ziess scopes that are labeled as such, but the Hendsolts DO NOT use FL. This is one of the reasons why the 4-16x50 Zeiss Diavari FL is much more optically impressive than the Hendsolt 4-16x56. I asked the Zeiss engineers about this at a show not too long ago and that is basically what they told me. If you have those two scopes side by side there is a VERY noticeable difference. The first thing that stood out was that the Diavari had next to no CA,undoubtedly due to the implementation of the FL and the Hendsolt quite honestly was very unimpressive next to it.

Also on hand this day was a 5-25 S&B and with all scopes on 10x, it was the most impressive in every aspect.

That being said, I have owned other S&B scopes and lets just say they were NOT on par with the 5-25.

 

[texasredneck]

Re: European vs American scopes

Buy once, cry once. I've owned Premiere, USO, and S&B. I've since gotten rid of everything and am sticking with the S&B, even over the Hensholt. I'd take a USO over a Premiere because you can order exactly what you want, but be patient and wait until you have the money together and buy a S&B. You won't regret it. Now you have an opinion worth exactly what you paid for it.....nada.

 

[Sami]

Re: European vs American scopes

Just FYI on European pricing vs US pricing. In general Zeiss and Swarovski are more expensive or equally priced to US. S&B on the other hand can be bought for much less in Europe than in the US. One of the reasons I have been told is that it hasn't reached the prestige of its older competitors. Now, the discussion has been mainly about hunting scopes where Zeiss still leads the brand image followed closely by Swaro.